The DIY Project

To start off, I must first say that the hubs and I are not do it yourselfers.  We once tried to put one of the metal strip thingy majigs that covers the seam between the carpet and tile down ourselves and three trips to Home Depot later, we were ready to sign up for marriage counseling. See, I'm the type of person who is a perfectionist to the point of annoying.  My other half, on the other hand, is the type that wants to get the project done ASAP by whatever means is necessary so he doesn't miss the Hog game!  However, considering we wil be one income less just a week from now, we decided we would venture down DIY lane again and save some money.  When hubs broke out the chain saw to make a simple cut in some lumber, I feared not only would marriage counseling be in our future, but we may not make it out alive this time. After some compelling arguments from yours truly about why a skill saw was more suited for the job, he borrowed one and off we went again.  We hit some snags and we did a few things the hard way, but not only did we make it out unscathed, we are still married...happily! And we have this little jewel:

Yep we built a safe yard for our laying hens and their rooster, Mr. Cogburn. This may not seem like a huge project but this is the first successful husband/wife DIY project in our 11 years of marriage. I couldn't be prouder. Maybe next time we will go really big and build a birdhouse together! 

The Miss List

My chapter as a Pricing Analyst is coming to an end on November 1. You will hear more about that later. There will be things I will miss about Corporate America, like the friends I have made and the bi-monthly paycheck, but that's not what this post is about. Here are the things I can't wait to be away from:

1. The noon time microwave wars...everyone standing in line patiently waiting to heat up their gourmet, frozen foodish creation in a plastic tray!

2. Meetings. Corporate meetings, what a time suck. Need I say more?

3. My 30 minute, one way, commute every morning of my life.

4. The bathroom. Sure, it gets cleaned like every hour, but no amount of disinfectant spray can cover up the aroma that hangs in the air in there. Not to mention, the women here are apparently scared to death of catching something from the toilets and their squatting accuracy is that of a male dog lifting his leg.

5. The clicking of an office full of keyboards. That noise day in and day out is enough to make a sane person crazy.

6. The lunch thief. You would think an office full of adults would know better than to steal someone else's food, but apparently there's a few bad apples on every tree.

7. Cubicle life. There is only so much beige and dust a person can handle in one lifetime.

8. And last but not least...drumroll please...I will not miss spending 10.5 hours a day away from my perfectly imperfect family!!

Lumberjackin'

Most people don't look forward to, or even plan on cutting wood on the weekend.  But, we aren't most people! Hubs and I actually enjoy cutting wood for our stove. Weird, I know. There's just something about being on the middle of the farm, smelling the mixture of chainsaw gas and cow manure that really makes me feel as one with nature. No, the fumes haven't gone to my head!  Cutting and chopping wood and tossing it in the back of the truck is therapeutic.

What better way to relieve the weeks frustrations than chopping stuff up and then setting it on fire later??  I'm kind of a wimp so the hubs does the "man work" and I do the loading! See my outstanding loading technique below:

Then again, maybe the stress relief isn't the only reason I like to cut wood. I mean who can resist a man in overalls wielding a chainsaw? 

Can't forget our faithful sidekicks:

The life of a farm dog is so rough! And all that work was with it to be able to relax by the first fire of the season. 

A Saturday well spent. 

Witchin in the Kitchen

I got to craving potato salad so I logged on to Pinterest (the only place you can find a recipe, the workout needed to burn off said recipe and a new outfit to reward yourself for working out all in one spot!) to find the perfect recipe. There were half a million recipes but the perfect one was nowhere to be found. So, I decided to wing it!! Last time I "winged" something, the dog wouldn't even eat it. 

You know it's bad when even the dog turns his nose up! However, this time my inner chefness came out and my potato salad was delish so here's the recipe: 

8 medium potatoes, peeled, cube and boiled

8 oz sour cream

1 cup mayo (give or take)

8 oz can olives, sliced

Small packet of bacon bits (NOT The nasty imitation stuff!)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Garlic powder, onion powder, celery salt and pepper all to taste

Drain potatoes and allow to cool. Mix all ingredients together and try not to eat it all in one setting!!  

Sorry, no picture of this yummy creation because it is in mah belly!

Disclaimer: I truly threw this together on my own so if there is another recipe like this published, I have unintentionally copied you! 

Goodbye 20 Something

Today is the day I lay my 20's to rest. Most people take turning thirty hard, but I'm okay with it even though I didn't meet my goal of being in the best shape of my life by my 30th birthday!  I'm not mourning the loss of my 20's but looking forward to what my 30's bring. Here are some of the more notable moments of my 20's:

1. I had two perfectly beautiful children. 

They get their incredible good looks from me!

2. I worked for the same company the entire decade: FedEx. That's loyalty people! 

3.  Stayed married and in love with the same incredible man. 

He even cooks for me and he can multitask!  Yep, I found a man that can multitask!! Go me.

