Its my hubby's 31st birthday! And other than another horrible night's sleep and being up at 3:15 for the day, and having a splitting headache today, its been a pretty dang good day! We started the day by me decorating the diningroom with streamers and the bedroom  with balloons. Then I made a nice big breakfast of ham, eggs, and made form scratch cinnamon raisin biscuits! I was really impressed with the turn out and they were delicious!!

After breakfast and dropping the cars off for emissions (yay birthdays) we packed up and headed to the lake! I brought the pole of course and actually caught a big beautiful catfish that jumped out of the water as I was reeling him in! How cool is that?!? We grilled burgers and dealt with the amityville horrors of flies  and swam for hours before coming home. I made Brian a birthday cake (his fav Chocolate with vanilla frosting) and me and the kids sang to him. Now the kids are watching TV, brian is washing his car, and I am sitting here waiting for bedtime!

All in all today is a MUCH better day than yesterday....now with all the cake and raisin biscuits in the house if I could just get back on my diet I would be one happy girl!!

Oh...and yes...I will ALWAYS love you my friend....even when we have our downs...because the ups are just that good! ♥

anyone know where I can get this?

Yep...I need one of the buttons...this last week has felt like I have spiraled completely out of control mentally and in my life. I have a snowball of problems rolling downhill at lightning speed in a fresh powder, and I have done some very bad backpeddling on stuff this week. I feel like I dont know how to get back up on the saddle...I dont know what is wrong with me. I know its hot, and humid, and miserable weatherwise, but thats not all....there is too many things that tossed themselves on my plate in one week and it just is a mess. I started quilting again to get my mind busy on things that aren't stressful, but even that is frustrating because of the lack of time, the lack of patience, and the lack of funding....

I just need to scream and then bury myself in the sand for a few days and then maybe when I emerge again I will be that better person I have been trying so hard to be. 

I started the last clustermess of a week by having to throw in the towel when it comes to fostering after a 2 hour babysitting job and transport left Brian so sick for almost 24 hours that our date night was ruined and we fought on and off over it, and I cried my eyes out when I made the call...and it sucks. Then the 4th I have looked forward to so much this year and it was a wash out! First time in my entire life I remember it raining like that on that day and it sucked. What a terrible let down. I mean, dont get me wrong, we laughed and had an ok time, but we packed up before the show was even half over. I was really just upset with the whole night. Then I have had some personal issues with a friend, and its been heart wrenching, and now I dont know where to go with it. Its all been aired, but I dont know how to forgive, forget, accept, or move on...I dont know how to just say "ok" and let that be that....then with the awful verdict yesterday of Casey Anthony being found not guilty for the horrific and brutal death of her daughter Caylee yesterday, my mind was just done. I emotionally ate last night for the first time in months and finally went to be around 1:30am....I curled up behind Brian and he wanted to talk, but I couldn't find the words...only tears, and cried myself to sleep behind him holding his hand....

Today I just feel drained...mentally, emotionally, even physically....which makes no sense because I havent done anything worth a dang in days that requires much physical activity....I guess I am just really sleepy...maybe tonight I will fall asleep before 1am again....that would be nice.

I am trying hard to snap out of this, tomorrow is Brian's birthday and I so badly wanted to give him a great day, but money sucks, and weather sucks, and my attitude today sucks....yep...deffinately need that "Do Over" button....anyone know where I can pick one up...cheap??

Anyhow there is my terribly depressing entry today...I know...so not what anyone wanted to read huh? Oh well you have good days, you have bad....hoping by the end of today I can somehow turn this into a good day....maybe I will start by having one more cup of coffee before organizing my closet at the front door and attempting to finish one blanket finally....we shall see.

Happy wednesday folks...hope its a good one...

Hello JULY!

The month that has the smallest amount on the To-do list, but seems to still fly by! My birthday (last in my 20s eek!), Brian's birthday, our 5 year wedding anniversary, open houses (housES....omg!!!), hair cuts and school supply and school clothes shopping...and then the sizzling days inbetween with pool and lake playdates, movies, water fights, and late nights....its probably one of the most fun months of the year for me...even though I am not a fan of the blistering temperatures. 
I got my glasses yesterday and spent the rest of the day almost brought to tears seeing things I forgot what they looked like. I was amazed how well I could see and how many more colors there are in the world. I was just smiling like crazy driving around, the flowers, the shades of green, shadows, seeing leaves on trees as individuals, the vibrant colors of the reds, blues, yellows....the way the clouds looked....it was amazing really. I cannot believe how much I have been missing!! I am excited to go look at more stuff today!
Tonight my mom is keeping the kids for us so we can celebrate our 8 year mark. Not sure yet what we plan on doing but we will figure it out I am sure. I dont care what we do really...I thought about a million different ideas, but they all feel the same. LOL. 
I am super excited for the 4th of July, Looking forward to seeing the kids' faces while they watch the show, looking forward to spending time with friends, and celebrating happiness. We are also going to go see Brian's grandparents again too. I think Brian wants to take his grandfather and the kids to a parade there in Cumming with a steam engine or something. I will hang out with his grandmother and pick some more blueberries. I have a ton of blue berry recipes I want to try out this summer and fall so I need to see how many I can get from him :) Going to plant my own bushes next year I think too. Part of our huge yard overhaul we plan on doing with the garden and stuff this fall.
Today is going to be another scorcher, but I got things to get done like emissions and fireworks/4th stuff to buy...so I guess I better get up and get on it so I can relax this afternoon before my big night!! Yippee!


