The house

I haven't updated here in a long time. Life has been pretty crazy. I am still working two jobs however this is my last week at CVS. We love the house. I can't believe it is mine and how blessed we are to have it. We are working on it every chance we get, which isn't many yet. Here are some photos. The bathroom is the most important to get re modeled so it is being worked on first.


Ozma climbed under the sink to help Frank's dad put in the new kitchen faucet.

We got our furniture in place in one of the living rooms but still need to change the drapes, paint and put in a new lighting fixture.

The bathroom before shot

Got the new showerhead and sink put in. It's going to be pretty great when we are finished.

Mt Storm

We ended up going back to Mt. Storm. This time we took Amanda and Zacious. It was a lot of fun. There were a lot more people there this time, but there are enough spots along the shoreline that you don't feel crowded.

We brought dive sticks. The water is so clear you can see the sticks from many feet away. The only bad thing about this was that Frank got swimmer's ear and now never wants to swim again.

Chewie floated around in his "Pool Patrol" float for an hour before swimming out.

Look how BIG the lake is!

Mt. Storm

Last weekend we went to Mt. Storm Lake to swim. I loved it! The water was so warm. It was fun to float around. The windmills blew me away, they were so huge! We are going back this coming weekend to camp out. Yay!

Wow! I am a lucky woman

My husband is always surprising me. While I was reading last night I thought Frank was in the living room watching a movie. It turns out he was in the garage organizing and cleaning for me!

He did such a good job finding a home for everything. Finally our garage is up to par (organization wise) with the rest of the house. I am so lucky to have such a great husband.



He made a place to hang the umbrellas.





He even created an area for my gardening stuff! Complete with my old license plate.

He even did the insides of the cabinets!

Now I am planning on painting all the cabinets and dressers the same color and adding matching hardware to make it more aesthetically pleasing. And using my mulch so it's not piled in here.

Wonderful Saturday

Today was a pretty enjoyable, productive day. I got up and had a garage sale. Eventhough I only had 4 customers and made only 2 dollars I was able to set my laptop up and write my 7 paper final paper. I also got all my grades put online. It is so much easier to get work done when you are sitting in the sun.
After I gave up on the yard sale around 2 I had a little lunch and took a power nap. I love it when I get to take naps, I always wake up feeling so much better.
After my nap I went out to work on making my new flower bed. I am very pleased with how it turned out. My big plan is to do the whole hillside with a variety of evergreens and ground cover. It is a long term gift to my husband because he will have less to mow. I have also started planning out next springs plans. I am envisioning two small fountains and ponds, a barrier of plants along my retaining wall, and possible trying out a rose garden. Here are a couple photos of all my hard work.

Below is the bed I started last year. Everything is really coming up well. My mother-in-law always says "The first year they sleep, second year they creep, and third year they leap". I can't imagine what it will look like next year. I still have some more mulch to lay out and some weeds to pull.
This is what I made me mother-in-law for Mother's Day tomorrow. I did this a while ago so I could make sure they did better than the last time I tried and they really flourished. I wish I had a picture of how small they all started out. I hope she enjoys them. She is the reason I got into gardening. I plan on taking a couple of hostas and mulch to my mom's next weekend and fixing up her garden for her Mothers Day present. I will try to remember to take my camera and get some before and after pics.

I love working in the gardens so much I am a little sad to see this years projects almost completed. But I do need to turn my focus over to taking up the old pool deck and replacing it with a stone patio, staining the fence and creating an outdoor kitchen. I want to get the deck done incase we are able to build in our patio like we plan. We don't want to lose our outdoor cooking space.

*Add pictures to Internet -Check

I added some pictures to past blogs. There are now some Vacation pics, and some early spring garden pics.

Sunny Day

I love this weather! Yes the heat was a little surprising yesterday, but still wonderful. I got up early today so I can take on some outside projects! The plants in my garden are really starting to come up. I was convinced they weren't going to grow. I am so thrilled! I was convinced I had a black thumb. I will add pictures later.

My mother in law made this birdbath for me last year. It needed rinsed out again.

Whenever I tried putting these in the pots they were supposed to be in they died. So i left them in here. They grew so much I had to move someto another pot. Now they are taking over that one.

Of course I have a lot of work to do out here. I am excited to finally have a pretty flower bed again. Everything is so depressing in the winter.

