Friday, December 31, 2010

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Last post of 2010!

At least I'm guessing it'll be the last post of 2010.

Christmas was wonderful! :) I had a whole thing described out here but blogger decided to randomly delete it... so, it was a great time spent w/family & my new husband! My hubby got me a Wii Fit & a digital picture frame!!! :) But yea, great Christmas! Not posting a bunch of pics here, but you can see them on my Facebook!





Looking back, here are some of my favorite parts of

* Mine & Brew's trip to Thailand for Stefani's wedding in January. It was a hellish plane trip but it was an awesome vacation & an awesome opportunity, it was soooo worth it & I was so glad that I had the chance to go & be with Stef on her big day!

* Wedding Planning! I got engaged last year on Christmas Day so the first half of 2010 I spent planning my wedding. It was only a little stressful at times, I have my mom to thank for most of that because she did a lot of worrying for me LOL. It of course turned out perfectly!

* My 24th Birthday, was on Easter this year, Brew's gift to me was taking me down to Charleston Mall to shop (I ended up buying books lol) and taking me to dinner. It was great, cause I got to "get away" and spent time w/him :)

* Having the opportunity to get the house we are living in! (Basically for next to nothing we can live here until we are able to get our own place!) Annnnd all the remodeling/sprucing up we did. It was a lot of hard and sometimes frustrating work, but I have that sense of pride that we made a filthy unkept house into a nice welcoming home :)

* Of course--- My wedding!!! As corny as it may sound it has definitely been the best day of my life so far. Everything turned out wonderfully and I got the best husband EVER, and he just so happened to have come with awesome parents who think of me as their own, a sister who has become one of my closest friends, and some adorable little nieces. :) I truly married my best friend and it's been wonderful!

* Our honeymoon! It may not've been a "dream vacation getaway" on some tropical island, but it was an awesome time we spent together. We got to experience some of the most beautiful parts of our state, and we stayed at the cutest bed & breakfast owned by some really nice people! I found out later that my grandparents, who married two days before 45 years before us (does that make sense? lol their wedding was 6-24-1955, ours was 6-26-2010) they spent their honeymoon in the same area. :)

* My brother's wedding, was only a couple months after ours, and he married one of my childhood best friends. It was really neat how it all worked out :) It's fun having someone who you grew up with now be your sister-in-law!

* Getting our puppy, Duke. He's rambunctious, and at times a handful, but he's exactly the type of dog I wanted. He's super sweet and loves everyone. :) He's been an awesome addition to our little family.

* Thanksgiving! I managaed to pull off hosting Brew's family get together here at our house. Thankfully his Aunt Laura prepared most of the food, but I was happy we got to have everyone out. Who knows, maybe it'll be a tradition...and maybe in a year or two I'll take over most of the cooking!

* My hubby's college graduation. It was a long time coming for him, he struggled through a couple years, mostly because his papaw had been paying his way and encouraging him passed away in 2008, and it was hard for him to have any motivation to go to class. He's not sure if he'll ever do anything in the criminal justice field, but I'm proud that he stuck it out and finished it and now has a college degree. :)

and lastly,

* Our first Christmas together, as described above, was perfect :)



I have lots to look forward to in 2011, look for a new post with the new year!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas!


And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

~Luke 2:1-14


Merry Christmas from the Deans!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Trimming the tree

So I thought I'd share my Christmas decorations (what few I have lol) and where I got them and such :)

I'll start w/the outside of our house!





Our Christmas lights (at night of course!)
They all came from Wal-Mart, they are "Holiday Time" LED lights, blue icicles, multicolored, and white. The white ones around the window are actually set to "twinkle" so they blink a little :)



The wreath hanging on my door. It's an LED pre-lit wreath from Big Lots, it was like $12. The bow came from Big Lots too, I think it was like 99 cents :) The only thing I don't like about this wreath is the lights are totally random as to when they are on and off... I'm sure there's a way to adjust it but I haven't figured it out. It's cordless though (operates on 2 D batteries)



Now the living room!

Our stockings are hung up on the inside of the door. The santa one is Brew's and the reindeer one is mine :) I just loved these, they came from walmart! They had some other cute ones too, I might pick up a few more after Christmas if they still have them... you know for future other additions to our family :)



The stand by the front door, the nativity is a cheapo $5 one from Walmart, and the picture is of Brew & I last Christmas (when we got engaged!)



The top of our tv stand/entertainment center. The little reindeer & bear figurines came from my mother in law, and the pine scented candle is something I bought because I wanted a real tree & didn't get one lol.



Our Christmas tree! Complete w/presents :)
The tree was given to us, but it originally came from Walmart. The lights were in the box w/the tree as well. :) The tinsel garland came from Big Lots, and the ornaments came from my parents and Brew's parents mostly.



This is one ornament I did purchase. From Hallmark- It says "Our First Christmas Together" and the charm says "2010" :)




We did this at my parents' house too, I put all the Christmas cards we got up around the doorway to the kitchen :)


The top of my hope chest, I have another nativity set, this one from my mother in law :)


And now for the kitchen...



My table :)
Table Runner is from Dollar General ($5 woo hoo!), and the candle & wreath is from my mother in law!