Here's to the second half of 2011 being even better than the first!!

EIGHT!!! Eight amazing years! Its hard to believe that me and Brian have been "exclusively dating" for almost a decade! Eight years of happiness, tears, smiles, cuddles, romantic nights, crazy days, fun, sadness, sorrow, joy, quiet kisses, happy dances, and a million memories. Heading to the lake this afternoon for an evening of swimming and fishing and super excited! Making a picnic dinner of turkey sandwiches and apples. So happy today! Brian picked up my glasses too, so I guess its official that I will be a four eyd freakazoid now, lmao! Hope everyone has as amazing of a day as me!!!

Its officially hermit season...

and I ain't talking about crabs! No, its that lovely time of the year when to me its really even too hot to go swimming. Oddly enough I am just not into the swimming this summer. I wish I knew why, but I guess because my few trips I have made this summer to the lake have been either swamped with people or for the first time I came home smelling like "the lake" this early in the year. Its been rediculously hot with many days near or at 100* already and we have another week of upper 90s coming....bleh! I think I am ready for that fall weather again!
Was up early this morning, like 4:25 early thanks to Athena pooping in her crate...again. She has decided that if she has to go she just goes, holding it seems to be something she just wont do overnight now if she has to poop. *sigh* So here I am sipping coffee listening to the dogs rumble behind me trying to plan my day...which in a way is good that I am up this early, maybe now I can fall asleep before midnight tonight. I have been trying not to use any sleep meds and have now been without night time sleep aids for over 2 weeks! Thats incredible for me! I am pretty happy about it....even though now I sleep light enough to wear the smell of poop down stairs behind closed doors can wake me up!
I am flabbergasted that this is the last few days of June already! Next month is going to be insane in how much I have to do and how fast it will likely go by. I think its pretty cool, and hardly believable, that on Thursday, me and Brian will be celebrating 8 years together....yes...EIGHT!!! Wow! Thats almost a decade! Very crazy and crazy fast. I guess thats a good sign though, when eight years seems to fly by...they say thats what time does when you are having fun...or popping out babies and living in financial stress 24/7...heehee. Yes, eight years...and to celebrate we decided to go for broke and take a trip (a second one for the year!) to Daytona in September while the kids are out on fall break. We have a nice place already picked out and today I guess I need to remember to call in the credit card number and make things official. I am super excited to see my grandparents and the ocean...the last time we were down as a family, Laci was only 16 months old! So I am stoked to see my kids response to the magnificent ocean and beach and piers! I think for the first time in my life I want to walk over the main street bridge too! So excited!!
But in the mean time, its the daily grind here and every day is a holiday....lol...right? Who's with me? Anyone? Ok well, lol, I guess every day is at least a gift...even if it is wrapped in 99* weather! Hoping to pick up my new glasses tomorrow....yep...yours truly is going to have to wear glasses. Not 24 hours a day...or even 12 for that matter, but for things like driving, and shopping, and watching movies and whatnot so I can see better. Turns out my eyesight was a lot worse than I thought...but that should all be fixed in the next 24-48 hours! Woopie doo! 
Anyhow hope anyone out there reading this is blessed today with happiness and laughter....two of the most simple, but sometimes hardest to obtain things in life. May today give you both....tomorrow you can go to hell though...lmao....I am kidding!!! Ok happy Tuesday!

Monday Monday

Father's day was yesterday....it feels like a flop. I gave Brian his main gift before we left because I was so excited with how great it turned out I didn't want to wait. That was his amazing 135 page photobook of us as a family but revolving around him of the first 8 years of our family. It was gorgeous though and I know he loved it, but that was his big gift...and I gave it to him early. Then everyone is out of town so we didn't have our yearly get together for the day, and then after making him a nice breakfast and giving him his other small gifts and welcome banner, I was struck with a horrific migraine that had me laid up in bed most of the day and late into the night. Brian ended up giving the kids a bath and getting them in bed while I laid down with a cold wet rag over my eyes feeling like I was going to vomit. I then slept like absolute crap last night but even though its is supposed to be "scorching hot" today, I let the kids choose a place to go and a day to go this week, and Christopher chose the Aquarium today and Laci wants Tellus tomorrow....okie dokie then...LOL....then I have to stop for groceries on the way home this affternoon and I am sure I will be wiped out come bedtime tonight...so maybe I will sleep better!


Not much else to report on at the moment, but maybe I will do a part 2 this evening...

OK, here we go!