4. Opened a real estate business with the hubs...Capstone 27 Realty. 

5. I made some of the most amazing friendships a person could ask for. I'm talking friendships that last a lifetime regardless of the occasional hormone infused rant! 

6. Made too many memories to count, cried more tears than I care to remember, worried myself sick about decisions that didn't make a hill of beans, grew in my faith by leaps and bounds, embarrassed myself more times than I want to admit, laughed to the point of tears (which I'm sure contributed to my laugh lines!) and learned more about myself than I ever imagined. 

My 20's weren't spent the way most people spend their wild and young years but I'm proud of the last 10 years and hopeful for the next!!!

Happy Birthday Brother

Dear Brother Bear,

Today, you are 8 years old and when we sang Happy Birthday to you in the car this morning I got tears in my eyes because you are growing up so fast!  It won’t be long and you will be as tall as I am.  We had your birthday Saturday and all of your friends came and it was such a great party.  I am so proud of you.  You are such a handsome young man with a kind heart.  You and your sister couldn’t be any more different.  You are way more reserved than she is which means, you are sneakier!  You have done so well this year at your new school.  You have only got your name on the board a couple times and your grades are good.  Your teacher even said you are a joy to have in class!  You enjoy reading the Bible by yourself and listening to me read it to you.  You always say your prayers at night when we pray together as a family.  You are about to start basketball at the youth center and I cannot wait to watch you play.  You are really starting to like basketball which warms your dad’s athletic heart!  You are already talking about what kind of cell phone you want when we allow you to have one and you have even told us what kind of truck you want when you turn 16 (SLOW down bucko!).  I hope you enjoy your childhood and don’t try to grow up too fast.  It’s already going too fast for me.  Everyone told me when I was pregnant with you not to blink because I would miss something and they were right.  I have enjoyed watching you grow and change over the past 8 years and while it makes me sad that you are already 8, I know I will continue to enjoy watching you over the years to come!  Until then, here are some things that come to mind when I think about the years that have flow by:

·         You HATED the full size swing, but you loved the portable one.  I loved watching you sleep so peacefully in it. 

·         You pooped on Nana in Wal-Mart when you were just a few months old.  She hid in the bathroom with you while I went and bought her a new shirt.

·         When you were about 6 months old your dad decided to let you taste a lemon from his water.  You made the worst little sour face I had ever seen and your dad barely made it out of the restaurant alive!

·         The first time we took you on vacation was to Panama City Beach and you love the sand so much we couldn’t make you take a nap during the day!

·         Last year was the first year you played basketball.  I just loved watching you improve with every game.  You did push another boy down and admittedly, I laughed, but then explained why you can’t do that!

A lot has happened in 8 years!  So much that I can’t list everything because there’s just not enough time or room in this one post.  I just wanted to wish you a very happy birthday and let you know how truly blessed dad and I are to have a son like you!  I love you from the bottom of my heart.

Give

So, I gave the bum at Wal-Mart $10 yesterday.  Hubs and I decided we need to crack back down and stop eating out so much so I decided that I would get a cheap meal off the famous $1 menu at Mickey Dees.  As I’m pulling in I see him there on the corner by the stop light and I think, eh, I don’t have any cash anyway.  I’m off the hook.  I pulled into McDonald’s and ordered my side salad and daily double which by the way was atrocious.  The lettuce was slimy but that’s neither here nor there.  As I am pulling out, I see him again.  And I again justify not giving him any money because I don’t have any.  I even double checked to see if I had just a dollar that I didn’t know about and no, nothing.  Suddenly, my heart just broke for him.  The thought did cross my mind that this guy could be a professional bum and make more money begging than I do working an honest job but that thought was quickly replaced with a command.  “Go to the ATM, get $10 and give unselfishly to this man who has been reduced to begging at the Wal-Mart street corner.”  It was clear and I knew immediately who was speaking to me.  I mulled it over in my mind as I was driving to the ATM.  What if he buys drugs with it?  What if he is a fraud?  What if he was a father who begs by himself to save his wife and kids from the embarrassment?  What if he had a good job and lost it like so many?  What if, what if….?  The directive was clear and it was so strong that I couldn’t deny it.  I worried about how I would give him the money.  After all, he was standing on the wrong side so the driver would have to hand the money across the car and out the passenger window.  I wondered if I would have time to ask him his name.  I didn’t.  I pulled up to him, rolled down the window and he reached in and grabbed the money.  This was his reply, “Thanks, dude, God bless you.”  Dude?   Really?  I guess I was driving my husband’s truck which is a “man truck”.  It was liberating.  I just knew I had passed “the test”.  I prayed all the way back to work that he would spend the money on food or some other need and not drugs or smokes.  I prayed for his well being and that he would find a job so that he could get off that corner.  I could worry about whether or not I just contributed to the meth trade in this area, but I choose not to.  I know I was a blessing to that man and when I looked at him, I realized, I’m not better, just blessed enough to have a great job.  It’s not my place to judge, just to love unselfishly just like my Father loves me.