Window clings from walmart ($1), they are on the china cabinet because I originally bought them with the intention of putting them on our front window so you could see them from the outside, but they are designed to be put on the outside and I didn't think it'd stand up to the weather and such, so they Christmased up my grandma's china cabinet lol.



And lastly, these potholders, they are Better Homes & Gardens brand. I won them (plus a candle) at my cousin's baby shower :)



Now I'm hoping to hit the after-Christmas sales and maybe get some more ornaments and things of my own. :)


For now I'm definitely ready for Christmas!!!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Pomp & Circumstance...

Yay Brew graduated college!!! :-D




The graduate :)




Brew & his mom




Brew, his granny and aunt Laura



Me, Brew, and his Granny



Love you & I'm proud of you Brew!!!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

good news, bad news

Hey everyone! Well today was a 2hr delay, which means... my job for half a day was cancelled :-p Oh well. Gives me another day to stay home and get something done. I'm much more productive than yesterday. Yesterday the only thing I got done was two loads of laundry. That's what snowdays are for though, right? lol. So far today I've started on dishes (which got wayyy out of control last week when I was sooo busy) So I'm catching up now, they are about 1/2 done. I also need to fold some laundry, go to the post office, and do some cleaning around the house.

Well we got some bad news, and that's Brew didn't get the job w/the railroad. He's pretty bummed about it. Which is understandable, but something about him that drives me crazy is when he's in this "down" mood, there is like nothing I can do that'll make it better, I just have to give him time to mull around and pout and when he's done, then he's back to normal. This drives me NUTS because when I am upset/depressed about something, I WANT him to make me laugh and make me feel better (which he is good at) but he just wants to be left alone. That's super hard for me to do. Does anyone else's husband/boyfriend do this? Just wondering if it was a "male" thing. I find it extremely frustrating lol. I am a little bummed too, but then again I've been praying not just for him to get the job but for God's will do be done, so I have kind of resolved that it must not be the right job or the right time for him to get that job.

The silver lining to this however is that because he isn't starting a new job, he gets two weeks vacation beginning January 1st which means we can go visit Stefani, Bas, and our new little God daughter! So I'm looking forward to that. :) I will be purchasing our plane tickets very soon. (Thank you Visa! lol)

Speaking of money, I'm now feeling the stress Christmas has put on. Brew got paid Friday, and we have 125 dollars left in our account. I get paid tomorrow (not a super great check, only 5 days) and with our mid-month scheduled bill payments, my paycheck is pretty much GONE and then some. Blah. I am sooo looking forward to the day when I can get a full time job. If that day ever comes... I'm beginning to wonder!

Well I'm going to go get back to work! Adios!

Monday, December 13, 2010

Snowday!



First snowday of the year!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

December already!

Holy cow it's December already! I haven't been updating as frequently because I've been busy! This week is especially so. Tonight is the only night I don't have to be somewhere. Yesterday I had Symphony Chorus rehearsal (which I'm singing w/a group of ppl from Parkersburg that are going to be singing w/the WV Symphony Orchestra for their Christmas concert). Tonight is nothing, but I do need to go back out to the dollar tree & get some things for the upcoming week. Wednesday we have chorus rehearsal this time in Charleston w/the acutal orchestra, Thursday evening I have the clogging students' Christmas party, Friday night is the first symphony performance in Charleston, and Saturday I have Sunday School program practice in the morning, we're clogging in the Parkersburg Parade in the afternoon and then we have our second performance in Charleston that evening, and Sunday is church and the sunday school program, then the last performance in Parkersburg! *WHEW* Not to mention I also have jobs scheduled (full days) every day except Friday (which as I'm thinking about it, I may not take a job for Friday, depending on how dead I am by that point! lol)

Next week should be much milder though. And then the following week is CHRISTMAS! I'm actually on top of things for once. My Christmas shopping is done, I wrapped my last gift that came shipped to my house yesterday. Thankfully with my extended family and Brew's extended family we do gift exchanges, and we just don't exchange gifts w/Mandy & AJ (Brew's sis & her husband) we just buy for their girls. We didn't have to buy for very many this year so it didn't break the bank ;). We bought for my parents, Brew's parents, my brothers, my sis in law Amanda (my brother Matthew's wife), my grandparents, and our nieces. All others were covered in various gift exhanges/secret santas :) Oh and we bought and wrapped a couple toys for Duke of course ;)

It has been freeeeeeeeeeeeeezing here! And we've had snow, which is nice. It hasn't been super bad on the roads but enough to cover the grass and just make it prettier :) I'm hoping that it holds out and snows for Christmas too. We haven't had a real white Christmas in a while, it's usually just cold and dreary.

Allllllrighty well unfortunately my plan is almost over. I've been enjoying some peace and quiet. I have a really noisy group today. They aren't bad, just loud so I have a feeling I'll be leaving here in an hour w/a headache since I can feel the beginnings of one now. Fun stuff.

I don't know if I'll get to write again before Christmas, so if I don't, Merry Christmas from the Deans!!!

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Last day of November

Ok I'm back to finish my Thankful list!

26- I'm thankful for the Christmas season. I honestly think it seems to bring a lot of good out in people when the Christmas spirit is in the air :) Just love this time of year!

27- Doctors, especially mine. I'm blessed with some wonderful physicians who truly care about their patients.