Home from vacation! Had an amazing time. The cabin was absolutely gorgeous! The bigger cabin really helped having the two dogs and even more stuff since we were staying longer this year. As soon as we walked in an said our "wows" i jumped at brian and gave him a huge hug and kiss. It was just perfect! We unpacked and put the food up and got all organized and then I wasted no time in getting down to the dock and casting in the fishing line! Fishing had its ups and downs, it was deffinately a lot of work to try and fish with the 2 kids. They are not at the age to understand the patience or the volume needed to fish. When you added that to Clover howling and barking up a storm inside throwing a fit because he wasn't outside with us, it was almost a chaotic madhouse at first. But, soon we realized what worked for us and went with it. As expected, the kids were more interested in feeding the brim and crappies at the dock than doing any real fishing...but if I got a good one on the line, they wanted to reel them in, LOL, which was funny at times and almost irritating at others..but all in all the fishing was fun and while sitting there in the shade and sun mixture on that dock, line in the water and mountain breeze blowing against my face, I was truly relaxed and felt at peace with the world...if only for a moment.
One day (honestly I can't remember which one, lol) we went to drive up to Andrews and Bryson City because supposedly there was cool stuff there....yeah, there wasnt, but we drove and drove and found amazing things along the way. We stopped at one point in the Nananhala National Forest and watched people rafting down the river, the air was incredible and clean and sweet and unlike anything I have smelled before. Then we kept driving and finally found Bryson...and stopped for a late lunch...and the lady at Arbys welcomed us to the "middle of nowhere"....whoops! So we found out that 10 miles up more was Cherokee, NC which is a place Brian used to visit as a kid, so we went and it was so cool to see him so excited and thinking back fondly of his childhood memories for a change. We walked through the shops and let the kids buy some stuff. They chose a bunch of Indian stuff, some candy, and a skull bank. We walked wround for about 2.5 hours and then let them play in the fountain and pools for a minute, and then headed back to the cabin.
Another day we decided again to take a trip in the other direction. We headed out towards TN and drove up to Ocoee. And let me tell you, oh my GOSH! How amazing!!! Driving through the mountains of TN with huge walls of solid rock on one side and the Ocoee river on the other was amazing. The kids weren't as interested in that trip as me and Brian were, but thats ok. We had a great time and seen some amazing things. I drove up a mountain that was officially the highest point I had ever been that wasn't in an airplane and was left just speechless. It was beautiful! We got some great pics and then I tried my hand for a few minutes fishing in the Ocoee....not successful but it was new! :)
Brian was really excited to get to go to the range with all his guns. Christopher was his little side kick. They both had a blast getting to go through hundreds of rounds of ammo during a few trips to the range. I went one day and shot the SKS, the .22, and the 9mm...but I only really liked the .22, everything else is just too much gun for me to shoot in the heat....but I would like to go again in the fall.
It was really nice to get to see Momma on her first family vacation, and even cooler was Clover. He got out i the yard and was playing and running at speeds I didn't even know he could reach!! He sounded like a horse galloping along between the ponds chasing Brian and Momma. He wasn't into the swimming as I suspected, and absolutely lost his mind on the dock the one time i got into the paddle boat. Poor guy just isnt a swimmer. He also isn't into eating raw fish as I thought he may have been. I tried to give him a fish 2 times and both times you could see he wanted to eat/play with it, but was terribly grossed out by the whole thing! Ha!
Most the time we just hung out at the cabin though, fishing, playing, resting, watching movies (Laci insisted Cabin Fever) and spending time as a family. It was so relaxing. 
Ben, the baby rat, died while on the trip. I was very sad to see him not make it, however I know I tried and thats more than anyone else wanted to do that I called or looked up online. I knew it was a long shot to save him  anyhow but I was even a little surprised how sad his passing made me.
This was the first vacation I have taken in a long time that actually made me feel like I wanted to cry when it was coming to the end. I can't believe how fast the time went, but I am glad now to be home and anxious to see the rest of the year and all the amazing things we have coming to us as a family. We have more trips planned and so much more happening in the next few months. 
I got home yesterday and we organized everything and then I went to pick up a Father's day gift for Brian (I already gave him his big gift which was a photobook I made) and then picked up Laci's paperwork for Pre-k! Wow...where is time going? Sadly while I was gone, Chip decided to use almost everything in Laci's bedroom as a litter box and I have so much to clean in there still. Thats next on my agenda when I am finished here. I cannot understand this cat, I wish I knew a home he go to where he was happy since he clearly is not happy here. He is always doing the most awful things here....and this time cost me a lot of money in his tempter tantrums.
Today is a quiet day, Brian is currently sleeping upstairs with a bad headache and the dogs are chewing bones and the kids are playing and occasionally fighting as always. I am trying hard to stay on task here and get this written up so I can feel accomplished in finally starting the blog back up!
Well, lets hope I can stick with this now. Back on my diet today too....I have gained almost 5 pounds back in the last 2 weeks eating like a schmuck! I have got to buckle back down now and get anpther 15-20 pounds off by fall...thats my goal...and then I will be eblow 200 by a few pounds finally...then I will evaluate the next goal.
Happy weekend!
Robin