Just wanted to say..

Merry Christmas Eve!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas! Yes, it is this week, so hard to believe. Makenna had her preschool Christmas party on Friday and now she is out of school for the next couple of weeks. The kids all sang some holiday songs, gave gifts to parents, got to sit on Santa's lap while getting a gift and then we had cookies and icecream.

Friday I also had scoured the web for my next haircut. I'm still growing it out but was bored with the 5 month old, now very long layers. I wanted a cut I could use as a style with still growing length. The cut I chose was a midlegth shag, oh yes, lots of layers=extra light hair but with all my length still. My stylist did a great job replicating the photo I brought in to her and decided to cut it all with a razor, oh yes! I loooooove getting my hair cut with a razor, the end product comes out so much more texturized and edgier. Needless to say I am in love with the new cut, I'll have to post a photo of it in the near future. I also went back to red hair this past week, firery red to be exact from Wella. It is a great red and it along with my new haircut make my highlights I did a couple weeks ago really look nice. It is also a demi haircolor so it will washout after a couple of months, ie-no roots, yay! I finally feel like me again, instead of a soccer mom..

I'm done Christmas shopping, finished last night actually, now I just have to sit and wait for my packages to come rolling in. I made the mistake of trying to Christmas shop in town last week and suddenly remembered why exactly I don't. TOO MANY PEOPLE. So I came home and finished the day shopping on web, including shipping, the exact same price as buying in the store but less work for me.

I have all my grades now for the semester and rocked A's on both finals and my term paper. Woohoo for another good semester and getting paid to finish my degree.

Merry Christmas!

Well my semester is finally over! I know my final grade for one class but the evolution class still has to grade my term paper and grade the final, although I did have a very high A before both of those so I should get an A in that class too.

Next semester I'm taking two classes again, this time Child Psychology and Into to Communication Theory, should be an interesting semester. I'm really looking forward to the Child Psychology class.

Last weekend we went over to Indiana to take part in the annual cookie making festivies, we had lots of fun and then on Sunday we celebrated Christmas there too. All our neighbors were happy to see me standing at their doors holding a plate full of cookies for them, lol.

This weekend we are suppose to meet up with Grand and Grandpa West around Bloomington to do some catching up.

I can't believe that it is almost 2011, the year will be over before we know it!

Here we go

Well...the semester is almost over now. I've turned in my term paper finished all my assignments except replying to a couple of posts and only have one final next week to review for. Luckily it isn't over the entire book but only over the last four chapters.
Last weekend we took a little road trip to Indy in order to meet Chris, Lara, Cathy and Darrell for a little weekend get together downtown. We had lots of fun cruising the downtown although it was a bit chilly.

Monday I took the car in to the dealership to get a recall done on it and had them install a new 12v battery while they were at it. The car had the original still in it and the voltage test in the car suggested it was dying. So in order to save myself a little pain and hassle since it is a vented battery and there are a ton of other connections you have to disconnect on the battery to get it out, I let them do it for me. It worked out well, they have wifi there so I plugged in my laptop and cell phone chargers and then pounded out the rest of my term paper.

This next weekend the three weeks of Christmas starts. This weekend is Christmas at grandpa Pat's then our Christmas then the Tennessee Christmas. Whew...

It has been a while...

since I've posted.

I should be in the shower right now, get crap done so I'm not rushing when I have to take M to preschool this morning. Like earlier this week, when she got to preschool and one of the teachers mention she has her shoes on the wrong feet...errr, I pretend she had put them on.

Last week I painted the dining room the same color as the kitchen, I love it. It makes the dining room feel so fresh and clean and HUGE!

Tonight we are going to the homecoming parade woohoo, M enjoys it when we go and I don't think we went last year. The weather is suppose to be quite nice today.

Tomorrow night I'm hosting a get together for some girls from high school. It has been quite some time since we have all been together and I'll admit that the planning and locking everyone in for a certain day was a lot less work than I had envisioned.

School is going well, midterms were last week. I actually didn't have any midterms, but did have a regular exam for my biological evolution class. I'm really enjoying this semester, probably because both classes I'm taking are science based and I lurrrrv science. I'm really excited that child psychology is going to be offered next semester, I really wanted to take that class but it wasn't offered this semester. Brent is also doing well in his classes, one of his classes he received the highest grade for the midterm in the class.

The other day we rented homer depot's truck and decided to buy the drywall for the living room ceiling, we were using the truck to move a large chair but figured we could kill two birds with one stone. So the drywall is sitting in the chapel, waiting, and taunting me. That project will require a little finesse. Tare down crappy closet, move alarm box, tare down crappy ceiling trim, drywall ceiling, paint the wall that was behind the crappy closet, install the chair rail, poly the trim that was behind the closet, decide if I want to install crown in the living room. One. Step. At. A. Time.

Yesterday at Walmart I found my coveted cinnamon flavored floss, yesssss, I've been looking everywhere for cinnamon floss and they had it!

What a weekend

This past weekend was a busy one, for sure.
Friday I met Grandpa Pat and Patty in Danville to hand off Makenna, so she could spend the night with them on Friday and Saturday.
With someone to watch Makenna we were able to go to the annual campout. It was a little chilly that night while sitting by the fire but our sleeping bags were nice and cozy. Sunday we drove to Newport, took a walk around the hillclimb and then made it back to Champaign. After we got back in town I changed the inverter coolant in the prius and then we picked up Mom from her bus that had arrived from Chicago. It was a busy day, I fell asleep around 9pm!

This week isn't too bad school wise, I have about three assignments to do, two chapters to read and then an exam that opens this weekend.

No big plans for next weekend, it is suppose to be warmer than it was last weekend.

Whewww

So I just finished a psychology paper, homework and a quiz, I have a couple of minutes before I have to run to pick up M from preschool. I apologize for the lack of post, the more papers I have to write for classes, the less I want to write here.