28- Pictures and the wonderful way they preserve memories

29- My vehicles. They aren't the fanciest, but they are both good vehicles, one of which is already paid for, and they get us where we need to be. :)

30- Maybe this should've been #1, but I chose to end it with the one thing I am thankful for the MOST, and that is my Savior, Jesus Christ. After all, without Him, what would be a reason for living? I wouldn't have all of the blessings that I AM thankful for. He lived a perfect life, suffered, died, and rose again for MY sins, so that I will live eternally w/him in Heaven. Yes I'm most definitely thankful for Him!

Alllrighty that's it! :) I cannot believe tomorrow is the start of December! CRAZY!

Quick update

I'm sending this from my phone. I have a double plan at work today so for a sub that equals free time! Anyway as you can see I survived yesterday (as did Brew lol. He drives me nuts sometimes but I love him & we can't stay mad long.

Anyway, some awesome news...yesterday I wrote about a job opening at csx railroad in st albans that Brew was going to apply for, well later yesterday evening a Parkersburg position posted! So he applied for it last night. I am really praying that this is the right job (career) for him. So if you can please pray that if it's His will that Brew will get this job! He would enjoy the job itself not to mention it would be a tremendous financial blessing!

Ok well I'm quickly tiring of typing on my phone so I'm off! I will write again tonight!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Typical MONDAY

Ok so I'm still behind on my thankful list but I'm not feeling particularly "thankful" at this moment. I need to rant so here goes...

It's been a pretty sucky Monday so far. This morning got off to a bad start because Duke woke up at 4 needing to go out. So I let him out & then brought him back in and he went back in his crate & slept till 5 or so, then he decided he wanted to get up AGAIN. Knowing full well he did NOT have to go out again, I laid there & listened to him whine/cry for 20 min or so, before finally relenting and getting up and letting him out (as predicted he did not have to use the bathroom) and fed him. Hoping to squeeze another hour or two of sleep in (as I didn't have to work today because of a Drs appt) I put him back in his crate. He then proceeded to whine/cry some more. Frustrated I woke Brew up, who can sleep through World War III, and asked him if he minded if I let Duke come up on the bed for an hour or so so I could sleep. Well then he gave the way WRONG answer and really ticked me off. He said "No then I can't sleep!"... "Ok," I said "then what am I supposed to do, I can't get back to sleep" And he says "Well get over it or get up". Yea. Not the right answer. So I was really ticked off and frustrated and tired at this point. So I laid there until Brew's alarm went off and he got in the shower (when Duke finally shut up for 5 seconds) and then he comes BACK into the room and flips the light on in my face. Ugh. Not a good morning for us we'll just say that.

Then I was going to take an order into Shirt Factory for the clogging team after my Drs appointment. Well I don't have a printer so I emailed the spreadsheet to myself and went to the church where mom was working to print it out, only to find out that the document didn't attach properly and I just got a bunch of weird symbols and such. Grrrr. So I just went home, ate lunch, and am now complaining to the world. lol. I'm going to try this whole shirt factory order again here in a sec. This time I'm saving it to a jump drive AND emailing it.

It's just one of those days...




Ok well to avoid having this blog be entirely "poor me", Brew is going to apply for a job with CSX railroad in St. Albans. His dad says that there is also an opening coming up in Parkersburg (yay!) So I'm not crazy about the possibility of moving an hour and a half away, but there's a good chance he could be transferred back to Parkersburg within 5 years if he gets the one in St Albans. Not to mention he'd be making twice what he does now, and this is really a career. If he were to get a job for the railroad he'd be the 5th generation railroader in his family, which is kind of neat. His dad works here in Parkersburg. So I'm just going to be praying for God's will on this one. If one or the other job is right for him now then I pray that he gets the position, but if it's not right then I hope he doesn't.


Alright well that's all for now. I promise since tomorrow is the 30th I will post with my final 5 things I'm thankful for. :)

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Stuffed like a turkey...

Hey! Well I'll give a quick recap of Thanksgiving-- it went great! The Deans came out to our house in the afternoon & everyone had a good time, ate plenty, and my dog was well behaved :) (I was so proud of him. LOL. I was afraid he'd be incredibly hyper w/everyone here, but he was really good) Then later in the evening I continued to eat myself into misery at my mom & dads with my family. Whew. I wish I'd of thought to take a few pics but I didn't. I need to get better w/that!

Yesterday was black Friday, so I went shopping w/the "Dean women" lol. It's a tradition w/them. I didn't really get a whole lot, and honestly probably wouldn't go if it were just me, unless there was something on sale I realllllly wanted, but it was a lot of fun hanging out w/my mom-in-law, sis-in-law, and aunt and cousin-in-laws. :) Needless to say though after getting up at 4 and being at Walmart by 5am-- I was ready for bed EARLY last night. (And we did go to bed at like 9 lol) Brew went hunting while I went shopping and shot his first "real" buck (an 8-point!) So looks like we'll be getting some deer meat before long!

Annnnd today after I got home from working at the Y, we decorated for Christmas! I was super excited about this since it's OUR first Christmas :) Brew hasn't gotten the outside lights up yet but here are some pics from today (linked from facebook!)















