Mandy's Garden

"My butt hurts" .... "What?"

2011-04-22T11:58:00.000-07:00

I completely feel like the bunny on the right. If any of you follow me on Facebook, you will know that I have been having sinus and ear problems. My illness has finally resolved, but I have a hole in my right ear drum. I did this at the peak of my illness one night when I was coughing non-stop. Since then, I have been having trouble hearing. I have also been experiencing ringing in my ear and a little bit of dizziness at times. It has been frustrating, but I expected this. Yes, I have a little bit of experience in this realm. Back in 2004, I ruptured my left ear drum badly while swimming with dolphins. It had to be surgically repaired. Then again the next summer, I ruptured the right diving 8 feet in a swimming pool. Thank goodness it healed on its own. I have successfully ruptured my right ear drum again about 4 weeks ago and it has not yet healed. The past 2 days I've felt that my hearing was getting worse. I have trouble telling where a voice is coming from if I can't see the person, I have trouble hearing myself as if I were being muffled or in a tunnel, and if there is a lot of background noise...you can forget it! And it's hard to hear myself singing, so I hope I hit the right notes! It's quite frustrating. I am glad to be able to hear some and I know it should come back, but for now, I feel like i'm missing out. Today, I see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. My ENT said he saw an epithelial bridge across the middle of the hole. This means my body is trying to heal it. YAY! He was hopeful it would continue to heal on its own. He still recommends that I get surgery for my sinus and deviated septum....argghh. I go back in 4 weeks. I hope it's healed or I'll my reply will continually be, "what?"

drum roll please!

2011-03-22T05:43:00.000-07:00

You've been waiting patiently for pictures of my newly renovated kitchen.....TA DA!
While there are still some projects left for the future and some little touch ups to be made, it is done enough to take pictures. We were so burnt out from the summer projects redoing our yard that we just couldn't even begin to think about the other projects needing to be done. We slowly got back into things by painting the pool house, the hall way, and the foyer. We decided it was time to get going on the kitchen, at least painting the cabinets. We were going to keep the black appliances for now since we didn't want to spend the money to replace them yet. I know I will disappoint you with before pictures, because who takes pictures of things their not proud of? I took some in progress pictures though. We started by priming the cabinets, then eventually replaced hardware and gave them 3 coats of Swiss Coffee. We went to Lowes to look for veneer to cover the end cabinet and ended up getting appliances while we were there! Come on! They were a great deal. The nice stainless steel counter-depth Fridgidaire was half off! We had to get a new cook top as the old Jenn Air was probably 30 years old and only half of it worked. We also got a new dishwasher, which is amazing! I just thought it was the water pressure that prevented the food from coming off our dishes, but this new dishwasher works so well. Not even a water spot! Okay, okay...time to reveal. Here are the pics of the transformation:

See the dark wood? It made the kitchen feel so small. Oh, and the hanging cabinet prevent me from using the hutch portion of my china cabinet.

Plus it was just above my eye level that I kept hitting my head on it! It was ugly and made the kitchen feel smaller as well. It had to go!

My father-in-law, Barry; brother-in-law, Justin; and Daniel took down the cause of my headaches. Look how open it got!

Our new dishwasher that Daniel installed himself! You can see we didn't have money to replace counter tops and flooring.

Our new refrigerator that Daniel, too, installed. I love it!

This was the hardest to install ourselves. It was an undertaking to take out the old cooktop as it had a vent in it going through the floor and out of the house. We patched up the hole and had to cut the tile a bit to fit it in there. We thought we could do it with a reciprocating saw with a carbide blade. This was not working as it was really hard to control. We headed to Home Depot and purchase the carbide blade for the circular saw. It was quite scary at first as it shot dust and sparks. I stopped Daniel quickly and we ran for masks, which we should've had to begin with, and covered things we didn't want dust on. Boy was it a mess! When we got the hole cut out, it was so easy to install. I love my ceramic cooktop!

We had to keep the old wall oven as we couldn't afford to replace it yet. We hope to one day get a built-in wall oven with microwave.

The finished kitchen! We kept the original wood chair railing and molding to go with the dormer and to flow into our den/family room that has wood paneling and built-in bookcases.

And I get to use the hutch on the china cabinet that I also painted in Swiss Coffee. We also had to keep the trash compactor that we never use. The space is narrow and we weren't sure what to do with the space. I hoped to get a beverage/wine cooler to go in the space, but they are all too wide!

We installed under-cabinet lighting we got from Ikea. Love it!

Our project for this spring is to get our bamboo jungle removed out behind the shop/pool house and the pool...

Why are holidays so busy?!!!

2010-12-27T09:01:00.000-08:00

Is it me or are all holidays crazy busy? I usually feel like I need a vacation afterward. We tend to go visit everyone, everywhere and jam pack all of that into a day or two. Don't misunderstand...I love visiting my family and seeing people I haven't seen most of the year. But goodness, I feel like a need several weeks to do it! Now if I could only have a vacation where I did nothing, but lay around. That would be nice!

It's been awhile

2010-11-24T10:19:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I'm not very good about keeping my blog up. I can't believe it's been over 3 months since I last posted anything. I guess that happens when you completely redo your yard and home and then get burnt out. I still have yet to finish painting our kitchen cabinets, but I did get all of the hardware and a new kitchen table. The master bathroom will have to wait a while longer as it will be more expensive and time consuming. Well, I guess I should catch you up on what's happened since August 19th...
August/September: Alabama football!
October: More football and Awesome Halloween party! I'll try to post some pictures.
November: so far, Daniel and I went to historic Westville with his family. Other major things that have occurred: My dad had a heart attack on 11/9 and had a triple bypass the next day. He came home that Sunday. He's better, but not feeling absolutely great yet and he's completely bored. Also, my two Alma Maters played football against each other last Thursday night. Daniel had the audacity to ask who I'd root for. Let me tell you; I did not go to Georgia State for their athletics. I went there for PT school and that was it. My allegiance for college football is with Alabama. ROLL TIDE! Now I just hope that we can be Auburn!

Grass is in!

2010-08-19T15:13:00.000-07:00

Well, it took two installments to get all the grass in the backyard. Well, a miscalculation only got us two pallets to begin with, but on the other hand, the trailer would not have been able to carry all four pallets.

This past weekend we got our first batch down. It was already looking better and more "home-y". We had the help of my mother, my brother in-law, and Daniel's mom and step-dad.

We realized that it didn't go as far as we hoped and had to order two more pallets. So on Wednesday, we got the new ones. We started placing them and half-way through, the sod was looking rough; not as green and less dirt on the bottom. They really looked as if they'd been cut days ago and they weren't used and they thought they could just put the good sod on top and no one would notice...well at least that's how we felt. But regardless, we laid it down anyway.

OH MY, how much better it looks! Having grass actually makes my yard look smaller. Go figure. But, it looks more like a yard with purpose. No offense to the former owners, they had some nice plants, that I've moved around a bit, but they just didn't have much of an order or purpose and it was a bit overgrown. I think it does now.

NEXT UP, kitchen or bath remodel!

Jungle Removed

2010-08-13T07:38:00.000-07:00

So, after two and a half long, tiring months we have finally begun to see the potential of our yard. We dug and raked, and hauled so much I am just completely exhausted. I can't wait until I can just set out the sprinkler, trim a little, and sit and enjoy my lovely backyard. Look at what has become of our yard. Scroll back to the last post to see the before pics. Oh yeah...all that empty space will have grass in it's place TOMORROW!!!