We were suppose to go to a birthday party in Danville this past weekend but didn't make it b/c Makenna was sick. She woke up Friday with a fever so I kept her home from preschool, around 5 we went to Convienent Care to get checked out b/c she had really swollen tonsils and I wanted to make sure she didn't have strep. Some steroids and antibiotics later she was on her way to feeling better.

Tonight I need to stop by Mom's to check in on her cats as she is out in Oregon visiting Aunt Jenni! It's been a while since she's had a vacation and I think the first time she's been to Oregon.

I am patiently waiting for my newest package to arrive...from  Hong Kong. It's a palette with 88 neutral eyeshadows, kinda like the Urban Decay naked palette, but not $40. Bought it off ebay, I just hate how long it takes stuff to get here from Hong Kong though.

We got a new laptop that has a webcam so now we are able to skype, which has been pretty cool. The laptop we got is a Dell Mini, it's sooo mini! I really like the size.

This weekend Makenna gis oing to spend some time with Grandpa Pat and Patty so Brent and I can go to the yearly campout, woohooo! We really enjoy going every year and are thankful to those who make it possible for us to go.

For dinner tonight, Pasta bake! I had leftover spaghetti sauce from last week sooo...

1. Last night Brent helped me move the desk from the laundry room in to the dressing room to use as a vanity. This way I can move ALL my makeup out of the bathroom upstairs and put it in a room that has lots of natural light! I'm excited!

2. Mom dropped off the loveseat cushions with the new cushion covers last night, they look sooo good! The whole loveseat looks great now and it is so comfy! I'm glad she can sew, I simply cannot. She took some throw pillows back with her to make covers out of the leftover dropcloth.

3. Brent's taking the day off tomorrow since it's Makenna's birthday!

4. I'm thinking about making a run to Biglots and maybe the homestore today.

5. I need to post my homework that is due Sunday, since we'll be so busy this weekend.

6. I'd take a picture of the vanity, loveseat and wall but I need to find the camera first.

1. So yesterday I painted all most of the trim downstairs in the sitting room. I had to take a few breaks since I was finding it super difficult to focus, at one point I broke a lamp, at another point the hammer fell off the ladder and landed in my pan of paint (spraying paint everywhere).

2. I also painted a "reverse" accent wall in the sitting room. So all but one of the walls are still the dark blue but one is a light blue. I also slapped a new coat of paint on the fireplace, to freshen it up.

3. While at Homedepot we looked at some of the bathroom vanities they had on sale to replace the sink in the upstairs bathroom. While the sink that came with the house was a cool, 1920-30s sink, we desperately needed more storage, for things like toilet paper. Yes, we brought it home in the Prius. In fact, we didn't even have to lay any seats down, it fit right in the back. Brent hooked it up yesterday, I have some finishing work to do since this new sink is shorter but wider than the last one.

We decided on this one, the sink is as white as the photo but the countertop is a darker tan:

1. Spent a very small part of the day working on the house, re-glazing a window, scraping some failing paint off the exterior, priming the last few pieces of shoe molding in the sitting room. I bought a gallon of the white I've been using for trim, antique white, it is a kinda very light creamy marshallow whitish color. How many days do I have left before I'm suppose to have my short term goals completed?

2. The rest of the day was spent driving around..for lunch..for increase..going to the bank...going to the home depot..going to the grocery.

3. I should be helping Brent fold laundry but I'm here posting...

4. Drove to Indiana on Friday, felt like taking a drive so we went and visited some family and took a dip in the pool.

5. Friday night we hit up the sweet corn festival over in Urbana and enjoyed the live music. This evening you could hear the live music while sitting on the front porch.

6. I made some super tasty ham and bean soup with corn bread for dinner, yum!

Blog Challenge; Day 14

Day 14: Post a photo of something you ate today and 10 confessions.

Confessions:

1. I skipped day 13. I was at a loss for words and was trying to come up with something, that is why I haven't posted in about a week.
2. I didn't eat the above bagel today, I ate it yesterday. It was so yummy, from Einstein Brothers Bagels on Lincoln. An everything with onion and chive cream cheese, chews like it's from New York.
3. We got the rest of the shoe molding cut and nailed in place last night around 11. Now I need to paint the rest of the trim so it doesn't look so grimy.
4. Today is Friday but it feels like Saturday. Brent took off yesterday since it was so nice outside and we had dentist appointments in the morning. No cavities, yay! Makenna had her teeth cleaned too, even had x-rays taken, she did a really good job.
5. Last night I also cut the threshold for the bathroom. Now I can't decide if I want to paint it white and poly over it (it will turn a little yellow from the poly) or just poly and keep the wood look (there is no other unpainted wood in the kitchen or the bathroom). I'm doing well on my August goals!
6.  I can't believe it will be September next week!
7. We bought Makenna a new used VCR to replace the second one she's worn out. We have a nice looking sony now from the Homestore. I also bought a frieze carpet remnant that almost exactly resembles a rug I've been eyeing online and at Meijer. Rug at Meijer and online $70, carpet remnant at the Homestore $7.
8. I have a psychology assignment due Monday that I haven't done yet, Oh noz!
9. I am loving this much cooler weather and have some fall-ier clothes coming my way in the mail.
10. I've not colored my hair in over 4 months and the last time I colored it, it was a wash out demi permanent color. Say it with me now, oooooOOoooo.

Blog Challenge: Day 12

Day 12- A picture of your room and don’t cheat by cleaning it. Share a secret.


Let me warn you it is messy! Now where's Waldo Nermal in the photo? Can you spot her?

Here's my secret: After being not so smart yesterday and drinking TWO glasses of ice tea at dinner, I was still up at 3am..don't post your Day 11 challenge late at night b/c you'll end up having a nightmare about it like I did.