Well, I know I haven't done my things I'm thankful for, but this post is pretty long, and I'll be getting ready for bed soon so I will catch up on that later!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Ok so it's a day early but I doubt I will have time to post tomorrow... it's a BUSY day!!!

But I'm wayyy behind on my thankful list so here goes... (and I'll go ahead and add one for tomorrow too!)


18- I'm thankful for modern communication (aka email, internet, skype, cell phones, etc.) My cousin Stefani & her new (growing) family is living in Germany at this time and if it wasn't for any of this modern communication stuff I'd hardly ever get to talk to her! But we are able to email/facebook each other, and I can keep up w/her pregnancy through youtube, not to mention now that my new phone has a skype app I can talk to her on the phone!!! :)

19- My house. Yes it's not much, and we don't own it, but it's a HOUSE. I'm fairly certain if we did not have the opportunity to live in this "family-owned" house of mine, that we'd be stuck in some dinky apartment or house in a not so great neighborhood. We are very fortunate to have this home!

20- The amazing Thanksgiving dinners (yes, two) that I get to have tomorrow!

21- Everyday heroes, like police officers, fire-fighters, paramedics, etc. These people often risk everything for the lives of others.

22- Good books. I love to read and nothing beats having a free moment to curl up w/a good book :)

23- Public Education. It gets a lot of flack, but I'm glad it was there for me!

24- Along those same lines, I'm thankful for teachers. More specifically all the wonderful ones I have that inspired me to become a teacher myself!

25- The Seasons that we get to experience here in WV. I know not everyone gets to see snowy winters, rainy springs, hot summers, and cool autumns (with beautiful foliage), and I may complain about the weather, but I'm glad we get all 4 seasons here!



Alllrighty, all caught up plus one day! :)

Plans for Thanksgiving...

We're having the Dean family HERE at my house for Thanksgiving! Yikes! LOL THankfully, Brew's aunt Laura is doing the majority of the cooking, I'm just hosting (lol and making pumpkin pies, cheesy potatoes, and green beans :)

Thennn, in the evening we're going to my mom & dad's for the Greathouse gathering. Two dinners in one day, woo hoo!

Alrighty well I'm off to go finish cleaning! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! ♥


Wednesday, November 17, 2010

"hump" day...

Hey everyone! So I'm working today & since I'm not usually in this position at this school I don't know where the lunch crew would be soooo I'm eating my lunch in my room :) Hence the blog post. Honestly I probably shouldn't be working. I've had a stupid cold for like a week now. Brew & I BOTH have/had it. Now it's moved to being a sore throat/caughing/losing my voice thing. Blah. But I couldn't turn down a job, especially at Franklin (like this school) and since it's for a reading specialist I figured it'd be easier on my voice seeing as how I'm only working w/small groups. But anyway, hopefully I'll be over it by Thanksgiving!

Which I opened my big mouth & said "sure we can do thanksgiving here!" (meaning my house) sooo the whole Dean clan will be at my house for Thanksgiving. Thankfully, I'm not doing most of the cooking. Brew's aunt Laura is providing the majority of it, she just wasn't able to have it at her house this year as usual. Soooo I'm making my cheesy potatoes & pumpkin pie. And just helping w/the rest! But that means that I have a week now to get my house cleaned. Like really CLEANED. And it's probably going to take me a whole week :-p I'm working today & Friday for sure, not sure about tomorrow yet. But next week is Thanksgiving break so I should have enough time to get everything done.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I'll give a little recap & then add my things I'm thankful for for the past 3 days...

Here's my list so far...
1. My husband
2. My parents
3. My parents-in-law
4. My siblings & siblings-in-law
5. My nieces
6. My extended family
7. My church
8. My close friends
9. My job
10. My health
11. Our troops & veterans
12. Music
13. clogging
14. My hubby's job

and now today's additions....

15- My puppy, Duke. Yes he's incredibly rambunctious and annoying. And he destroyed a pair of my heels. BUT I love that little dog to death. He really does have a way of making bad days better ;) I'm glad we got him, he fits in w/our little family perfectly!

16- The United States of America, and everything it stands for. I think we all forget sometimes just how blessed we are to live in a free country. It's not perfect by any means, and maybe I'm biased, but I certainly wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

17- My state, West Virginia. West Virginians have a horrible reputation in our country. I'm sure people from out of state assume we're all toothless, barefoot, hillbillies. And well, there are plenty of them here LOL, but that aside, not only is our state a beautiful one, when it comes to seeing God's creation, but the people of this state are like no other. Especially as I've gotten older, I've come to appreciate and embrace being a part of the appalachian culture. Again, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. :)


Alrighty well I'm gonna finish up my lunch & get ready for my next group of kids. Adios!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Simple Life...

Hey everyone! Let me get to my Thankful list first thing!

12- I'm thankful for music. I enjoy lots of different types of music, and I love to sing. It's just always been such a big part of my life. My dad plays pretty much anything w/strings, as did my grandpa, and as do my brothers, uncles, etc. So family gatherings almost ALWAYS involve some guitar-playing and singing. I was involved in all sorts of choirs and things growing up. I've never been a solo artist so to speak, but I have always enjoyed singing and making music!