Those big plants are azalea. They were just out in the middle of the yard. We moved them back to the fence to open up they yard, then added some hosta and hydrangea in that bed.

The front of the pool house. I added a small bed in front of the window and a cute bird feeder!

I made a new potted plant with some coleus, pinta, and white lantana with pretty lantana in a hanging basket to the back of the pool house.

I even found a place for the other potted plant I took with me from our old house.

I can't wait to get the grass in. I'll certainly take pictures and show you!

A Big Jungle

2010-08-10T14:23:00.000-07:00

Yeah, sorry it's been so long since I last blogged. It's been kinda crazy around the Maguire household between the move, Daniel being sick, and us trying to make this new house our home. It has been a lot of hard work, especially with the back yard - a complete jungle!

see what I mean?!

I've had a lot of work cut out for me...stay tuned for updates of the jungle-removing process.

Daniel is in the hospital again...

2010-07-19T06:22:00.001-07:00

Well, it's been since before our move that I last blogged. I've been incredibly busy and preoccupied with getting my new house and yard the way I want it. I've also been meaning to upload some before/after pics, but just haven't made the time to do it. But the house is coming along. On the other hand, Daniel has not been feeling well enough to help with much.

I don't know if it's the stress of the move or what, but he's been having flare-ups of his ulcerative colitis. It's an auto-immune disorder sort of related to Crohn's disease, but only affects the large intestine. Daniel was diagnosed 2 years ago after a few tiny symptoms and a colonoscopy. Daniel's brother had it too. He was diagnosed at 14 and had his colon removed at 19. He had it pretty severely. Daniel has not really had many issues since his diagnosis, only a few minor dosage changes to his meds. And then WHAM! About 4 weeks ago, he develops some gut pains and going to the bathroom a lot. He went in to see his doctor who immediately admitted him to the hospital for treatment. He was there for 3 days and 2 nights and had a scope while he was in. The doctor said it looked pretty bad. They prescribed predinsone and oral antibiotics.

2 weeks later, he saw his doctor and was feeling fine. They started and ever-so-slight taper on his prednisone. That next day, he started having pain again. This pain was very intermittent. This went on for a few days and then it started to get more frequent and then constant. The doctor was called twice that week and they gave him another prescription and made other changes, but it didn't help. He didn't (and therefore neither did I) sleep a wink on Friday night. So Saturday morning, I loaded him in the car and we headed for Brookwood Hospital ER. Why drive to Birmingham? Well, his doctors are at Brookwood and we want them taking care of him since they know him. They are doing the same treatment in the hospital and he's having a scope sometime later this morning to look at his colon. Then we'll gather a game plan for a new meds. It looks like he'll be going on immunosuppressants. They reduce inflammation and autoantibody production. This will help Daniel's condition greatly, but he'll have a harder time fighting an infection than normal. The only real cure for ulcerative colitis is to remove his colon, like his brother. I'm sure they want to explore other medications prior to this drastic procedure. I just want Daniel to stay out of the hospital and feel well.

I am the Warrior!

2010-05-25T09:18:00.000-07:00

No, no...not the Patty Smyth/Scandal kind, although the beginning of the song talks about running. Daniel and I, along with our friends Buddy and Tim, ran the Warrior Dash. I did survive and became a full-fledged warrior. It was super fun and hard. There is nothing that can prepare you for all of the crazy obstacles in that race! Daniel finished too (although behind me, mind you!). It was funny, because walking up there we didn't see very many dirty people (we all expected to get muddy), but then we got to the mud pit near the end of the race and got filthy. Most of it washed off through the next obstacle in the water going over the logs, but Buddy still kept some mud on him! The race was pretty fun and Daniel got it all on video with his head cam that he just had to wear. Look for it soon on youtube. Next on the agenda: finish packing up our house and move to Tuscaloosa. Our closing is Thursday!!!

Moving, Running, etc.

2010-05-21T09:08:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been crazy for me lately. I've been trying to pack up my house, and at the same time avoiding it. It's weird. I really love my house, my backyard, and my neighbors...so why am I leaving?! I know....moving to Tuscaloosa will be better. Less stressful commute everyday, closer to ammenities, etc. And I think we will really like our house and new neighbors in Tuscaloosa, it's just so hard to pack without getting emotional or depressed and you just don't want to do any packing. The big day is next Thursday! One week away! It's so scary and exciting at the same time. We will be moving all of Memorial weekend (if anyone wants to help, just call me!)and we give up possession of Lake View home at 4pm on June 1st.

Until the big move, Daniel and I have been "sort of" training for the world's craziest 5K. We have been running a little more than occassionally, but less than we probably should have. Daniel's birthday is Sunday and he decided he wanted to spend it in Mountain City, GA running the Warrior Dash with some friends. It's a 5K with an obstacle course. Daniel thought he might actually want to run in this race because it was different. He doesn't even like running, so I agreed and will be running with him and a few of our friends who live in Atlanta. I hope I can finish without hurting myself on an obstacle! And I hope I am not too sore to move next week! I'll keep you updated and post any pictures we take!

New Blog Name - Same Ol' Mandy

2010-04-29T07:00:00.000-07:00

As you can tell, I've pretty much just been posting about my yard lately, so I decided to change the name temporarily to "Mandy's Garden". Let's face it, there was no reason to keep the name "Daily Dose" since I never wrote daily! To continue with the theme: Here are some more pics from my garden!

This is my rhodedendron. The leaves got eaten up pretty badly last year by bugs (mainly japanese beetles), but it still is blooming! It's got plenty more buds on it.

My peony is beginning to bloom. It hasn't bloomed in 3 years and it decides to finally bloom right when we're moving...well, at least I still get to enjoy it now.

more yard pics

2010-04-20T13:22:00.000-07:00

I betcha can't tell that I'm proud of my yard!

More flowers blooming everyday! You can really notice my azaleas.

my spiderwort flowers in the morning and they close up at night

This iris was trying to bloom for several days now and finally opened.

My yard, a sentimental memoir - Part 3

2010-04-19T11:34:00.000-07:00

Today we signed off on the contract for a couple to buy our house. Now we wait for their approval letter and the home inspections on both houses. I'm excited and fearful of this new chapter in our lives. I'll be glad that now I can feel like I can do things when I get home and sleep 30 minutes later in the morning or go for a morning run. I'm very proud of what I was able to accomplish in the yard at my Lake View home over the past almost 5 years and looking forward to work on my new yard. You know, it amazes me how different my back yard looks just after a few weeks of spring. I love this time of year and new things popping up everyday. I hope the new owners enjoy it just as much as I do and take care of it just as well too!

The above picture was taken on 3/27/10 and the one below was taken 4/17/10.

Amazing, huh?!

My Yard, a sentimental memoir - Part 2

2010-04-18T12:41:00.001-07:00

Well, today we put in our counter-offer for our house. I hope they accept it. Apparently they really fell in love with our house and I hope the back yard too. I am giving up my refrigerator as part of the deal. It was a graduation/house warming gift from my dad, so I was reluctant to do it, but in the end gave it up for the greater good. Plus, I can get a newer one with all the bells and whistles now. The buyers requested May 31st for closing. That's a significant day - not only is it Memorial Day (so I'm not really sure we can close on that day), but it's also our 7th wedding anniversary. We were planning on coming back from Gulf Shores on that day and if all goes according to plan, we'll have another thing to add to that day's importance. Here's some more of my memoir of my yard:

Just a note that I didn't mention before - our backyard had some grass then woods behind with more weeds than anything. The first spring, I remember waking up to see millions of huge weeds that I swear were not there the day before! It took a lot of hard work, but eventually we got it to where it had a purpose and got all of our neighbors jealous, yet motivated to make their yards look nice too!

my hammock: such a relaxing place in the springtime. It's also one of the first parts of the yard we worked on. It was a perfect place between 2 trees.