Another secret: This creature scares me on a daily basis

Blog Challenge: Day 11

Day 11- A picture of something you dislike.

Maggots...need I say more.

Blog Challenge- Day 10

Day 10- A story about a past relationship.

Hmmm, so since I married my second boyfriend I had in high school this will be from when I was a young'in.

In 5th grade I "dated" a boy who I really liked but he got in trouble a lot at school, didn't do his homework which resulted in terrible grades. I made an ultimatum, either he changed his behavior and grades or we couldn't be "together" any longer (ie- he couldn't sit by me during free reading time). He tried, it didn't last long, it didn't work out. At that age I learned that you can't expect anyone to change for you, they have to do it for themselves. I also learned at that age that you must stand true to who you are. I learned to not change yourself to be with someone else because at that point you are no longer yourself, are you?

Now you know why I got married at eighteen. I get it, I got it.. young. There are some people double my age that still don't get it....

Blog Challenge- Day 9

Day 9- Something/someone you’re proud of.

Our house: We've been here almost 6 years now and it truly feels like home. No other place else could match what this place does for us. I'm proud of all the work we've done to it and love we've given back. This photo was taken when we were first buying it. Before we cut down all the bushes in the front, repainted the front porch, had a new roof put on. We've also done some work to the inside too like ripping up the carpet on the first floor and refinishing the hardwood that was sitting under it. We have made some smart financial decisions and managed to get a house with everything we wanted and needed for a fairly small mortgage (for this area). This small mortgage makes it much easier to pay the house in full someday. How exciting will that be!

Blog Challenge - Day 8

Day 8- Short term goals for this month and why.

1. Reupholster the loveseat w/the dropcloth I bought at Meijer yesterday. A goal b/c I've been wanting to do this for months and slipcovers piss me off.

2. Finish mitering and install the shoe moulding in the blue sitting room. The room is like 90 percent done except for this, well, the trim could use a fresh coat of paint too.

3. Scrape, sand, prime and paint some of the outside window sills. Why? Some of the paint is failing...and it looks crappy.

4. Cut and paint the trim I have for the bathroom threshold to cover the seam in the new vinyl. I should have done it months ago.

I'm calling those my short term goals for August....

Blog Challenge- Day 7

Day 7- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you.

My little baby girl, love her more than I ever imagined I would.

Blog Challenge: Day 6

Soooo, I missed a few days of the blog challenge. I had a busy week; Wednesday a trip to Cayuga, Thursday a trip to Danville and Friday a trip to the pool. Onward!

 Day 6- A hobby you have.

Cooking! I really like cooking, the smell, the sound, the textures, mmmmmm. New recipes, old recipes, it doesn't matter.

Photos posted...

New photos are posted from the West reunion that we went to last weekend. Go check em' out!

Blog Challenge: Day 5

Day 5- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to.


The Dominican Republic and Punta Cana were soooo beautiful and well worth the moola!

Blog Challenge: Day 4

Today's blog challenge was interesting, I just went through my Itunes library. It should also be noted that I have not bought new music in forever.

Day 4- List 15 songs that represent your life’s soundtrack.

1. LaLa- Ashley Simpson
2. Chasing Pavements- Adele
3. Walk A Little Straighter- Billy Currington
4. Perfect- Sara Evans
5. My Prerogative- Britney Spears
6. Back At One- Brian McKnight
7. Save Tonight- Eagle Eye Cherry
8. Cheek to Cheek- Ella Fitzgerald
9. Glamorous-Fergie
10. Bitch- Meredith Brooks
11. Home- Michael Buble
12. Smile- Nat King Cole
13. Want To- Sugarland
14. Breathe Me- Sia
15. Amber- 311

Blog Challenge: Day 3

Day 3- A habit that you wish you didn’t have.

Peeling my fingernail polish or biting my nails when I'm nervous. This past semester I tried to not bite my nails while doing school work. I ended up having BOTH eyelids twitch for around a two week period, after which I finally gave in and bit my nails..the twitching stopped. There it is.

Blog Challenge- Day 2

A little late b/c I was out of town but....Day 2- A picture of something you cannot live without.

Blog Challenge- Day 1

Today's Blog Challenge:
Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself.

I like this photo, my bewbs look nice in it, haha. Loved that hair style but my hair couldn't take the flat iron on a daily basis.

15 Interesting facts about yourself:

1. When I learned to read in 1st grade, it made more sense to read from right to left, instead of the opposite.

2. Because I'm left handed I occasionally go to the wrong side of the door to open it without thinking.

3. I jack the radio up LOUD in the car when cruising around town and get really excited when they play old school snoop in the afternoon.        d-o-double g!

4. I get hit on by really weird guys on a regular basis. Like yesterday...and the day before yesterday..

5. I love my vintage engagement ring more than I ever thought I could. I think I was born in the wrong era as I love the 40s and 50s.

6. I hate that I don't have any lady friends that have kids Makenna's age. Yet, I refuse to wear sweats without any makeup and greasy hair to the library so I am more approachable to the other moms. I just can't do it.

7. I'd love to start my own business someday but I don't want to take the financial risk, even though I know I would be successful.

8. I really don't like the sound of crickets or cicadas, especially cicadas...diiiiiieee already.

9. I get treated differently by people if I wear my hair naturally curly the first time I meet them. When meeting a doctor or employer for the first time I will always straighten it, otherwise I'm not taken seriously.

10. I enjoy shopping at the second hand stores in town, ebay or on craigslist. I can't stand paying full price for something. Shoes, clothes, cooking utensils, engagement rings, exercise machines, wood chippers.. you name it. Most everything in our home was used.

11. I'm not really keen on my dogs name but I haven't changed it because her name was my justification of choosing her specifically. Haha.