13- I'm thankful for clogging and more specifically Class Act (the team I dance with). I started taking clogging lessons when I was a week shy of 10 years old. I loved it from the very first day. I love learning new things, challenging myself, performing for others, and of course all the friendships I've made from clogging w/Class Act. So thankful for all of them!


14- I'm thankful for my husband's job (as well as mine, mentioned earlier) and the fact that it puts food on our table and pays our bills. We don't always have a lot of extra stuff but we have what we need!



On another note I think I'm going to join the bandwagon with

The Simple Woman's Daybook
.

I'm trying to figure this out here, so we'll see how it goes. Saw this on Trinity's blog so hopefully you can tell me if I'm linking this appropriately!

FOR TODAY

Outside my window... it's dark, and has been since 6! (Still getting used to no Daylight Savings time!

I am thinking...about Christmas shopping, about my appt with the hematologist tomorrow (finding out results of bloodwork)

I am thankful for... my awesome husband, family, friends, etc. Go read my thankful posts, I'm working on a list! :)

From the learning rooms...(if this applies) huh? this must not apply to me LOL

From the kitchen... Domino's cooked tonight. Hubby & I neither one felt like it. Not to mention there's a sink full of dirty dishes as we speak (er, type)

I am wearing... sweats. I was dressed nice for church, but as soon as I got home I got comfy!

I am creating... nothing at the moment. I have two unfinished scrapbooks waiting for me, when I get a minute to work on them.

I am going... crazy? Haha kidding. Life is moving at a good pace right now :) I'm trying not to get in a hurry about things :)

I am reading... I'm in between books right now. Just finished the Nanny Diaries. Looking for another good one to read next...

I am hoping... that all is normal w/my bloodwork & I won't have to worry about dealing w/any blood clotting issues when I get pregnant.

I am hearing... the tv. My husband is watching his "dweeb show" as I call it. Battlestar Galactica... or is it Battleship? Who knows.

Around the house... it's kind of a mess. End tables and kitchen table has stuff piled on it. Bathroom could use cleaning, spare room (where I am now) still contains unpacked boxes, my bedroom has clothes in a basket that need hung up, and the 3rd bedroom we never use needs cleaned out, old furniture given away, and repainted...

One of my favorite things...is when I leave for work a few minutes after my hubby and he has scraped the ice off my windshields because he knows how much I HATE doing that! <3 (He did that for me twice last week!) A few plans for the rest of the week: Tomorrow Drs appt and starting christmas shopping. Tuesday I'm working at Lubeck. That's the only day I have scheduled so far so we'll see!

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

My little brother went w/Brew & I to the WVU game yesterday. :) It was his first time going to a Mountaineer game & he had a blast! (I was also even more grateful that he got to be there for a WIN!)



Alright all, I'm thinking bedtime is in the very near future... see ya soon!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Happy Veterans Day

First I'll do my things I'm thankful for today...

10- I'm thankful for my health. I'm so fortunate to have always been pretty healthy and never have had any chronic medical issues. I am able to do the things I love and be with those I love and don't have to worry about anything really. I'm thankful for that!

and since today is Veterans day...

11- I'm thankful for our troops and their families. They make HUGE sacrifices for us every single day. They have to be away from their loved ones in order to protect us and our rights. Some make the ultimate sacrifice- their own lives. I'm thankful for those who are serving right now and have served in the past!


And I have a couple of videos from YouTube that I thought I'd post in honor of Veterans Day. Warning- get your tissues cause you WILL cry lol. It's heartwarming footage of soldiers surprising their loved ones, but it also reminds you of what these people are sacrificing for our freedom!






THANK YOU Veterans!!!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Few of my favorite things...

So one of my blogging ideas was to do a few "favorites" posts. Now I won't be able to do one like every month because- I'm a creature of habit & poor as well so I don't buy a lot of new things every month or week or whatever. I watch a lot of these on peoples vlogs but since I mentioned before I'm not a fan of hearing/seeing myself, we'll stick to it this way. :)

First I thought I'd lump all the health/beauty related thingys into one post. Then later, I might do other categories, like food, or clothes, or whatnot... Soooo here goes!

1- Suave Professionals "Vibrant Shine" Shampoo & Conditioner

LOVE this stuff (and annoyingly haven't been able to find it at our Wal-Mart lately...) but it's cheap, it's got a lot of moisturizing/conditioners in it, which is good for my hair because my hair and skin tends to be on the dry side, ESPECIALLY in Winter. Yes I also just realized I wrote a run-on sentence but I'm not changing it LOL. Anyways, great stuff, and it's cheap so that makes it even better!

2- Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Anti-Frizz Serum

My hair is naturally wavy, thick, and frizzy. Really "fluffy" is a good word to describe it lol. But a little bit of this stuff really helps smooth it out when I'm blowdrying it straight and/or flatironing it. It's affordable too, and lasts forever. I've been working on the same tube since like May and barely made a dent in it.

And still on the "hair" topic...
3- Sally Hansen Beyond the Zone "Noodlehead"

As I mentioned before, my hair is naturally wavy. Well I've always had a hard time making it look not fluffy/frizzy while trying to bring the wave out. Gels and mousses make my hair stiff and weigh it down so it just looked stiff & frizzy still. But this stuff is like the consistancy of leave in conditioner. It really brings the curl/wave out without weighing it down or making it stiff. I used it ALL the time in the summertime (when my hair was both long AND it was ok to go outside w/my hair still pretty damp) But it's great stuff, if you have that hair type it's definitely worth it.


