I have not seen most of my high school friends since..well...high school. Seventeen years ago. And Facebook has made it exceptionally easy to find and reconnect with most of them which has been great!! This past week, one of those friends recently moved back to town and had a little get together.
Honestly, I was not sure that I was going to go. Many of these people I have know forever (since kindergarten) but did not really have any type of relationship with. This is the same reason that I did not attend my 10yr reunion. But I took into consideration that just because I didn't really 'know' many of them...doesn't mean that I could not get to know them.
And I am soo glad that I went!! It was awkward at first, going in and saying hello to a group of strangers. But come to find out, I was not the only one. Most of the conversations started out with "Hi, I'm
For me, this was a big step. I am trying to break out of this 'homebody stage'! I am trying to be more outgoing, much like I was in my 20's. :)
Oh...and Jimmy Johnson won for a 5th year!!! Yeah!
Sunday, November 21
First Steps
Monday, September 6
Saving money idea
Bayle came up with an amazing idea the other night...and I am not really sure how it came about. He suggested that we go one night without electricity. Meaning, no TV, no lights, no music...just family time!
We normally save Saturday evening for family night... playing games and enjoying the kiddos. So now, we will be doing it under candle lite~ Saving electricity is something that we have been trying to do recently...not using the AC during the day and turning it off when we go to bed. We bought the high efficiency light bulbs and placed them all over the house, we have the outside lights on a timer, and only have lights on in the house in the rooms that we are currently in. We use fans during the day and anytime there is a breeze outside the windows go open to bring the breeze in.
Our bill has gone as high as $240, and we now have it down to $120...And thanks to Bayle's idea...this one night may bring it down a few more $$.
I will blog a few pictures once we get going!!
Wednesday, July 21
A new goal
If you follow me on Facebook, you know that we recently 'acquired' two new puppies!!! My hubby has been wanting a Lab/Retriever mix for awhile and a friend of mine knew of a breeder that only had one puppy and could not sell him. And the father of that litter had jumped the fence and gotten another female pregnant, so there was another litter of Retriver/Australian Shepperd puppies going away too...so we took one of them and the lab/retriever!!!
Pottie training was pretty easy now that we have the backyard! I would take them out and say "Go Pottie" and give them a treat if they did. Now they do it on command...she better than he. Duke has a bit of a stubborn streak! lol
This is all three of them a few days ago...they have all gotten to dang big..and not yet done from my understanding!!
Wednesday, February 24
The unfortunate world that we live in
There was another school shooting yesterday. A man who apparently went to the school 18 years ago had been hearing voices for a while now, decided that he would take his fathers' gun and go to the school and start shooting. He will appear in a hearing today being charged with 2 counts of first degree murder.
Now besides the actual shooting of innocent kids...here is the problem that I have with this. This man who is obviously mentally ill never received treatment for his illness. It was said that he and the family could not afford the medication, so he lived with his father and worked on the family farm. Because he could not receive medication, the voices continued and finally brought him to that school with a gun and began shooting. Now, in custody he will get the medication that he needs and be tried as mentally ill and not serve the term that he deserves. So then, who's fault is it...the man, the illness, or the health care?
We create our own problems...
After picking up Bayle from school yesturday (before the shooting) he told me that his school had a lock down drill. This is where the kids are locked inside their classrooms in the event that something like this would happen. It is sad that we now need to practice drills for psycho's like we would for tornado's and fire's.
The schools have also locked down their security for anyone entering the building. You now have to sign in and have a picture ID on file. Bayle's school is very good at this...but last week I went to pick up Taylor early from school and they did not ask for an ID or to sign her out, nothing.... didn't even ask her if she knew me...very scary...and last week I had to go into Jacey's school and they also did not ask me for an ID or to sign in. I think that if the school feels it necessary to have drills and security measures in place, then they need to follow them to a tee...
The two kids that were shot yesterday are doing a better now. One was released from the hospital last night and the other is still listed in critical condition..but he made it through the night. By the grace of God they will both come out healthy. Although at their young age will need to live with the memory of this horrific day.
Tuesday, February 23
3 months later
Well...it has been way too long since my last blog. And not much has changed!
Amanda now has her licensed...scary in itself. But she is mature and really watches the rules of the road. And with winter almost over, there is not much left to worry about. But then again, I didn't get my permit until I was 17 and then it was only because I had too. And that next year, I still made a bad choice and totaled my mothers' car. So hopefully, she will make it through to the next year!!! I think she can. She makes sure that the radio is down and her cell phone is put away. :)
Last I blogged, I announced that we just bought a home!! Can I say how much I have waited and longed to live free of the apartments!! To have no one living above you and bouncing on the ceiling...to not have to watch a movie without surround sound because the lady next to us likes it quiet... I love living in so much space!! I can cook in my kitchen...I can load the dishwasher and still get into the fridge...I have sooo much counterspace!!!! We have three living rooms, a dining room, full basement, loft for my scrap stuff....soo much more room. And we have a nice size backyard and an attached 2 car garage...and here is the clincher...we only pay $30 more to live here then we did there!! Yeah!!
Now you may be asking...why in the world did you not do this earlier? Well, we wanted our kids to go to some of the better schools and needed to live within the boundries. So we have been living in the apartment for 7 years now so that they could go to those schools. Taylor will be going to high school next year and we were hoping to 'choice' Bayle into his current school (depending on where we found a house). Brent and I knew that they both would be able to finish their current year..so we started looking in August and closed in November. The new house in unfortunately outside of the school boundary (same district) and in January I was able to 'choice' Bayle to stay in his current school as long as I can get him to and from, and Taylor will actually go to the same High School that I went to. She is pretty excited about it and we go to register her on Wednesday. Yeah!!
I need to start up the 30 blogs in 30 days again...Maybe this will be day 1!