12. I just realized I forgot to look at a canvas drop cloth at Home Depot that I was going to use to upholster a loveseat with. Booo. I also don't know how to upholster and am very bad at sewing.

13. I have no idea when my semester starts..and didn't even think about it until I received my textbooks yesterday...

14. I can't believe my baby is going to be 4 in a matter of weeks! That makes me feel so old...but not as old as some people that haven't had any kids yet.

15. I spent more money shopping today than I "should" have even though I'm not stuck to any kind of a budget. Even though my shopping binges come nowhere close to a regular person's, I still feel guilty.

Blog Challenge for 30 days:

I saw this on another blog and thought it was an interesting idea. So..as a way to spice up the blog and increase posting...I am gonna do a blog challenge. Starting tomorrow...Lol.

Here's the challenge. You a post for 30 days and you post something different based on this schedule:


Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself.

Day 02- A picture of something you cannot live without.

Day 03- A habit that you wish you didn’t have.

Day 04- List 15 songs that represent your life’s soundtrack.

Day 05- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to.

Day 06- A hobby you have.

Day 07- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you.

Day 08- Short term goals for this month and why.

Day 09- Something/someone you’re proud of.

Day 10- A story about a past relationship.

Day 11- A picture of something you dislike.

Day 12- A picture of your room & don’t cheat by cleaning it. Share a secret.

Day 13- Write a letter telling someone something you could never tell them.

Day 14- A picture of something you ate and 10 confessions.

Day 15- Put your iPod on shuffle & share the first 10 songs that play.

Day 16- Something you could live without.

Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why.

Day 18- Plans/dreams/goals you have.

Day 19- Nicknames you have & how or why you have them.

Day 20- If you had 3 wishes, what would they be.

Day 21- Share a picture from your day.

Day 22- What makes you different from everyone else.

Day 23- What is something you crave.

Day 24- Share a story about your past that you are ashamed of.

Day 25- What I would find in your bag.

Day 26- Places you want to visit before you die.

Day 27- Why are you doing this 30 day challenge?

Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?

Day 29- In this past month, what have you learned.

Day 30- A picture of you today & 20 goals you want to accomplish.
 
Stayed tuned for the Day 1 posting tomorrow!

New photos are posted..

New photos are posted at shutterfly, use the link on the right sidebar!

Ding Dong

Avon Fedex calling.
This morning the doorbell rang and the Mr. Fedex dude dropped off my textbooks for this coming semester. They were in a bubble envelope. Oh yes. Just two less than an inch each textbooks. From the looks of things it is going to be a very nice semester. The biology evolution class looks like it is going to be exactly what I wanted. Evolution looked at from a cellular level, gene alleles, heterotrophes, transcription and all that, hellls yeah. My brain eats up natural sciences like nothing else. I'm also taking another psychology class b/c they are also very interesting and my brain likes them too.

That's it..two classes both science, score!

Hazy Days

The heat has finally let up a little this weekend. I am all ready for fall, this summer has just been too hot. On top of that we didn't have much of a spring either, just summer.

We haven't done much this weekend. Yesterday we took a trip to convenient care because Makenna's tongue looked a lot like she might have a case of thrush. She also had been sick the past couple of days, which didn't bother me as much. Anyway, the doctor said the virus she has is hand, foot and mouth, a self limiting virus and he wasn't sure if she also had a case of thrush or not. So we have a prescription to fill if it starts too look any worse. So Makenna isn't suppose to be around kids for a couple of days b/c she is contagious, so we've been home. On a side note the convenient care in the county market by us closed...booo.

I still haven't uploaded all the photos from our trip out east, maybe I'll get that done today.

New York and PA

I'm having some problems with the new photo loading tool on the blog, so one of the photos was loaded 4 times and isn't allowing me to delete it. Whatever. Here are some photos from our latest roadtrip. We drove out to Pennsylvania for a family reunion and also took a jog over to New York City while we were on the east coast.

Favorite Quote in the exhibit.

Say Hay!

Ellis Island

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New York City Pizza!

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Brent shooting at the farm.

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Makenna's new hat.

NYC

Over in NYC, photos will be posted once we get back!

TURN DOWN YOUR SPEAKERS-Makenna at the Navy Pier

Chris and Lara shot this video of Makenna at the Navy Pier on our Speed Boat ride.

The Fourth

The past weekend we traveled up to Michigan City, Indiana to see Chris and Lara's house and celebrate the Fourth! We had a nice time catching up with everyone, including Cathy and Darrell. We made our own private fireworks display and made a trip to the Navy Pier. We hit some crappy traffic on the way home, boo. Chris and Lara took Makenna to Indiana Beach yesterday, she had a great time. A special thanks goes out to our dudes at CarX for replacing our left wheel bearing a couple of days before we left town, we had a nice safe smooth ride up to Michigan City and back.

Today I am catching up on laundry, dishes, cleaning and doing a little more painting of the trim. As you can imagine the house can always use a cleaning with a three year old. Friday Grandma Bonnie and Terry are coming to visit us for a little while. I've got a laundry list of stuff to get done before they get here.

We had a really busy weekend, Brent says he felt like it was a mini vacation. Friday we went to dinner, stopped to meet Mom's new cat "Nooggie" (she hasn't renamed her yet) at her apartment and then got on the road. We headed to Gibson City for the drive in movie theater. Our first time there. We saw Toy Story 3, or at least most of it. The winds started picking up, along with some lightening and then the tornado sirens. Sooo, we left and drove into the storm, booo. We got home late that night, as the movie didn't start until about 9:15.

Saturday morning we got up and got on the road to Danville, where we met up with a friend of Brent, his wife and his daughter. We went to lunch and then hit to the road. This time to Indiana Beach. About two hours later we arrived. We hit up the waterpark and then had some fun on the rides. We stayed until the fireworks ended, basically til the park closed. We had a great time with them and as always Makenna had lots of fun with their daughter too, they are kinda close in age. We arrived home around 12:30 on Sunday morning, very tired.