Moving on to skin stuff...

4- Equate "Absolutely Beaming" Daily Moisturizer w/SPF 15

This is the generic of Aveeno's Positively Radiant Moisturizer, so that's probably like the same thing, this was just about $5 cheaper! LOL. I use it every single day though because again, my skin tends to be a bit dry, especially in the winter, but it also has a sunscreen in it, which I need as any fellow redheads reading this will understand!


5- CVS advanced healing body lotion


Works great on really dry skin!

6- Softlips Lip Balm

Best. Lipbalm. Ever. LOL- it smells good, feels good, moisturizes well, and has an spf. They have lots of different "flavors", vanilla is my favorite though!


7- Loreal Bare Naturale Mineral Makeup

I tried this because my cousin raved about the Bare Escentuals Mineral Makeup, and I didn't want to pay that much for it, so I went w/the cheaper Loreal version. I really like it, it covers imperfections well while still feeling super light. Which is good, because I don't even wear makeup everyday, so I don't like the feeling of heavy makeup. It's great!

8- CoverGirl Professional Waterproof Mascara

Mascara is one thing I do wear pretty frequently, and this stuff is really good. It like NEVER clumps, goes on really smooth, not cakey. Just overall really good. It's waterproof but it will come off fairly well w/regular soap & water. Used it on my wedding day :)


9- St. Ives Blemish Fighting Apricot Scrub

I like this stuff because it cleans well, has a "blemish fighting" ingredient (which helps me because even though my skin is usually fairly dry, I will still get that lovely female-monthly breakout LOL) but it's still gentle and moisturizing. Good stuff, and affordable :)


10- Victoria's Secret Dream Angels- "Heavenly" Angel Mist

This is probably the most expensive thing on here, but it's ok cause I don't wear perfume everyday. This scent is amazing though, my husband LOVES it perhaps more than me! It's not really flowery or fruity or musky, I honestly cannot explain it, you'll have to just try it next time you are in Victorias Secret. I buy the Angel Mist rather than the actual perfume because it's lighter and cheaper too.



Alrighty, I think a perfect 10 here is a good place to end. That's about all I have, however, if I ever find anything else great & wonderful I will blog about it! :)

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Another week in Kindergarten...

Yep the title says it, I'm subbing another week in Kindergarten! :) This time, at a different school (Lubeck- last weekend I was at Franklin). I'm enjoying it, in both classes they have a great aide and just really good, organized teachers. The kind of teachers who remember what it's like to sub and make my life sooooo much easier LOL. Right now kiddos are in gym and I'm on plan, hence the midday post.

It feels like this week is creeping by though. I think cause I'm looking forward to a day off Thursday. (Thanks Veterans :)) And then this weekend Brew & I are taking my little brother (Mason, he's a senior in h.s. this year) to a Mountaineer game! I'm praying that WVU has improved during this last by-week because I would LOVE for them to win when Mason is there, he's never been to a WVU game, annnnd, they are hardcore recruiting him & offering him scholarships, so I'm going to encourage him to go. If I'd of had the means without going into serious debt I would've gone somewhere like WVU. My little brother is super smart AND a good student so he's got a 4.0 and just scored a 31 on his ACT (sickening, I know lol) but yea I'm looking forward to that this weekend!

I'm coming up with all sorts of ideas to blog about. I'm going to have to start a list so I don't forget anything! I've been watching a lot of vlogs lately, but I'm doubting I get into that. Just something about watching/listening to myself lol. I did that house tour video and may do more things like that, but I'm not sure I can get into that all the time. I much prefer writing :)... well, typing I guess.

Ok back to my thankful list...

8- I'm thankful for my close friends. Yes. Extremely generic, but I don't want to name everyone for a separate post, so I'll name the ones I'm thinking of now... Nicole, Abby, Whitney, Teresa, and my friends that qualify as "family" now too, my cousin Stefani, and my sisters in law Mandy and Amanda. These are the people that are there for me and that I can talk to about anything. Love you all!

and

9- My job. Yes, I complain because I'm "just a sub", but I realize my job is important as well, and though I'm constantly searching and applying for full time positions, at the same time I appreciate the conveniences I also have of subbing, in that I don't have to write lesson plans or take work home to grade/prepare. I can take any day off I want (I just miss the chance to work & earn money). But I also have a job, which many people aren't fortunate enough to say even that, and not to mention I've been getting good, steady, work so far this year and for that I'm very thankful! I like getting to know different kids, and getting to know some of them very well since I sub primarily at the same few schools. :)

Alrighty well the aide was taking the kiddos straight to lunch so it's time for ME to eat lunch now!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

Ok so just a quick post for my thing I'm thankful for today...

7- I'm thankful for my church and church family. I've been blessed to have gone to the same church since I was born; I was baptized, confirmed, and married there. My Pastor is great, he stays true to the Gospel and is very convicted, not to mention he's just a fun guy. I met my husband there, and many of my close friends. :)

With that I'm off to wear my dog out (hopefully)... here in an hour or so I'm headed to the Magical Night of Giving at our mall. Maybe I'll be able to grab a few Christmas gifts since I pretty much haven't even started thinking about that lol...