I designed this arbor with 3 support posts instead of one. Daniel, his brother, and brother's friend built it for me. We later put in a floor, which is kinda backwards. We were indecisive on whether doing pavers, the wood decking, or river rock.

The pond was one of the hardest projects ever! It really has taken 3 years to really perfect. We got the pond liner from Daniel's Aunt Tricia. Mom and I dug, but the ground was so hard we couldn't get it all the way down. We added dirt and rock. The next year we pulled it up and dug down even farther using all the water from the pond to soften the ground. We were able to get it down to the lip of the pond and added the rocks back to hide the liner. We did have a different kind of waterfall that was more like a stream, but last year I got the this waterfall in the hopes of hiding all the "unnatural" portions of the pond/pump system. It's really hidden now!

My pond features goldfish. It once had fancy koi and shubunkins, but an owl got to them. He had expensive tastes. We noticed that they kept disappearing without a trace (not floating on the top). Once night I was feeding them at dusk and saw the reflection of a flying animal in the water that landed on a tree over the pond. I looked up and there was an owl, waiting for his supper! Now I have the 15 cent goldfish from Walmart/PetsMart. They procreate so I never had to really replace them.

I have lots of little creatures hiding in my yard. They are mostly turtles and frogs. For some reason, most of my turtles lose their heads; this one's just lounging around.

You can't see me!

I've had this peony for 3 years now. When my mother first bought it (and made me plant it), it had a few blooms. Every year after that, it never bloomed for me. But, apparently that's typical for when you move or plant one. This is the first year it's bloomed for me and I have at least 7 buds on it!

Can you believe that this was one little plant? One little piece of grassy stalk sticking up out of the ground? Well, we've coined it "the peach park plant". My mom saw it in Clanton at the Peach Park. It had a pretty orange flower and she wanted us to find one. Well, she "took" it and I planted it. We never found it at a store. It spread and spread and spread. I even have given some away! I can't wait until it blooms!

This is a portion of my yard behind the arbor. We have several azalea bushes and oak leaf hydrangeas surrounding a bird house that was given to us by Daniel's mother. It's like a duplex as it has 2 sides with a wall in the middle. Every year we have a pair of bluebirds that come to live in it. They keep a nest in there, but they only use the right side. Funny, huh?

This Japanese Maple is about 4 years old. We bought it from Pike in Birmingham at only 2 feet tall and scraggly-looking. We only paid $15 for it! That is unheard of! We really got a deal. It's probably worth $100 now.

This is an iris my neighbor gave me. She split a bunch that were taking over her garden and gave me about a dozen. They've done really well in my yard.

This plant was bought in honor of my brother. He moved to Charlottesville, VA a few years back to be a chef at a French restaurant up there. Mom found this a couple years ago - a Virginia Sweetspire.

You can't see them very well in this photo, but about 2 years ago, we put in 3 crepe myrtles to the right of our house as a decorative border between us and our neighbors. We thought the trees were going to die because it was so hot that summer. We split some daylillies from the other side of the driveway and put them between the trees. They're getting so big, they'll have to be split again this year!

These trees are our "cingular trees". You know the Cingular/ATT commercials with the ascending items in the background to symbolize their signal bars. Well, my trees were descending with the largest to the left and the smallest to the right. Now the middle tree has caught up. They were all the same size when we bought them!

These were old burglar bars from my mom's house. They work perfect as a fence/trellis for my carolina jasmine to grow.

Bauer will miss his backyard and holding down CTU (Canine Terrorist Unit).

My Yard, a sentimental memoir

2010-04-17T16:16:00.000-07:00

Well, several hours ago, we got a call from our Realtor stating that we had an offer on our house! We don't know any specifics yet as we'll meet with our Realtor tomorrow afternoon. Like I've said before, there are mixed feelings about this move. I love my house and my yard, but Daniel and I both work in Tuscaloosa and have for over a year now and it's getting really tiring. Thinking about the real possibility of moving, I began to get pretty weepy-eyed. I am really going to miss our first house and the yard I've put so much work into. I've been meaning to put newer pictures up for you to see, so here's my photo memoirs of my yard.

Our home

the back side

our patio furniture

my pride and joy

one of the first areas we planted
when we moved here

I have many different types of
hydrangeas in my yard. This one has
so many buds. I can't wait til it blooms!

One of my hydrangea trees

This is a hydrangea that Lowe's just about
killed and put on sale for something crazy like
$5. I revived 2 of them and they are huge!

5 Question Friday

2010-04-16T13:57:00.000-07:00

I really have not blogged in a while. I actually have been somewhat busy and also haven't had much to say. Daniel and I have been working hard on our house: we had an open house Sunday, a showing on Tuesday, and another one with the same couple from Tuesday this afternoon (fingers crossed and numerous prayers prayed/ing). We both have mixed feelings about leaving our house. For one thing, it's our first house. And...I've (with my mom as the slavedriver) put so much work into my yard. I love my yard and my house, but do not love the drive everyday. I really wish I could have both, but who can afford that?! I'll miss my house and my backyard, but I'll have another one to work on, plus a pool!

Well here's my 5 Question Friday entries:
1. What words do you use on your blog/online that you don't use in real life?

I hyphenate or slash a lot of words and use parentheses a lot, but I pretty much type how my thoughts go which is usually how I talk because I don't have much of a filter and I write run-on sentences too.

2. Do you still write checks?

I write checks only to pay bills that I owe that won't let me pay online. Online is the way to go! No wondering if it got to the right place and on time..it's worry free.

3. Who was your favorite President and why?
I'm going to have to say Reagan. He was a smart guy that surrounded himself with even smarter ones. He really cared about this country and fought for the good of America. He stood firm in his beliefs. That's all I care to share right now. I will not attempt to get on a soap box today.

4. Are you a yeller?
I can yell when led to, but mostly not. Daniel might say otherwise, but he's biased and generally deserves being yelled at sometimes ;)

5. Have you ever dumpster dived?
I can say with confidence that I have never dumpster dived. I have never seen anything that I wanted that badly to go through trash for it. I will admit that I once ate food out of the Wesley refridgerator because I had no money and felt too bad to ask my mom for money. That was as close to dumpster diving as I got.

I'll leave you with a few pics of flowers from my garden:

rose (above) and chinese snowball

I love spring!

2010-03-27T11:55:00.000-07:00

Here it comes! My plants are sprouting!

I get so excited when it's springtime and all my plants start coming out of the ground or sprouting leaves and flowers. It just makes me so happy, I cannot explain! I can't wait until everything is blooming and all I have to do is enjoy it all. We are still trying to sell our house, however. I hope that whoever decides to buy it will appreciate all the hard work it took to create this beautiful yard and takes care of it like I did. I really wish that I could keep this house AND buy the house in Tuscaloosa......

Sarcastic Wednesday

2010-03-17T11:28:00.001-07:00

It's another Hoops and YoYo Day - Sarcastic Wednesday!

So some time for sarcasm:

Isn't it just lovely outside? Warm and sunny. I just love it. I'm also so glad of all this paperwork to keep me busy at my desk. I think I just might stay late today in Selma to finish it all! I am so glad that I don't get spring break because I would not be this productive. HA HA! Right, all of that is just so true ;)

I Don't Care Friday!!!