Sunday we celebrated Father's Day with lots of naps and eating out. For lunch we had Indian food and then for dinner we hit up dollar sushi night. It was gooooood.

I think today Makenna and I are going take it nice and slow today. Maybe just a run to the grocery store to grab a few things for dinner tonight.

June

1. I can't believe it is the middle of June already! Summer will be over before I know it.

2. I would post some photos buuuut I haven't taken any lately (ducks behind the couch).

3. Yesterday I got a certificate from Eastern in the mail. I made the Dean's list, woohoo.

4. My hydrangea must have heard me last year when I said I'd give it one more year before ripping it out. It's blooming as we speak, for the second time since we've been in the house. Let me tell you what I did to get it to bloom..........nothing. Just like other years. Whatever.

5.We've been to the pool a couple of times this week. Thinking about going again today, I think my side boob burn has healed...

6. We've also been to the library multiple times this week. I'm in need of a good summer book, the one I was reading started to blow get boring about 1/3 of the way through, I quit reading it. A good summer book=something a little trashy and usually based in the south, lol.

7. Yesterday we went to the indoor playground after our picnic at an outdoor playground. I got my walk on for about an hour while Makenna ran around and played. Worked out well.

Summer Loves

1. The sight of the fireflies in the backyard when it is pitch dark. It looks like a floating construction site. I tried to take video of it but it didn't show up well.

2. Going to the pool as many times a week as the weather permits. And the awesome radio they play.

3. Sitting at the picnic tables while sharing ice cream with loves at the local custard dive.

4. Summer tan lines.

5. Summer thunderstorms.

6. Finding the exact product you were going to buy brand new at the local thrift store for 1/10th of the price.

7. Driving with the windows down and wind in your hair.

8. Knowing I have no homework.

Wonderful Wednesday

1. Went to the pool today, it was soooo nice and sunny. I'm gonna miss it come fall.

2. This past weekend I gave in and had layers cut back in my hair so it would look better when I wear it curly, so I can wear it curly. The flat iron on a daily basis was killing my ends! It is soo much better now. My long term goal is to grow it out...but you know how I am.

3. Listed some more stuff on the ole ebayer today. Selling an old camera, phone, and flat iron. I believe I have a buyer for my craigslist ad too, we will see.

4. Brent says he needs a vacay, I agree.

5. I'm on a ploy to eat out less. Wish me lunch.

6. I did a lot today: worked out, went to the pool, went to the library, listed ebay stuff, returned a movie, yadayadayada...

I remember why I liked Makenna going to preschool so much:

1.The house stayed wayyyy cleaner.
2. I didn't have to argue with a 3 year old...as much.

On the way to the car from the library Makenna pointed out that a car we passed looked like our car, to which I said "yes it does". And then she repeated the statement no less than TWELVE times in a row. Arrrgggghh, you know in dumb and dumber when the dude asks if he wants to hear the most annoying sound in world....word repetition is mine! I know I'm in a crabby mood.

I got to Walgreens to pick some more fish oil since I knew they were doing a buy one get one special and I had a free redbox code. I forgot to write down the specific kind of fish oil I've been using, doh. But I did pick up some shout and dryer sheets which I needed. Buuuut, the whole point of going to Walgreens instead of the regular grocery was the fish oil. FAIL.

On the upside, I made my bed today. On the down side I did not workout this morning, boooo.

Who's making me dinner?

Happy Wednesday!

I FINALLY uploaded photos to the photosite, you can find them to the right in the sidebar under our photo site. Enjoy!

Memorial weekend

1. Saturday we (Makenna and I) went to the pool for the first time of the season, the first day it opened. We enjoyed the lazy river, ahhh, so relaxing. Makenna even saw some of the kids from her preschool class there too. After the pool we enjoyed some dinner from Red Lobster b/c frankly I hadn't taken my fish oil pill yet and was reallllly craving seafood.

2. Sunday Mom was nice enough to watch Makenna for us while we went over to Lake Shelbyville to spend the day boating with one of Brent's old coworkers. We had a nice time though the water was a tad cold. We got back kinda late Sunday night but Makenna was spending the night with Mom so it wasn't a big deal.

3. Monday we picked up Makenna and then just bummed around the house. It rained off and on most of the day, though we did take a walk in the rain at one point while Makenna pretty much rode her bike. She is getting the hang of the pedaling now and we moved her seat up for her.

4. Today was the first non-preschool day. I've done well today. By noon: dinner was in the crockpot, I had put in 30 minutes on the elliptical, breakfast and lunch had been served and we were getting ready to head to the pool again. Go me.

Busy bees

1. This weekend was a busy one. Saturday we were all, ahhh we aren't going to do anything, and by Saturday night we were like ahhhh, it is so nice outside lets do something. I should mention that it rained this past week every single day but this weekend was supppper sunny.

2. I finished priming and painting my brackets. They took forever to paint b/c of all the little details. I ended up just painting them my Queen Anne Lilac from Sherwin Williams, the color the porch use to be. About 7 Sunday night they were installed, Ethan was nice enough to let us borrow his finishing nail gun, and it was sweeeet.



3. I pieced together the old post and part of my "new" old post from paca to make one non rotted post, it looks nice. I still need to caulk around a couple of points to help the water stay away.

4. Brent was super nice and mowed the lawn for meeeee!

5. Brent also was super nice and cleaned out the pump filter and skimmer filter for meeee!

6. The front porch is like 99% done, there is one spot on the threshold I could reach with the screen door open while painting from the inside. On the second coat of porch paint we added a non-skid additive to help the porch be less slick when wet.