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Procrastinating

Yeah, totally putting off housework right now.

So what better to do than play on Picasa & Youtube? lol- I made a slideshow video of favorite wedding pics :)




Anyway, I really do need to do laundry and at least clean the kitchen if nothing else. Brew is off helping my brother build a shed, so it's just me & Duke.

And for my thankful list today...

#6- My extended family, that is, my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and other in-laws not mentioned :) I truly am blessed with a wonderful family! Love them all!


Ok REALLY getting to work now....

Friday, November 5, 2010

TGIF

Whew am I glad it's Friday. Seems like this week has just dragged... hasn't been BAD really just long. And I'm happy because I don't have to work or be out of town or HAVE to do anything on Saturday for once. I'm hoping my puppy will let me sleep in since it seems like FOREVER since I've gotten to do that! It's been a good week so far, next week I'm working in Kindergarten again, this time at Lubeck. Should be fun! Besides it's always nice to know when I'm working ahead of time. After next week I don't have any days booked so it'll be back to taking the phone calls...

Anyway, right now I'm working but the kids are in Music then Library so I thought I'd take a few minutes to update my Thankful list, since I missed yesterday...

I'm thankful for...

4- my siblings & siblings in law. That's my brother Matthew & his wife Amanda, my brother Mason, my sister-in-law Mandy, and her husband AJ. They are all so much fun :) Love all of them! Our kids will have the coolest aunts and uncles ever ;)

5- My sweet nieces, Miryan and Makalyn. (Mandy & AJ's girls) These little girls may not be my blood nieces but I love them just the same. I've really known both of them since birth and when Brew & I actually started dating, Miryan was a year and Makalyn hadn't been born yet. I do love being "Aunt Missa". I love watching them grow & develop their own personalities and senses of humor. Love those little girls!

Allllrighty I think that's all for now, hopefully I'll get the hang of this daily posting thing ;)

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Thankful

So it's November already! Hard to believe. I've now been married for over 4 months! Crazy. It's been great so far :)

Soooo I thought for the month of November, with it being 30 days long, and you know, having Thanksgiving in it, I would come up with something for each day that I am thankful for. I really am blessed in soooo many ways, so it shouldn't be hard for me to come up with 30!

Since it's the third, I will do three today! :)

1- I'm thankful for my amazing husband. He is truly my very best friend. I may complain sometimes, but I honestly don't know what I'd do without him. He's always there to support and encourage me in every way, loves me unconditionally, and just plain makes me happy. Love you Brew! ♥

2- I'm thankful for my wonderful supportive parents. They have given me so much over the years, I know I could never express to them enough thanks. As I get older I can begin to appreciate the sacrifices they made and just the excellent, loving, job they did at raising me and my brothers.

and finally,

3- I'm thankful for my parents-in-law. I seriously could not have picked a better family to marry into. My mother-in-law & father-in-law have treated me like part of the family from day 1. Taking into account my previous relationships and all the stress and heartache I experienced having a significant other's parents treat me more like an outsider and not approve of me in general, it was a refreshing change to be welcomed in by Randy & Jerry. I AM a part of their family, they are wonderful people, and I love them!


Ok that's all for today folks, I'll try to keep these posts as much to daily as I can, if not I will do like I did today and group them together! :)

Adios!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Money Matters

Here it is, the week of payday-- Brew & I both get paid this Friday. It's Tuesday. Guess how much is in my account? It's embarrassingly small. We'll just say, it's under $50. And the thing is? This is the norm.

Let me give you some background here. My husband and I both work. I'm a substitute teacher, so my income varies somewhat- but lately my checks have been averaging around $500-600. I get paid the 15th and the 30th. My husband makes $11.74/hr, before taxes, but he'll usually get at least 4 hours of overtime a week.

We do not have a mortgage or rent payment. Since our house is owned by my family, I only have to pay the property taxes, which isn't due for some time. Our expenses include- groceries/toiletries and such, utilities, gasoline, car and renters insurance, cell phone bill, cable bill (internet and basic cable- which I'm getting ready to drop the cable tv portion), jeep payment, gasoline for both of our vehicles, and two credit cards. We do not spend money frivolously. I try to save as much as possible at the store (buying generic, shopping at the cheapest store around here- Walmart). We only eat out about twice a month. And yet between pays we're scraping the bottom of our checking account and seemingly never have a "cushion" of any kind.

My husband and I want to in the very near future, start looking to buy some land to eventually build a house of our own on, but I don't know how on earth we're going to be able to do that. Any unforseen expenses we've had to put on a credit card because we have no savings really to speak of.

I know so many people live and live well on LESS than what we make. My question is HOW DO YOU DO IT? I'm open to any and all suggestions to build up savings anywhere possible. I already do all I can to cut back on utility bills. Our heat doesn't kick on till the house is 65 degrees and the air won't kick on until the house is 77 degrees. My husband and I take only one car when it's possible.

So I guess I'm asking for all you fellow poor people to share your secrets for saving money! I feel like I can barely stay caught up, let alone build any kind of savings whatsoever.

Thanks!!!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Snip Snip!