Much Better

Well things are looking up! Frank is able to return to work, and I think I found a part time job. So this has eased the pressures of the bills. My masters classes are still taking tons of time but there is only a month left! Then I get a week off before summer school starts.
I got to go out and work in the garden today. I love being out in the sun. I got most of it weeded (it's 45 feet long, and there are lots of weeds). It looks like all my hostas and flags are coming in nicely. I have been saving my change so I can buy some flowers in a month or so, mulch too.
My knee is really doing great. I started walking 3.5 miles again and made it without it hurting. I think I may try jogging tonight. = ) I love to jog.
I also was able to buy some fruits and vegetables! I love fresh fruit and vegetables! Now I can munch on those instead of junk! YAY!
I still haven't uploaded the pictures from vacation. We honestly didn't take many. I don't think we got any in NYC or Boston. I was having too much fun and forgot to get out the camera! Hopefully I will have some time to get those uploaded tonight or tomorrow.
We may be putting an addition onto our house. If that happens then we can start working on fixing up the pool deck. I don't think we can afford to repair the pool this year but things are looking up for next year.

I can't wait till Frank Graduates!!

I am so frustrated, defeated, and overwhelmed. I have finally got a lot of the troubles I was having with my class corrected, but of course there are other things making me crazy.
Money, AHH I hate this. I can not pay my bills with what I make, let alone get gas in my car, and buy groceries. What am I supposed to do when every pay check my bills are $200-$300 MORE than what I am getting paid. I already don't have cable. I honestly have nothing else I can cut out. I went to college to not be able to pay my bills??? I can't understand how anybody gets by on only minimum pay. I am thinking about getting another job, but then when do I do my school work?? That's the other thing, my school work. My class work takes up more time than a part time job. I have to work on an assignment EVERY night. It's getting a little ridiculous. I feel sick worrying about how I am going to get by every week. This shouldn't be. No one should work as hard as teachers do and still have to feel like this, and have this worries. I haven't got a clue how we are going to make it through the next 2 years. Especially if I can't find a job next year. I just don't know what I will do without Health Insurance if I can only sub.

There are good things too. I am probably going to be able to quit physical therapy. My knee has gotten stronger and hurt a lot less. I am going to keep up the excercises and stretches and hope it is enough to get me back in the shape I want to be in.

Vacation

I am back from my vacation. Frank and I really had a great time. It was like our honeymoon (almost 3 years late). I will get some pictures loaded later. First I have to make-up the homework that I missed, yes I had a teacher assign work that was due during spring break!! So that's what I will spened my weekend doing (boo).

This was the first picture taken on our way to NYC!
I was trying to get Chewie to see how fun it was in his new kennel.

He loved looking out the window in our New Jersey hotel room.

This is the view of NYC skyline from our hotel. We rode the ferry across to the city. We didn't get any pictures from in New York because I always left my camera in the hotel!

Chewie also loves water so we pulled over in Boston and let him get in. We didn't get many pictures of Boston because it was cold and violent. We were there for St. Patrick's Day and there was a lot of crime and drunk people around. I didn't feel safe getting out my camera. Boston was our least favorite stop.

When we got to Hershey, Pa Chewie found another window to lay in. Hershey was our favorite place on the trip because it was so clean and friendly.

This was the best salad I have ever eaten! It was Strawberries and Chicken. Frank liked his roast beef too! We were really excited because this was the first meal that was really good the whole trip. We had an $85 New York meal we couldn't even finish earlier in the week.

I am standing by a chocolate mixing machine in The Hershey Story Museum.

All the lamp post are Hershey Kisses.

My Hair

I really like my hair in my current style. It is the first time in my life that I can say that. The problem is that my family seems to not like it as much as me. They say it looks nice but I need to have long hair. Don't they remember I always wore it in a ponytail and rarely ever fixed it? I know it looked nice in planned pictures because I would spend the time to fix it, but I never did that on a regular day. I just don't think it's worth it.


I am struggling with letting it grow out, or continuing to keep it short. What do you think?


Before













Now











(Keep in mind, I was 10 pounds lighter and tan in the before pictures. )

Excercise

It seems when I start doing what I should, and really getting in to exercising, something always stands in my way. In November I started using my elliptical daily. It went great for about two weeks, then it broke. I hate to run outside when it is cold so I started doing different exercises videos, Sweatin' to the Oldies is my favorite. But then my knee starting hurting. Then it REALLY hurt. Then I couldn't go up stairs without intense, sharp pain. I finally went to the doctor.
Somehow my knee cap is dislocated and it being off just the tiniest bit is causing things that shouldn't rub together to rub together, which results in tremendous pain. I am now in physical therapy and am hoping that if we keep stretching and strengthening the tendons we will be able to "pop" it back into place. I am still going to Zumba and Aerobics 3 times a week but I just can't do too much on my right knee yet. I hope I can get it back to normal by the time warm weather comes because I really enjoy jogging the trails in Mannington, and last spring/ summer I was able to shed 10 pounds (which I have gained back since). Hopefully this knee doesn't hold me back. I am just the type of person who HAS to exercises even if I eat right. My whole family has weight problems and I am bound and determined not to let it happen to me!
I did notice a difference in how much more I could do tonight at aerobics since I did my knee stretches first. I really hope it continues.
Well I need to work on my homework.