7. I caught the mouse Brent saw run under the entertainment center, we let him go in a field... far far away.

8. Saturday we went for a picnic at one of the local parks. Blanket.. check, dog..check, food, especially some tasty food from the farmers market from earlier..check.

Halfway

1. The week is halfway over, woohoo.

2. Monday night we had the Grandparents, Dad and Patty over for dinner, it was tasty and everyone enjoyed themselves. The Grandparents brought Brent a bike over, it has worked out really well for him b/c he is so tall and so is the frame. Oh yeah and the fact that it has two pedals! He's been riding it since they brought it over!

3. Tonight it was nice enough not to rain, Brent put a second coat of porch paint down, this coat had some non-slip traction crap in it. Maybe with the non-slip stuff, the porch will be a little less slippery when wet, cause holy crapola it was slippery.

4. I haven't even started priming my porch brackets yet. And I am not sure what color I want to paint them after I prime them. On the plus side, Ethan has a finishing nail gun and agreed to let me borrow it when I install them..sweet!

5. The lawn needs to be mowed.

6. Daisy has been hopping around on three legs since yesterday when she was rough housing with Makenna and Makenna won. She started putting more weight on it this evening, so I am not too concerned. Let me tell you it doesn't slow her down AT ALL.

7. It was warm enough today that I was able to wear my new to me, really cute, black tier skirt that I bought from the goodwill for $3. I must say that it is my favorite skirt at this point, I rocked it with a pair of wedges and a shirt that happened to match my toe polish. I've really been trying to work on working with my wordrobe.

8. I am starting to get my tan on, fake tan that is. Annnnd, I just bought my pool pass for the summer online, watch out, here Makenna and I come (then I'll have a real tan)!

Ta da!

1. Turns out I got an A in all five classes I took this semester, woohoo. Go me. I did manage send my books back like a good girl, those mother's are heavy! Brent's last final is today, he turned in his last assigments last night. Go him. He will have a sigh of relief after this week, since it has been so busy.

2. Last night while Brent was writing his paper, I went ahead and finished taping off the kitchen and then decided to just get it over with and paint it. Ahhhh, it feels so much better in there with the new creamy yellow, works much better with the dark green cabinets and dark blue counters. It feels so much bigger. Here are the before and after photos, these were taken at night in artificial light. Soooo much softer.

3. Pick up some brackets yesterday from the homerdepot. They are ornate victorianish brackets to put next to the porch posts to try and frill up the porch a little. Brent and I decided we liked the larger bracket, so I returned the smaller ones and bought some more big ones. They need to be primed and painted now.....

4. Made a repair to one of the front porch boards, we'll see how long it lasts. I first tried just using some wood filler, but the hole was too deep and it didn't setup properly. So I dug all that out, removed all the rot, blasted it with a hairdrier (I don't have a heat gun) and had read online about bondo being used with success in rehabing damaged wood. Soooo, bondo it was. I laugh as I think of the faces my father and grandfather are making as they read this. See, there are other uses for bondo besides making cat pawprints for school projects..I mean car repairs, lol.

5. For Mother's day/our anniversary of 10 years of dating Brent bought me a new necklace. Sooo pretty, I've been wanting it for a while. The other day at the mall I also found a super cute headband, some ribbon, some feathers, some netting, love it!

6. For good measure: A photo of Miss M. after preschool, they had fun with face painting.

DONE!

1. Classes are done for the semester, woohooo! Grades are due today, I know I have an A in all my online classes, that just leaves one, one credit hour class that I took remotely at Parkland. Not sure what I got in that one.

2. I have a list of errands to run today. Run by the post office to return my textbooks to Eastern, they let you rent them. Take some stuff back to the library that is overdue today. Go to the mall for a secret shop, yay new stuff for me!

3. It is still pretty cold today, only around 55 this morning and it is going to rain this afternoon. Actually, it is suppose to rain most of this week, boooo. Since the cold snap this weekend we were unable to get a coat of the brown porch paint up on the porch. It takes a while to dry, so we need some warm and dry days.

4. Yesterday I got around to planting the veggie garden of the year. I still need to plant my lettuce but everything else is in the ground, ok well raised beds, not ground. This year we are growing: red onions, yellow onions, broccoli, tomatoes, brussel sprouts, basil, cilantro, parsley, strawberries and apparently cucumbers...seeds from the first year we had our garden that just keep coming back.

5. I have a little bit of cold, that Makenna gave Brent, and then I got. Just some sinus discomfort, but at least I don't have any homework that I have to do.

6. Maybe this week I can get back on my workout bandwagon. Thought about bringing the elliptical inside and putting it in the guest room for a bit, better accessibility for me.

7. We got a new vacuum this past weekend. It really sucks, literally, it does an awesome job. It had great reviews on amazon, it was recommended on a blog I read and it was the right price (and on sale). My old one had been chewed on by the bunny a long time ago and if you weren't paying attention and grabbed the power cord wrong way watch out, zzzzappp! The floor level adjuster was also broken and it makes a super loud sqeaky sound when you turn it off. Although it was eight years old, it did last. I spent slightly less money on my vacuum I bought this weekend than I did eight years ago, score. Did I mention the new vacuum came with a stair tool?

Finally posting..

1. I finished the rest of my finals for the semester this morning. Scored an A on my psychology final and I have yet to have my nursinig final grade released, this usually means you didn't miss any. I finished just in time to jump in the shower and run to the store for some preschool supplies before picking Makenna up for the day. Now I just need to work on packing up my books to mail back to Eastern. Brent has a paper and two finals left for his semester.

2. Yesterday we finally found the perfect paint colors we were looking for. We decided on Bittersweet chocolate for the front porch floor and cornbread for the kitchen and most likely the dining room. Cornbread is the perfect warm creamy yellow! We tested two other browns on the porch that didn't work out and probably four colors in the kitchen that we loved on swatches but not in actually paint swatches on the wall.