Hi everyone! Well-- I cut my hair! 10 inches off to be exact! Here's a before & after shot (my before shot was right before I went to bed, so that's why I look like that haha, and my hair had been up all day):


I really like it. It only takes like 10-15 minutes to do in the morning, which is nice since before I pretty much always wore my hair in a ponytail or messy bun since it took like a half hour to dry and straighten. I will be mailing my hair to Locks of Love very soon! (Since it requires a bubble mailer and so a trip to the post office, I'm doing that the same time as I go to renew my passport w/my married name)

In other news I also saw the hematologist & had a ton of bloodwork done. My gyno sent me there to have genetic blood clotting tests done since my mom has had a blood clot (in her lung) and there's also a family history on my Dad's side. My freakin arm was sore for days!!! But I go back Nov. 15 to find out the results and things. I'm on progestin-only birth control right now, and basically IF they do find a clotting issue then I won't ever be able to take estrogen birth control and when I get pregnant my pregnancies will be deemed "high risk" (basically, they'll be monitoring me more closely and I may have to be on blood thinners when I'm pregnant.) So we'll see, hopefully everything will be normal and I won't have to worry about it!

Alright I need to get off here and do the dishes and laundry that I've literally put off all day long. Blahhhh. I need a housework fairy...

Friday, October 22, 2010

Hey! Just set up mobile posting & thought I'd see how it works out... Don't know how often I will use it but we will see! I will try & update tonight!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Little update

Hello world! Just thought I'd do a little update since I've been posting pretty regularly for once. First of all last weekend = great! :) Saturday I had to work at the Y in the early morning (blah) but then we headed down to my sister-in-law's for my niece's third birthday!!!


I just love her! ♥

And my other niece, Makalyn, started walking recently...

Love how she covered her face in this pic lol

Then after the party, we hung around w/Mandy & AJ (that's Brew's sis and her husband) and the girls for the rest of the day. We went to Big Lots, the park, then McDonalds for dinner. It was a lot of fun :)

Then on Sunday, after the usual church, lunch, clogging practice routine- we went to go look at some land for sale. It's 15 acres on Sam's Creek in Mineral Wells. We like it a lot, and when we have the opportunity we're going to go see what we can get approved for on a loan. The goal is to get some land relatively soon and have it paid off in about 5 years or so, then build or more likely, put a pre-fab home on the land. I'm real picky about location (I want to be in a good school district- out of town, plenty of room- but I still would like to have natural gas and preferably city water available. We'll probably focus our search in Mineral Wells and Belleville areas (for those of you who are familiar enough to the area we live in for that to mean anything LOL) But we'd like to get that ball rolling before we have kiddos.

Anyway, after that we came back home & last minute decided to invite my brother Matthew and sister-in-law Amanda over for dinner. So that was fun too :)

This week I've been busy working. I worked Monday, half of Tuesday (because I got called for jury duty AGAIN-- which thankfully I didn't have to serve this time), and then all of today. I have tomorrow off to get my hair cut and go to a doctors appointment.

Well-- I have to go to handbell practice-- like 5 min ago. LOL. So I'm off. I will probably update again tomorrow (about the hair cut-- I might go DRASTIC! :))

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Duke vid! :)

Some video I took of my puppy Duke playing in our yard the other day. The clicking noise in the background? That is what my digital camera does when recording. No idea why. Lol anyway, enjoy :)

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Fall...

So I decked out the blog for Fall! It's my favorite season :) I will work on a different (wider) banner sometime soon!

Don't really have much to update on, so I'll leave you w/a couple things to check out :)

First, the video of our clogging performance at Bob Evans Festival :)




Annd a few Fall-ish pics from TWO years ago (2008) of me & my cousin Stefani!



That's all for now!!! ♥

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Busy Weekend

Well we had a busy [but fun] weekend! Tomorrow I'm not going to be working because it's an in-service day for teachers (no school for students-- or subs!) So I get a day to recover, my hubby has to go to work though, haha.

Anyway, Saturday we got up & ready, dropped Duke off at my brother's for the day, then headed to Morgantown! We ate brunch at Ihop (sort of a tradition- everytime we're up there we go to Ihop- in Parkersburg we are not fortunate to have an Ihop w/in an hour drive and we both LOVE it). Then we headed up to Cooper's Rock State Park/Forest for a little bit. We are just short of reaching the peak of fall foliage but it was pretty anyway!







Then we went over to the kids' I babysit's great-grandma's house (they let us park there, they live w/in walking distance of the stadium) and visited with them for a while. Emma & I had matching hats so we had to get a picture together :)



Then we headed to the game! It was really sunny/hot (thankfully I remembered sunscreen & a hat!) but we won by a landslide! :)





On our way home we stopped at Murial's, an awesome italian restaurant in Fairmont, then picked up Duke & headed home!


Today (Sunday) I was clogging at the Bob Evans Festival in Rio Grande, OH, so we headed down there this morning! Our shows went really well :) There are several clogging groups that perform there, and each group gets a 20min show for whatever, then there's a themed show where each group performs a song that goes w/the theme. This year the theme was Christmas (as you can see...)




All in all, great weekend. I've got some video clips in the works for later!



Now my hubby is hollering for me to come to bed so I'm off!