I am just BLAH today.

I don't know whats wrong with me. I have NO energy and just want to sleep. It may be because everyone in my house is still alseep. I wish they would get up so I could turn on some music do something. I can't sit down without just going to sleep. It's so boring. Anyways, maybe I can go for a walk so something. It isn't as cold today as it was yesterday. I do have a lot of work to do for work but I really am getting sick of spending hours of my at home time doing work that I don't get paid for and no one appreciates. I dont know why I wanted to be a teacher, there really aren't any good things about it. People always say "you get the summers off" Yeah right, I have to work just as much in the summer as I do the rest of the year because I dont get paid enough, and I never will. But I can't think of any other job I would want either so I guess I need to get out of my slump, move around and cheer myself up.
I do get to go on vacation in two weeks! The only bad thing about it is I will be worrying about my class the whole time. Hopefully I won't let it ruin anything.

I have been playing with Photoshop. Here was some of my creations.

Weekend

Frank and I painted our living room this weekend. We worked together and got it done it one day, we make a great team. It was actually not as bad as we had made it out to be.

Yes I know, I do pick great colors. And to brag a little I also made those curtains. I actually made 10 of them. It got a little old by the time I was finished.

Frustration

I am glad I have this blog because I need to vent. I am working on my Masters in Reading. Last semester I had 12 hours of classes that I really enjoyed. All the material actually helped me in my teaching and was very beneficial. So far this semester only one of my courses is worthwhile. As far as the other two, I either know what they are teaching me, or I can't see how it would EVER matter. I feel like I am wasting time and energy, and MONEY!! I almost forgot that I am paying good money for these classes.
I know FSU's graduate program is new and they are working out the kinks, but some of these courses are just ridiculous.
Another thing that irks me is that I want to have a 4.0. I plan on going on to get my doctorate and a 4.0 should make a good impression on getting accepted. With these courses I am not "feeling" the assignments therefore, I am not putting forth my best effort. I know this is my fault and I need to straighten up.
I guess I will just keep telling myself "Just do it, do it right, get the A and forget it"
It's still early, maybe it will turn around.

ZUMBA

I went to my first Zumba class tonight! It was really fun. I love dancing as a form of excercise. I still know all the moves to Sweatin to the oldies. If you havne't tried Zumba you should.. This is a YouTube clip from the Today Show on Zumba. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5Hxw_Jf2B4

Photostory

I made a photostory for my graduate class. I used Microsoft Photostory 3 software. It was really easy to use, and free. I can think of a lot of ways to use it in my class. I had to publish it to YouTube. Here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIKKhEv8jkg.

Another Try

I am giving blogging another try. One of my graduate courses requires me to use blogspot. I figured if I have to check it each day then I may have better luck writing on this one each day.

What has been going on lately:

The Spring semester has started and I am taking three online courses. So far it is going well, it is a lot of work but all the snow days have helped!

I have started to exercise regularly in preparation for summer. I already bought my bathing suit so that is good motivation. I got Sweatin' to the Oldies DVD too! Yay! I love dancing away the pounds. I am going to try to do some form of cardio every other day and then focus on different body parts the other days. I am going to eat how I always do, just making sure I don't over eat. This worked for me last year and I think it will be even better this year. If I could just stay with it all year round it would be better. Maybe an indoor pool is what I really need.

Frank and I had to get a new computer. Our old one crashed a couple months back and we lost everything. It was starting to do some of the same things it did before it crashed again so we had to make the tough decision to spend the money on a new one before we lost all our files AGAIN. I drove to Pittsburgh to pick up the new computer Saturday, and I got to see my family briefly. The new computer is really nice. I forgot how fast computers can be. And I can do more than one thing at a time.

I think I am finally getting over my cold/flu mixture. My noise is still running, but I don't feel like my head is going to explode anymore. I really need to start taking more vitamins.

Well that is all for now. I bestbe getting to bed. I have some unfinished projects I want to get done tomorrow since we have another snow day! I don't know how I will deal when winter is over and we have to work five whole days in a row!