3. Picked up some plants this past week from the homerdepot since they were having an awesome 5 for $10 on some quart plants. I bought quite a few hostas, I have a small obsession with them. We now own some pretty cream and green ones, and by some I mean like 8.

4. It is a short week this week. Brent took a furlough on Friday, it is our 10 year dating anniversary. Can't believe it has been so long! What to do, what to do.

5. This past weekend we had fun going to the first farmer's market of the season, lots of people were there and lots of vendors were there. Kettle corn, vegetarian bbq, lemon shake ups and funnel cakes, yummmmm.

6. Yesterday when Makenna fell asleep in the car, we decided to make the most of it, parked and got some Cocomero. Brent also went and got us a roll from SushiRock, it was sooooo goood. I really want to go and actually eat there. Kofusion watch out.


7. The new pond pump, filter and skimmer for the pond have been working super great. The pond is so clear and the fish like it because they just zoooom all around the pond.

8. A couple of weeks ago I decided I was going to color my hair since the ends of my hair were a good two to three levels lighter than my roots. I read a blog that talks only about hair color cause I looooove hair color. Anyway, I wandered down to Sally's to buy from a line that the blog recommends. WELLA oh my wella. I decided on chestnut by wella, a colorcharm, a demi-permanant color. Freak my hair has never been as shiny as it was after I colored it with this stuff. It did turn out a bit darker than I anticipated but I lovvve the color and apparently it does run a level darker. Go get yourself some. I also picked up a packet of the ion effective care treatment, verrrry nice.

Our weekends always seem to fly by! This past weekend we had a little get together with Ryan and Heather and their two little ones. We had a nice time, grabbed some lunch, went to the park and then grabbed some yogurt. Last night we went out to celebrate Mom's birthday at Buttitta's.

I haven't posted new photos on the photo site in forever, after the semester ends I will make an effort to get that up to date. Only a few more weeks. Only two of my classes have test finals, the other two have papers I write for finals. I still have a psychology quiz to take tonight, finally finished reading the chapter today.

Ordered a new pond pump, filter box and a skimmer for the pond this weekend. Our pump died at the end of last season. Not bad considering it was pump that came with the pond when we bought the house five years ago. I figured we would also try a skimmer this time around, that should help remove the large debri before it has the chance to sink and clog the filter and pump. Got a decent deal on ebay.

Thursda---err Wednesday

Since it was so nice outside today I started on homework early in the morning so I could head to the mall. Makes sense right. Any had a victoria secret free panty and $10 off a purchase coupon. A pair of bright blue panties and a pair of shiny gold panties later..I am $4 in the hole. But the gold pair is really pretty! You remember that episode of Sex in the City were Carry is a model in a fashion show and she wears nothing but a coat and some rhinestone panties, along that line. Shiny pretty, Oooo Aaaahh. I must be part raccoon. Anyway I also had some limited coupons, one for $15 off a purchase, except after reading ALL the fine print exclusions, decided that getting a $15 discount would end in me spending at least $20, booooo, no new limited clothes for me.

It's nice out, the windows are open, ahhh fresh air. The house was colder this morning than it was outside.

Brent is fetching bread and cheese on his way home, woohoo to the close grocery, I'm gonnna make some cheese fondue and eat my leftover shrimp..yuuuum.

I keep thinking tomorrow is Friday, it is not. I have a couple more assignments to finish before the end of the weekend, booooo. Really only one big one though..and I'm procrastinating, which is why I went shopping instead of doing it today.

I like it when Makenna's preschool class goes to the park. I am returned an extremely worn out child and she sleeps, shhhhh. That means I get to watch tv on the net!

I've been doing well with working out and eating healthily this week, whoohoo. Lost a little bit of weight. On the wii I unlocked a step level that lets you watch normal tv while working out and repetitively stepping, OOOHHH heck yeah! I am still working towards unlocking the meditation balance game..must..keep..trying.

I can hear some live music being played from downtown...ahhhh..I love Shampoobanana.

Monday Monday

Whoot, whomp whomp. I did a TON of homework today, yet only seemed to actually get a few things done. One quiz. One assignment. Read one chapter...almost, few more pages to go. Wrote one paragraph for my geography essay..almost. Seriously.

Friday we (Brent) took the car the CarX across the street to get the oil changed. Mentioned that it was sounding a little rough. The water pump was on the outs, got a new one. She purrrrs like a kitten now. Not to mention CarX rocks and had the car ready that same afternoon, they ROCK!

I can't believe Easter is this weekend, seriously. I have no motivation, none. I want to make egg jigglers, if someone finds a mould let me know. Stopped at Target over the weekend to look at little bikes with training wheels for Makenna. Mannn, they are also the cost of a full size bike! Went to habitat today to see if they had any gently loved ones, no dice. Next I'll be looking at one of the Salvation Army stores, craigslist doesn't seem to have any listed either, booooo.

Got a quilt at Tjmaxx this weekend, it happens to look a lot like the bedding that the decorating blog I like to read has...imagine that. It is a nice thin quilt for the summer time, when you want covers but don't want the heat from covers. And don't get me started on top sheets, I get tangled in those faster than a fly on flytape (bwah hahaha, you should see your face). I'm tired, as if you couldn't tell. Out!

Spring Break

This week is Champaign's and the U of I's spring break. Eastern's spring break was last week, it was nice, I actually didn't do any homework...I also failed to realize Makenna had spring break this week. I did work ahead in my geography class a couple of weeks ago so I don't have to worry about that but I have a psychology quiz (still need to read the chapter), a medical terminology quiz (need to read this chapter too), an adults in transition quiz (guess what I need to read..) and two discussion essays and response posts to write...almost all of this is due Sunday. Yay. Brent has agreed to watch Makenna a few nights while I go to the chapel or library to do some school work. Whew. I was FREAKING CRAZY for taking a semester of full time classes. The fall semester of 6 credit hours (two classes instead of 5) will be much easier for me to deal with. I only have 6 more weeks of class this semester and then I'll be FREE all summer!