2010-03-12T13:11:00.001-08:00

Well, it's another installment of "I Don't Care Friday"! I have no desire to work at all this afternoon. I don't know if it's the gorgeous weather outside, that I did some school and home visits and just really didn't want to come back, or what?! All I know is that I've got spring fever big time and I DON'T CARE ABOUT WORKING! Plus, I have too much paperwork that I just don't even want to start. I know I have to, but right now, I don't care. He he he.

How can they do this at a time like this?!

2010-03-08T07:28:00.000-08:00

Daniel sent this to me today. He works for the University of Alabama and this has been a recent issue with their bus service. Read the article below (discussion will follow):

First Transit Seeks to Continue Negotiations with ATU to Avoid Crimson Ride Service Interruptions

Previous offers not presented to membership by union representatives.

CINCINNATI — First Transit, Inc., a leading private provider of transit management and contracting services, seeks to clarify recent statements made in the press regarding their ongoing negotiations with the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU). First Transit believes their recent proposals to the union reflect both the market rates for drivers and the revenue generated by the Crimson Ride contract.

“We run our University of Alabama transit service in a very fiscally responsible manner, with the lowest possible cost to the customer and the highest level of customer service. We value the relationship we have with the University and are pleased to provide this service for students,” said Matt Wood, senior vice president, First Transit Contracting. “In regard to the ongoing discussions, we have negotiated in good faith with union representatives since September and are working to reach an agreement that is fair and equitable, especially considering the current economic conditions.”

Union representatives have refused to take First Transit’s most recent contract offer – which included a wage increase of 4 – 9%, guaranteed health care benefits and additional paid time off – to their membership for a vote. Instead, they are demanding wage increases of more than 20% in a time when a record number of people are unemployed in the region.

First Transit senior management is currently on site to continue discussions with union representatives and is willing to meet at the union’s location of choice. Unfortunately, union representatives have not yet confirmed a meeting for this weekend.

First Transit wishes to continue negotiations and avoid any disruption and inconvenience to their customer and the students they transport. First Transit has made arrangements to bring qualified, licensed drivers from other areas of the country to assist as necessary to ensure the Crimson Ride will run at full service levels with no interruptions.

First Transit sincerely apologizes for the impact this uncertainty has on Crimson Ride passengers.

I, for one, believe this is ludicrous. I heard that the bus drivers were getting at least $9.25/hour. That's way above minimum wage and, to me, it's not a very hard job. You drive a big bus (okay, so that may be a little difficult), you have the same route you drive numerous times during your shift; you stop, pick up students, you drive to the next stop, drop/pick up students, etc. etc. You do need a CDL license, but not a college degree to do this job. I'm sorry, I'm really not trying to say that these people are below me by any means. Their job is definitely necessary. It just seems that these people would look at the world and economy around them and feel blessed that they even have a job!

I'm a state employee. I will not get even a cost-of-living raise until God only knows when because of proration. The University of Alabama is a state school. They are also under proration. (We know this too well as Daniel wasn't even able to get a raise since he began working there about 2 years ago). I am not complaining at all because I am very glad to have a job. The state is not hiring anyone new. I got in just before proration hit.

Well, this sums the situation up: Union representatives have refused to take First Transit’s most recent contract offer – which included a wage increase of 4 – 9%, guaranteed health care benefits and additional paid time off – to their membership for a vote. Instead, they are demanding wage increases of more than 20% in a time when a record number of people are unemployed in the region. First transit appears to actually be giving them a raise in an age where it's hard to even get a job and knowing that they are not getting any more money from the University. I think they are going above and beyond in this situation while the bus drivers can only complain. Am I wrong? What do you think?

Getting to know you Sunday

2010-03-07T18:36:00.000-08:00

Sooo, I guess I only have time for pre-made questions to blog right now, but at least I'm blogging. I haven't done that in over a week!

The questions..
1. Are you more of a talker or a listener?
I'm definitely a listener and not a talker. That's all I have to say about that.
2. Bra. Underwire or wireless?
Well, when you don't have much there to begin with, you take all the help you can get. Underwire it is!
3. I wish I was.....?
Geez what an open-ended, loaded question! Well, recently turning 30, I had different ideas of where I'd be and what I'd be doing right now. Settled and financially comfortable with at least one child. That didn't happen! But right now, I think it would be great to be a rock star. Wouldn't you just love to sing all day, for a living?!
4. The Academy Awards are on tonight..will you watch?
Ummmm, no! I'm finally blogging here and completely ignoring the tv.
5. Do you put your deodorant on before or after you get dressed?
I don't really think about my morning routine because it's always a rush, but I think that I at least put the first one or two layers of clothes on and then put on deodorant. That way, I can get the deodorant in the right place and not get it on my shirt while putting my shirt on.
6. Would you rather do the dishes or clean toilets?
I would wash the dishes in a heart beat! The toilet is the bain of my existence. This last time, I made Daniel clean it. He was the one that messed it up in the first place. There's no way I could've :) Also, it helps to have a dish washer too!
7. How much did you weigh at birth?
I was born 6 weeks early. I believe I weighed a little over 4 pounds and was only 8 inches long.
8. If you could only buy one thing for the Spring/Summer season..what would it be?
A NEW HOUSE!!!! I'm desperately trying to move to Tuscaloosa to cut out the everyday 30 mile drive (60 roundtrip), but we have to sell our house first. We aren't having much luck right now. You would think that the house with the best-looking yard would be snagged up quick, but no!

Five Question Friday

2010-02-26T12:26:00.000-08:00

Alright....I know it's been too long since I last blogged. Well, here's one to start back. Again, I really should change the title of my blog. Any suggestions?

5 Questions
1. Do you sing karaoke? If so, what is your go to song?
The only problem with this is that I don't want to go to karaoke by myself. It's not nearly as fun. Plus, I don't know who wants to hear me sing 80's stuff. That's probably what I'd choose. I don't really have a favorite song I would always sing. I need someone to go with me. They have karaoke just down the street at the Lake View country club!

2. What is your favorite coffee drink?
It's a skinny cinnamon dolce latte at Starbucks. Mmmmmmmmmm.... coffeee......
This is me - click on the link and then click "coffee jitters": http://www.hallmark.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/article%7C10001%7C10051%7C/HallmarkSite/hoops_yoyohome/Animations/HYY_FUNIMATIONS

3. If you could choose your own name, what would it be?
Gosh, I don't know. I like my nickname way more than my given name, so I think I pretty much chose it a long time ago.

4. Were you ever bullied?
I guess I would call it bullying when I had a girl that really hated me for some reason in 6th or 7th grade. She called me the "B" word for no reason and was really mean to me for an entire year. My PE teacher told me that she was jealous of me. I have no idea what she would be jealous of? I was just a normal kid that didn't do or have anything special. Go figure.

5. How often do you eat fast food?
Daniel and I probably eat it way too often. I know he does even more than me. I usually get something not as greasy and fattening, but it is fast food. I do like Arby's and will get a roasted chicken sandwich or their chicken salad sandwich. I will also get a chicken salad at taco bell, a wrap at chick-fil-a, or a veggie burger at burger king. Most times I try to stay away from the fries, but sometimes I can't resist!

Here it comes!

2010-02-12T09:18:00.000-08:00

Daniel and I slept in this morning since our jobs were closed today. Well, I only slept an hour later than normal, but hey it's an hour longer. I have morning dog "duty" and get to take the boys outside. I was surprised when there was no sign of snow. I even lounged around for another hour and a half and decided I needed to get coffee and maybe Daniel a chicken biscuit. I hung around Target longer than I planned (the place just sucks you in!) and when I came out the snow/flurries were starting to come down, but not bad. I got Daniel a chicken biscuit from Chick-fil-A and ran into Publix real quick. I came back out and it was pouring snow! Big flakes were coming down. To me it's the only reason for cold weather because I can't stand it otherwise. The snow wasn't sticking in McCalla/Bessemer. It was really coming down and sticking the closer I got to home. Woohoo! Well, here are some pics from the start of the snow. No sticking on the roads yet thank goodness! I only worry about if the snow continues, what will happen with the Casting Crowns concert tonight?

It started sticking right when I got home.

The deck was already covered in snow.

Only 30 minutes after I got home.

Valentines Truthful Tuesday

2010-02-09T07:09:00.000-08:00

Since Valentines is Sunday, I figured I'd do a Valentines-themed Truthful Tuesday:

I really, really dislike Valentines Day. Why? Because I have to share that day with everyone. What's the problem with that? Because it's my birthday!

At first it was kinda fun when I was a kid because it would always be pink and red hearts themed birthday and that's cool for a girl. But then, as I got older, and my friends got boyfriends, it started not to be cool anymore to have a Valentines birthday. No one cares about my birthday because they are too caught up in themselves and what wonderful thing they are going to get for/from their significant other and what romatic stuff they will be doing. Plus, I can't even go out to eat on my birthday and celebrate because everyone else has reservations and is out to eat too. I will have no less than a 2 hour wait to go eat ON MY BIRTHDAY!

Bitter? Not at all. What makes you think that?

Well, it also stinks because Daniel is not a big believer in Valentines Day either. He calls it Hallmark 1800Flowers Hersey Day. He thinks it's just a big, made-up holiday for those companies to go from the red to the black. But, as a girl....I want the "cheesiness" sometimes. I want a romantic day and it's just made 100X worse because it's my birthday too. I went through a spell where I didn't even want to buy Valentines cards and candy for anyone, including my significant other because I was sooo selfish about it being my birthday. I'm not THAT selfish anymore. I'll buy valentines cards for the kids I work with and co-workers and a few little items for Daniel. But is it because I at least want some kind of recognition? I don't know.

Well, the past couple of birthdays have completely stunk. I've done nothing for my birthday. I started feeling that this birthday would be the same or even worse because it's a big birthday....the big 3-0. Ugh! I don't want to turn 30 and I certainly don't want to turn 30 by myself. I really just wanna curl up in a ball and hibernate. This stems sort of, feeling like a complete loser, when trying to have parties at my house and hosting other get togethers at church. They all seem to bust and fail because hardly anyone shows up. I actually had attempted several things in which NO one showed up. I was feeling like a total failure and a loser until 2 of my friends and former co-workers at Children's Hospital told me they wanted to throw me a birthday party. I was completely floored and wanted to start crying. I still do almost cry everytime I think about it. I can't believe that they would want to do that for me! I hope people show up, but if they don't, I know that those 2 are good friends and will have a great time with them anyway.

Won't you join me for my birthday party?!

Five Question Friday

2010-02-05T07:17:00.000-08:00

1. What are you most afraid of?
There are several things I'm afraid of: hurting someone, losing someone close by them leaving me, not being in control of things (yes, Daniel, I'm admitting it), and I'm afraid of failing. I'll spare you the details because I'm afraid of opening up as well...

2. Do you use a flat iron or curling iron?
I use curlers, not a flat iron or curling iron. Are you kidding me?! I'd totally be a burn patient if I tried using one of those. Not to mention that my hair would look completely horrible. I'm not even sure why I bother curling my hair because it doesn't last. It just kinda curls it under a little bit. Oh well.

3. Hands-free or phone to the ear?
I do like using speaker phone when I'm busy with my hands, but I mostly hold my phone up to my ear. That is, when I'm talking and not texting. I cannot stand those ear-buds or bluetooth ear thingys though. I can't have it in my ear longer than 5 minutes before it starts hurting. I don't know how the CTU agents can wear them all the time. If I lose my hearing, I just don't think I could wear hearing aids either. I'll just have to learn sign language and read lips.

4. Do you have a matching bedroom set?
I do have eclectic tastes, but my most of my furniture belongs together in each room including the bedroom. It didn't use to be that way, but when we bought our house, it had to be done! It just looks more complete, homey, and not so college-like.

5. Do you believe in the paranormal?
I find the paranormal interesting. I believe in the paranormal in the sense of the holy spirit, angels, and demons. As far as ghosts and things of that nature, I find it fascinating. I watch Ghost Hunters and other paranormal shows like that. I would watch "Unsolved Mysteries" when I was home alone after school. It would come on just as it was getting dark outside and I hadn't turned the house lights on yet. I used to freak myself out! Now, I'm skeptical. I have never personally experienced anything paranormal or unexplained and I have yet to see evidence that can truly be explained as ghostly in nature - even all the tv shows. Because, it's tv. There can be manipulation through creative editing. I think I would have to personally see it and probably several times before I'd truly believe it. But I am still intrigued by those shows.

It's I don't care Friday

2010-02-05T06:49:00.000-08:00

In continuing with hoops and yoyo it is "I Don't Care Friday". Did you get your important powerpoint thing done that was an emergency? No, because it's I Don't Care Friday! It can wait until Monday! Who's ever felt like this? Or who hasn't felt like this? It's sad, but I sometimes feel like this on days other than Friday. Couldn't everyday be the weekend? Wouldn't that be nice? So have a great day and don't worry about those huge projects that need to be done, because it's I Don't Care Friday!

http://www.hallmark.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ecard%7C10001%7C10051%7C1044811%7C147551;-102001;11443;-102034;183073%7Cecard%7CP1R14S%7Cecards?cardType=premium&isComboCall=false&template=n&categoryId=183073

It's Second Guess Thursday!

2010-02-04T09:14:00.000-08:00

Some of you may know that I LOVE hoops and yoyo. They are these cute little characters that were first found on hallmark.com. Well, in their world it's Second Guess Thursday. It's a day where you just can decide anything and second guess yourself. I tend to have "second guess day that ends with 'y'!" (everyday for those of you who didn't understand). Hehe. Hoops and yoyo just brighten my day, so here's a link to the second guess thursday e-card. Watch and enjoy!

http://www.hallmark.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ECardsRedirectUrl?storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&CatIDsList=147551;-102001;11443;-102034;183073&productId=736852&rank=P1R13S&isComboCall=false

Should I have posted this to my blog?

Getting to know YOU Sunday (on Monday)!

2010-02-01T06:46:00.000-08:00

1. Do you iron your sheets?
Uh, no. Who in their right mind irons sheets?! I rarely even iron clothes. I just throw things in the dryer and it works pretty well. Takes less time too!

2. Your dream car is....?
I don't really have a dream car, but I'd like a sporty convertible someday. Can't stand what the wind does to your hair, but I want one anyways! Side note: My dad bought his dream corvette in the past couple years and then his regular car died, so now he's having to drive his 'vette all the time. I don't think I'd want to drive it all the time, especially in the rural counties that I serve. I also like old, restored cars too. It's just nice to see one because of the workmanship back then and knowing that it still works. They don't make cars like that anymore.

3. Do you have an innie or an outie belly button?
I have an innie, but I'm not showing you for proof!

4. What meal do you look forward to the most..breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
I think I look most forward to lunch. Not necessarily to eat, but because it breaks up the work day. I usually do things during my lunch time, like go to the bank, etc. You know, get things done that you can't do after 5pm or on weekends.

5. Favorite mascara?
I don't wear mascara on a daily basis because it bugs the heck out of my eyes. And then wearing contacts, it just makes a mess. I only wear it for really special occassions and there aren't many of those. But it has to be waterproof when I do wear it.

6. What would you say your decorating style is..traditional, modern, eclectic, country, french country, shabby chic, etc..?
I would say I'm eclectic. I love some modern stuff and traditional and antiques....I would say most of my furniture is traditional, but I do have the world's most comfortable purple velvet couch.

7. Have you ever been skinny dipping?
I can't say that I ever have...just something about being modest and always have the fear that someone or some animal will take my clothes while I'm in the water. (You always see that in the movies/tv)

8. I hate the smell of...?
Are you really asking this?! Um, tons of things. Rotten food, baby formula spit up, Beanie's gas, Daniel's gas...the list can go on. I have a very sensitve nose. Even "good" smells can be bad to me if it's too strong. I can say that I don't have a strong gag reflex though in response to smells which is a good thing because I used to be the "throw-up girl" when I was a PT tech. I worked with a PT that couldn't deal with vomit and would always stick me with the bucket...lovely.

5 Question Friday

2010-01-29T11:44:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's Friday already...this week has flown by!
1. Would you ever vacation alone?
I have before. When I was on my internship in Mobile I was living with my aunt and Daniel stayed in Atlanta. To give them space and me time to recoup from busy week's work, I went down to my dad's house in Gulf Shores by myself. It's nice to be away for a short time by yourself, but it is awkward going out to eat by yourself even when not vacationing. I think to vacation by yourself would be a time to de-stress and do a whole lot of nothing, but just away from home and all those things we stress and think about even if we try to do nothing.
2. Do you go the speed limit?
Why of course! The limit before they start pulling you over ;) I tend to go within 5 miles of the speed limit, but that can inch up when I'm in a hurry. I never go 10 miles or more over though...too worried about getting pulled over.
3. Why did you start blogging/following blogs?
I started a blog several years ago after Daniel encouraged me to. I've said this before, but I don't write well and have never written even in a journal unless I was forced to for a school project. I just let it slip by and never updated it. Not even sure what my password was when I tried to revive it. I began following some friends' blogs and thought I should try again as I was encouraged by them. So here I am.
4. Where do you shop for yourself?
Anywhere that has a good deal and sometimes places that might not if it's cute enough! But, really, Old Navy for work because they are somewhat cute and inexpensive so I don't worry if my clothes get gross or messed up; Target for deals and accessories; Outlet malls for name-brand clothes/shoes, etc. I don't really shop many other places.
5. What was the song that you danced your first dance with your spouse to at your wedding...or...what song would you like your first dance to be to?
Well, Daniel and I didn't dance at our wedding. I would've loved to have a DJ and a huge shin dig, but the budget didn't allow. PLUS, Daniel doesn't dance. I've tried to get him to, but to no avail.

I've got a case of the Mondays

2010-01-25T12:37:00.001-08:00

It's just been one of those days/weeks where you just don't know what to say, write, or do. And I just don't feel like working or blogging today. The blogging well has been dry also, just because I tend to believe that you wouldn't want to read about "that". The only thing new is that I bought myself and early birthday present. Daniel told me that it's his present to me, but I picked it out and I bought it and HE was nowhere around.... Anyway, I bought an electric guitar. I've been borrowing my step-brother's bass (I'm not giving it back, but he doesn't know that yet) and I've been wanting an electric for awhile now. I have a pretty purple acoustic/electric Ibanez and I needed to find something that was different, but would compliment my acoustic in appearance and sound. I looked around and tried some out. I didn't remember until I was looking that I had to find one with a small or thin neck. I had to do that with my acoustic, but didn't remember. I found a pretty flat cherry colored Epiphone Studio, but it was heavy and the neck was too thick...I was completely crushed because it hurt my wrist to play. After looking for an hour and trying them all out, I found the perfect one. It is a '66 Wilshire Epiphone that is flat black with a white pickguard. I think I'm gonna get a different pickguard for it though...saw one that was silver and black paisley. Can't wait to learn to really play it! Wow, I guess I really did have something to talk about.

Truthful Tuesday - To Matt Miller

2010-01-19T09:49:00.000-08:00

Some of you may know Matt Miller. He was known to a lot of those who were a part of Trinity UMC and the UA Wesley Foundation in Tuscaloosa. He was in seminary in Memphis and already was pastoring a church in Millport, AL. He unexpectedly passed away Saturday in a duck hunting accident. His visitation is tonight and the funeral will be held tomorrow. This is for Matt.

5 Truths

1. I consider myself more of an acquaintance of Matt's than a friend. I was no longer in school when he came to Tuscaloosa. I had actually just started leading worship at Trinity Methodist. I got to hear him preach a few times and was enthralled. I really enjoyed listening to Alan Head preach then hear Matt preach the same thing, but in a different way or a different message that he got from the same scripture. I never really got to know him as a friend though. That, I regret.

2. Matt grossed me out. It's kinda funny. Whenever we did communion at Trinity, Matt would take the bread, hold it while talking, and "played" with the bread. He would talk with the bread like it was an extension of his hands. It was like someone putting their hands all in your food before giving it to you to eat. I couldn't help but think, "Gross! And now I'm going to consume that as Jesus' body!" Needless to say, I committed to myself that it was clean because it was for God's purpose.

3. There was a time that I really disliked Matt. I know...."how on earth could you dislike him?!" Well, I think I did because I disliked myself and what I was dealing with. Daniel blogged about me and Matt was trying to help by posting some advice. I got upset at him and Daniel. It took me a long time to get over that.

4. I found to like Matt. While I was working at Children's hospital, I worked with many kids with cystic fibrosis. Charlie was a special one. He was hilarious - He would try things you asked, but was very pessimistic because he seemed to believe that he would wind up getting hurt. He was always very witty and had great comebacks and excuses for everything. Well, he began to get very sick and went to the ICU. I spent those days with him and his family. I said goodbye to him even though I really wanted him to come off the vent and be normal Charlie again. Some therapists and I went to his visitation in Millport. Lo and behold, Matt was there. He also knew Charlie. He was there as a friend and pastor to the family and all those who loved Charlie. I really appreciated that and got to talk with him about Charlie. Matt was a good guy after all.

5. Despite the fact of not really knowing Matt the way others got to, I am still very saddened by his passing. It is a very tragic and horrible way to die. I know that he is in a wonderful place now and not suffering, but it is still hard to understand when someone is taken away from you. He affected so many people in Tuscaloosa, Camp Sumatanga, and Millport. (I'm sure even more than just those places.) I know that all of them are hurt by what has happened. What I feel is so horrible is that we didn't get to say goodbye to him like I was able to with Charlie.

Goodbye, Matt Miller. May you be able to further the Kingdom of God in your new home. Thank you for your service here on earth.

I'm celebrating MLK Day...at work!

2010-01-18T10:58:00.000-08:00

I completely believe that Martin Luther King Jr. would be happy that I am doing my share at work instead of sitting at home doing nothing. Well, I'm sure I could find something to do, but it probably would not be productive! I've been trying to hard to catch up on things since I was gone the week after Christmas and then a few days the following week, but it's hard to catch up when you have stuff piling on while you're working. This complete silence at work is helping me get productive. Just a few minutes to write this blog and back to work! Happy MLK day!

Truthful Tuesday - I'm a terrible blogger

2010-01-12T07:52:00.000-08:00

So the 5 truths for today surround why I think I'm a terrible blogger....

1. I guess I don't think people really want to read my blog...who would want to listen to me rant and rave about things?!

2. I think I'm a horrible writer. I know that, even when talking, I have trouble finding the right words and end up sounding like I have no idea what I'm talking about. I feel like it's worse with writing because I right like I think. The only plus is that I have access to digital dictionaries, thesauruses, and spell check!

3. I get busy and forget. That's most of why I don't blog everyday. I really should change the title of my blog....

4. I think I actually avoid writing in my blog because of all of the above! I don't know what to write, I don't think people want to read my blog, I've never written in a journal unless it was for a grade, and I can never formulate how to write what I want to write. Yes, I know I'm screwed up!

5. And last but not least, I'm intimidated by all the other bloggers out there. They have good ideas and I don't when it comes to blogging. But, at least, I can steal ideas from them and that's how you have this post right now!

Coming soon: I will blog about my travel to California to witness Alabama get their 13th National title...sometime.

HAPPY MARK INGRAM DAY!

2010-01-06T07:11:00.000-08:00

Yes it really is Mark Ingram Day. Governor Bob Riley declared that today is Mark Ingram Day, see? http://www.waaytv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11773398 So in celebration of this "blessed" day, I will be taking off at noon to finish packing and get to the airport. But...since I work for the state and the governor declared it, shouldn't I get the day off anyway?! ;) Well, it's alright because tomorrow I will be celebrating Alabama's National Championship Day in Pasadena!

Truthful Tuesday

2010-01-05T10:33:00.000-08:00

I thought I might start this, but at this point I am unsure if it will be something regular. Truthful Tuesday was an idea I stole from another blogger and thought it might be fun since I didn't know what else to write about. I mean, I'm sure you're sick of hearing about Alabama football and my vacation, so this is something different. A pastor of mine from Dawson Memorial Baptist Church would always structure his sermon on "5 Truths" so I will do the same with this blog. I'll keep if rather broad today.

5 Truths about Mandy:

1. I love working with kids and have thought about having them one day, but I really feel okay if I never do. (Mom, don't take this the wrong way!!) I mean, it is just so much easier without that responsibility and sooo much less expensive!

2. I think I might be manic depressive. Not in the sense of needing medication or put in a padded room, but it's like this: I tend to get on a kick about something every once in a while and then totally drop it or don't want to do it anymore. Like, cooking; I'll get in a kick that I like to cook for a week or so (sometimes not even that long) and then the next week I won't want to cook at all. Cleaning is like that to. And there are so many days when I come home from work and just want to veg out on the couch or completely clean every room in the house until it's time to go to bed. Don't come over to my house this week; it is depressing!

3. I'm not so sure I like my job. Don't get me wrong: I love doing physical therapy and working with kids, but I hardly get to do that. I sit in an office all day and only come out for clinics or to do school and home visits. I do like getting out of the office with Greg and repairing wheelchairs or checking in on patients in their home and school environments, but I feel like most of the time is spent in the small closet called my office staring at a computer screen. I changed jobs because I was very overworked at my last job that I would be there from 8am to 7:30 some nights to complete my work, plus it was very physical, running around the hospital and lifting patients. But now, all I do is get fat, sitting in front of a computer screen when I don't get to go out....I'm just not sure if the benefits outweigh (no pun intendend) the overwork I did at my last job.

4. I'm an introvert now matter how hard I try not to be. (enough said...I don't want to expound)

5. Daniel says that I became an Alabama fan right after the win against Florida at the Swamp in 1999. (I know, I know...I said I would't talk about Alabama football, but how can I not when the big game is in 2 DAYS!!!) Well, truthfully, I was an Alabama fan before then. I'm not exactly sure the date as I didn't even want to admit it to myself because I am stubborn. Yes, I grew up and Auburn fan going to Auburn home games with my dad because he's a letterman there. My mom went to Bama, so I never hated Alabama and generally would cheer for both until they played each other. Back then I would cheer for Auburn to beat Bama. I don't know why I chose Alabama when looking at colleges, but I felt it was right and so I did. I went to football games because I love the sport and it was cheap for students. I refused to wear crimson or to really cheer for Bama most of my freshman year. But something changed even before that game at the Swamp or else I probably wouldn't have gone to that game. I can tell you it certainly did make my love of the game and Alabama football much stronger and especially when we beat them again in the SEC Championship that year. I remember watching the game at my apartment by myself, cheering and jumping up and down!

I WON! I WON!

2010-01-04T13:07:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I came home after the early service and got straight onto ebay. I was bound and determined to find tickets to the National Championship game. I mean, I had hotel and plane already, but it was getting too close for comfort on getting game tickets. I got online and tried several times to win. I wasn't the highest bidder on them once...It's hard to believe people would pay or ask this much for the tickets. The next one, I won, but didn't meet the reserve, so I really didn't win. I wonder what the reserve was. It's just crazy because the face value of these tickets are between $100 and $275 and people are asking for $600-1000 a ticket. Just outrageous! I can and can't believe how these people can scalp them like that especially those who got them through the University and are selling them to other Alabama fans for at least 3X what they paid. I know I couldn't do that to a fellow fan. Well, I tried once more on ebay. I waited til 1 minute was left in the auction. I put in my max bid and won! I was so excited and so disspointed at the same time that it took all of my maximum bid to get the tickets. I won't tell you how much I paid because you'll think I'm crazy, but I can tell you I didn't pay as much as some. Plus, I'll be at the game and hopefully get to witness Alabama's 13th National Championship!

Why I didn't post at all last week...

2010-01-04T12:46:00.000-08:00

Well, I have to admit posting is very hard to remember to do. I almost didn't even post today and it's looking like I should probably change the title of my blog because there is no way that I'll ever post on a weekend or when I'm out of town. Daily dose is sooo not true, unless you just come to my blog and read old stuff daily ;). Anyway, with Christmas and new years, I wasn't anywhere near a computer and certainly not in range of a wireless signal to get online. Daniel and I were busy visiting everyone in our family on Christmas Eve and Christmas and then went to Jeff Dunham on 12/26. Then we took off the next morning to meet the inlaws in Atlanta and go to Hilton Head from there. My dad was going to loose a week from his time share if we didn't go and so I took the inlaws to Hilton Head.

We had a good time away from home. We went shopping at the outlets, rode bikes and played football on the beach, and played tennis. We even made time for relaxation while we were there. We also got to sight-see in Savannah, GA and visit with a friend who now lives there. We got to enjoy a ghost tour and ate at Paula Deen's restaraunt, Lady and Sons. It was good and we got excellent service. I can tell you that Savannah was the place to be for New Year's Eve; too bad we were in Hilton Head, where they didn't even have fireworks. Savannah was a much more happenin' place this time a year. We came back to the inlaws on Friday and reunited with our "big" dog who was so excited about coming home that he jumped into the back of our car and wouldn't get out! We finally got home Saturday afternoon and pretty much crashed. We had a good time and I was glad we were able to spend it with family.

Christmas presents

2009-12-22T07:28:00.000-08:00

Daniel cracks me up. He has been begging me everyday, several times a day, to open each others' Christmas presents. I keep telling him that Christmas is Friday and we will open them then, but he continues to ask everyday! It is exciting to give a gift that you just know the person will love or has been wanting or just something personal. I enjoy it too, but it's not Christmas yet!
Traditionally, with my mom, we would open one gift the night before, then open the rest on Christmas morning. Since Daniel and I have been married, it has been a tradition to go to see his family on Christmas Eve to play dirty Santa and open presents on Christmas morning then drive back home, open ours to each other and go either to my Dad's and grandmother's(mom's side) houses sometime Christmas Day. It looks like we'll do that again this year. We'll go down to Smiths Station, AL and do Christmas Eve at Daniel's sisters' house to play dirty Santa then open presents early Christmas morning at his mom's. We'll drive to my step-grandmother's house and visit my Dad and step family, play dirty santa and give gifts to the neice and nephews. Then we'll go home for a minute to exchange gifts with each other, and off to my grandmother's (just down the street) to spend the rest of Christmas day with my mom's side of the family. It's always busy, but fun. What are you doing for Christmas?

Busy Sunday

2009-12-21T07:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was sooo busy that I crashed at 7:45pm and did not get back up until my alarm started blaring this morning. I don't remember a time that I was that tired before. Well, yesterday morning I got up, did the powerpoint show for the contemporary service at church, got ready for the day, and was at band practice at 8am. We then had our service, practice for the 11am service, sang at that service for the Christmas Cantata, then finally had a break to go to lunch. Daniel and I ate at Cracker Barrel which was suprisingly quick, waited only 15 mins until we were seated. Our food came realitively quick and we were just gonna go home after that. Well, then he tells me that, since he was going to his parents' house Wednesday night, he needed 12 more gifts for his family's friends families (mouthful). So.....we went to Walmart.

I found 3 sets of 5 votive candles and 2 sets of 7 dish towels that I could monogram or just leave them like they were if I ran out of time. It was going to be about $2/gift and I would have 3 candles and 2 towels left over. BUT. One of the votives was broken. I stupidly mentioned it to the cashier who then told me that she could not sell it to me. WHAT?! I've never heard such a thing. I told her I didn't mind that it was broken and wanted it since there were not anymore out there. But she said she couldn't sell it to me, that she was not allowed. She was not nice when she said it as well. She said that she was going to ask if she could sell it to us. Well, I was very upset and my stomach was hurting because I just filled it up at Cracker Barrel and now stress was being added.. So, I left Daniel to deal about it while I walked around. After talking with another person, Daniel then spoke to the assistant manager who was a complete jerk. Daniel just wanted an explanation of why we couldn't buy it full price without that one votive candle. After no good explanation and the assistant manager stating it was he prerogative on whether or not to sell it to us and he wasn't, Daniel said he would not shop here anymore. The assistant manager told him, "well get going and KEEP WALKING, PAL!" Geez, no way to treat any customer. I'm not saying that Daniel wasn't upset, but he did remain more calm than that guy. So, from our experience....DON'T SHOP AT THE BESSEMER WALMART!
So we didn't buy anything and we still needed 12 gifts. So onward to Target! I believe Target is one of my favorite stores; I'd shop there just about everyday if it were closer to my house. We found what we needed there and for not too much more than what we would've paid at Walmart. I think we went home for about 2 hours and then were back at church for the Posada Navidena (the Hispanic Christmas Party). It was fun and the food was great. We got home about 7:30 and I crashed 15 minutes later. It was a looong, crazy, trying, fun day!

Five Question Friday

2009-12-18T14:00:00.000-08:00

One of my friends who blogs regularly does a regularly scheduled "Five Question Friday". These are questions created by another blogger and I'll just answer them so you can get to know me better. I figured I could steal the idea!

1. Which boygroup did you like most in your teens?
I wasn't a fan of any boy groups and didn't really like the New Kids on the Block as much as my friends. I was more into 80's hair bands when the boygroups were around then and was pretty much on my way out of my teens when the others came around. At that point, I was pretty much into the 90's Alternative bands.

2. Do you do Christmas cards, letters, photos, nuthin', all of the above?
The past 2 years we've done a photo card. Before that we just did regular cards. Before I was married, I didn't care about it. But now it's fun to get them, so I give them as well.

3. If you could meet one celebrity who would it be and why?
ummmm, I really don't know who I'd like to meet. It would most likely be someone in the music business, but then there are a lot of them that I'd like to meet. Partly for selfish reasons - that they might like me and ask me to join their band (like that'd ever happen). But I think I'd mainly like to meet those who have that great talent and still juggle normalcy along with it.

4. Favorite thing to cook with (i.e. stainless, non-stick, Dutch oven, microwave, debit card...or, perhaps, a cauldron, etc.)?
I haven't been in the cooking mood lately, so it's pretty much been the microwave or having someone else cook it. I think I like the grill though as its less of a mess to clean up afterwards. You can pretty much do everything on a grill as you can the stove and oven...a little differently though. Plus, we just got a new grill not too long ago, so it still has the fun, new feeling when we use it.

5. What is the one thing you wear the most, besides your unmentionables?
I have a favorite pair of blue jeans that I wear a lot. That and I have a couple favorite pairs of PJs that I wear a lot around the house even when its not time for bed!

I don't want to feel this way

2009-12-18T08:23:00.000-08:00

Am I being a bad Christian for feeling the way I do? I get emails on occasion from friends that are forwarded to me. I generally dislike forwards, but I know people are being thoughtful for sending me one with something inspirational. I try to read them if it's a good Christian story, but then my feeling of being loved and inspired is completely thrown out the window when I see something like, "Within 48 hours send 20 copies (or as many as you can - God does know if you don't have 20 people to send it to. It's the effort and intent that counts) to family and friends. Please do not break it." I just get so burnt up because now it's a chain-letter email. I've even recieved some that tell you good things will happen if you send this email along or something bad might happen if you don't. It's like the writer of this email is trying to give me a guilt-trip. I know it wasn't the intent of the person who sent the email along to me, but it just totally throws me off when the "chain" part is added. I don't like feeling this way, but I feel it would be so much better without the "chain" part and then if I felt I knew someone who might appreciate the email leave it up to me to forward it along. Am I a bad Christian for this?

I can't believe Christmas is next Friday!

2009-12-17T12:47:00.000-08:00

It's next week! I love Christmas time. I hate fighting crowds to get the perfect gifts, but I love giving them. I love all the decorations...the lights...the Christmas music...getting Christmas cards. Christmas just makes me feel good.

Vote for Coach Saban: Coach of the Year

2009-12-16T11:58:00.000-08:00

I promise not all of my posts will be about Alabama football! I do want to remind everyone out there to vote for Nick Saban as Coach of the year though (and even though I couldn't get tickets to the National Championship game...I'm not that bitter yet). Go to www.coachoftheyear.com to vote for him. You can vote once everyday! I truly believe he is deserving of this award for what he has been able to do with the University of Alabama football program. Come on, to bring a not-so-great team to an amazing one with back-to-back undefeated seasons and a chance at a National Championship title in only his 3rd year....it's truly astonishing. Vote early and vote often!

National Championship Tickets

2009-12-15T06:36:00.000-08:00

Alright, so I'm excited beyond any understanding about going to the National Championship game and watch Alabama expose Texas. The only problem is...we don't have tickets. Daniel and I, like many others out there, are going to try to get 2-4 of the 2000 tickets on ticketmaster this morning. I was so excited and confident in our team that I booked a hotel room a month and a half ago! The fourth quarter of the SEC Championship game, I booked our flight. I'm so proud of our team and what they've been able to accomplish (undefeated season, a SEC Championship, and a Heisman!). Now....I just need tickets to the game. Say some prayers!

So I'm trying this again....

2009-12-14T09:28:00.000-08:00

Well, I've attempted to blog before and failed. I've been impressed and encouraged by a friend who blogs and so I am going to try this again. I hope to write something daily that's just on my mind or something fun(ny). Enjoy!