Brent is doing well in his master's classes, he is only taking two which seems to be a good fit for him. We are both getting A's in all our classes, aren't we special. He will also have the summer off from school, whoot. Brent had a nice birthday yesterday, we tried out a new restaurant, Hoolihan's. It is next to the Ihotel, it was mehhh, hotel food. For dinner Brent wanted to go to Escobar buuuut apparently it is closed on Monday's. Booo, so we went to the Great Impasta instead.


I'm going to get a pool pass this year so I can take Makenna multiple times a week and we can have some fun. I figure twice a week at the pool, twice a week at the park and then on friday at some point she will go to preschool (just to keep the familiarity with going). The teacher said Friday Makenna made friends with a little girl named Isabella and they just chat away at each other all day.

The spring planting has started. I've planted some more lillies (love lillies) and I bought some elephant ears (yeah I know they aren't hardy). We also went to Prarie Gardens this weekend and I picked up some sweet pea, more lambs ear, crap and some other stuff that I don't recall right now. They are sitting downstairs in the kitchen ready to be planted today, when I get around to it. Today looks like it will be a nice and sunny day to do so!

Washed away by a gentle tide

This weekend was a moderately busy one. Chris and Lara came down Friday night and spent the weekend at our house. They took Makenna to see Lara's nieces at the ice skating rink here in town, I took the opportunity to get some primer on the dressing room's walls. The room was a tealy color before, rather reminded me an easter egg, you remember.. the last post I was talking about it, how I didn't like it..yada yada. Anyway, it you look under my links there is a new blog that I love to frequent. Called Young House Love, take a gander, they have some great decorating ideas. One of their bedrooms and their kitchen is painted a color called "Gentle Tide" by Glidden, that's right (ahhhhhh), say it with me.. Gentle Tide (catch a whiff of the warm salty air, ahhh).

ANYWAY, I liked the color in the photos, so I took a gander to the ole' homerdepot to get a paint chip, errrr, a sample b/c it is a discontinued color, BUT it is still in the computer so they can mix it for you. I slapped that puppy on the wall, and man it is a light color, especially for me, lets face it, my entire downstairs is dark colors. In certain light Gentle Tide looks blue, or gray, or green..it. is. LOVE. I've been looking for the perfect light bluish but not really bluish color for years, and this was exactly what I was looking for, it feels so fresh and clean. So we finished the room yesterday and words cannot explain how beautiful it is, I'm going back to the Young House Love blog and I'm going to collect all the paint chips of colors they recommend. Ladies and Gentleman I present, the before and afters...

Vacay Pics from the DR-Punta Cana

We had a great time on our vacation to Punta Cana, I'd like to thank the Grandparents and Dad & Patty again for watching Makenna while we were out of the country. Punta Cana was beautiful and we would definately go back again, and no they don't primarily speak english, they speak spanish. We were only one of a few American couples we came across, there were lots of Canadians and French speaking vacationers along with other foriegners, which was a nice change of pace for us.

The mountains as we were coming over the island:



Ohhhhh, how pretty...

Passion fruit YUM!

A very small part of the very big pool!

Our room:

HUGE lantern thing in the HUGE lobby:

Flying over lots of ocean:

Waiting for our transportation back to the airport:

Fly back into the city of Chicago

Carpet Cowboys

Yay, the carpet is installed and it. is. so. nice. It took a group of three guys about 5 hours to install it yesterday. They and home depot did an awesome job with the carpet, everything was spotless when they left and we had them leave us the two remnants we had, one will be put downstairs in the living room, I think. We need to trim most of the doors since this carpet has a much higher pile than the previous carpet. The carpet is so soft and squishy, I'm glad we went with the one we did.

Tuesday night we ripped all the old carpet up, ourselves, after moving all the upstairs furniture into the two side closets that weren't going to be carpeted. My butt hurts now from all the squatting I did, owwww. With ripping up the carpet we got the see the original pine floors underneath, which made me feel extremely guilty that we were going to carpet over them again. Ehhh, maybe next time the carpet needs replaced I'll think about refinishing, we'll see. We also found a nice shadow of a wall that use to be in the dressing room, so now we have a better idea of the original layout. Kinda. This house is always a mystery.






Last night Brent finished moving much of the furniture back in the rooms and we changed around where to place the bed and such in most rooms. We also put the queen bed downstairs and brought the full upstairs and the antique headboard, whoot. The queen is just too big, we don't use all of it when we sleep, and it takes up a ton of the bedroom. Just seemed like a waste. So for anyone that comes and stays now, your room has been upgraded, with a queen sized bed. Enjoy.

Last week Brent finished the vinyl in the bathroom, so that too is done, well, like 95% done. You know how that is, there are still some finishing touches that need to be done.

We also booked out vacation yesterday. We were looking for a warm beach warm ocean beautiful getaway and I found a resort in Jamaica that I really liked but there was a special sale going on and now it's booked until April. So, I just moved on to another country. Next weekend we'll be going to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, wooohoooo. It's looks beautiful. We are going to try the whole inclusive resort thing for the first time too. Wooohooo, we leave on my birthday and all this is only possible because the Grandparents were VERY nice and are watching Makenna for a few days, we can not thank them enough:

THANK YOU GRANDMA HELEN AND GRANDPA LEE!


Photos for youuuuu-- Closet crammed with stuff!


The Current color of the wall and the greyish, bluish, green color I like:


Naked Stairs:


Dressing room and Makenna's room with new carpet:

Our bedroom, Old Carpet


Pine floors


Brent worshipping the new carpet: