Steps to Cutting Down your own Christmas Tree.

Step 1:

Find your most Lumber Jack looking shirt, buy a permit, and gather materials.

Step 2:

Go to a forest and find your tree...and walk around for an hour and half looking for that PERFECT tree farm type tree only to find that God grows them differently in nature.

Step 3:

Find a tree and get your lumber jack husband to smile because his wife finally said that this tree will work.

Step 4:

Cut down tree and feel thankful that it is not very thick cause you can't help since you are 32 weeks pregnant. Throw out encouraging sayings like, "Wow, you are so strong and manly!"

Step 5:

Say "TIMBER" as it falls to the ground...for the second time because you asked the Lumber Jack to lift it up and drop it for the camera because you missed it the first time. :-)

Step 6:

Drag your prize to the truck and catch your first child "claiming" his property...what the camera does not show is the second child coming in right after and doing the same.

John and I have enjoyed a live tree for Christmas every year. For the last 4 seasons (I can't believe this is our 5th Christmas together!), it has been tradition to get that special tree the day after Thanksgiving. This year, because we live where the trees are made, we decided to cut our own.. and for $10, we could not resist.

The tree is perfect because of the adventure and the story... definitely not because of how it looks! But we will keep her name her Rosie. (we cut her from MT. Rose)

Happy Birthday Radar!

HI! My name is Radar and today I turn 2 years old! Isn't that great? This my guest post to let you know a little bit about me and my life. Usually Diesel gets all of the attention, but not today!

I did have to share my treats with brother.. but that's okay.. his birthday is in January and I hope he remembers my kindness.

Me learning patience. (Doesn't mom know I am a boy? Pink? Really?)

OH, I don't care!

This is me sticking my tongue out at brother because he can't have it! You can see him at the top left... he's probably crying inside....

Okay, so that was my little Party, now.. more about me!

1) I love to sleep! I am a great sleeper. I prefer to cuddle with my humans but really anything will do. I know the last picture I picked is of me getting a bath.. but... I slept after that bath!

2.) I love goose poop! I know what you're saying... "MMMM goose poop." Well let me tell you something... we have a buffet of it behind our new home. It is a delicacy in the dog world.. maybe like goose pate for you humans. Mom always yells at me, "DROP! DROP," which I think also means, "CHUG! CHUG!!"...so I do. You can't get this stuff every where you know?

Look, mom is so proud, she caught me in action! JACK POT!!!

3) Mom and Dad have the opportunity to send me back if they don't like me after two years. If they find out that I have hip displasia or some other disease at 2 years, they can return me to KY. Lately, mom has been saying that I love her more and that I have been following her around more because she is pregnant- but really I am just buttering her up so that she will keep me. :-)

4) Now that I am 14 years old, I apparently make funny nosies in my sleep. Last night I howled in my dreams. I even woke up brother!

5) I love to annoy Diesel. I like to steal his toys when he is playing outside. I usually roll around in the grass and eat sticks and wait until he is REALLY tired and THEN I go after him!

They have good sticks in Nevada.

Rollin...

Rollin again..

Mom's favorite part...

and tada.... tired brother!

Don't you dare make fun of my ears!

Other than that, I am just your normal, super adorable, sweet puppy! If you sit down near me, I will sit by you if not on you! Thanks for celebrating my birthday with me!

Love, Radar.

A Tall, Tall, Truthful, Tale.

Once upon time there was a wife who spent too much time looking at DIY web sites. She found a magical inexpensive version of a bed she wanted and waited until her prince charming was finished fighting all of the dragons (a.k.a.- fellowship and oral boards) to ask him if would be willing to help HER build this bed. OF course he said that he would love to be at her service and got to work. Thus the adventure began of the ANA WHITE farmhouse bed.

Okay, so John had to tweak the measurements, and chisel and stain and on and on and on...But we love it. HE did such a great job. HE did ALL of the work! I sanded a bit and my mother in law even got in on the work when she was here visiting. But all of the brains behind this beauty was in the head of the husband. So proud of him. Half way through this project and after many "uh-oh's" we realized that maybe this was a big 1st time project... BUT I THINK IT IS AWESOME.

Last night John got a call that he would have the day off today.. so of course like a sweet wife at 9:30pm, I suggested that we see if the bed could be put together. After an "easy" 3 hours.. it was all done! :-)

NOW the Funny-ish part. IT IS SO TALL! John did everything wonderfully. The bed springs fit in nicely, the frame fits in the head board (after much chiseling and sanding) and the bed is super sturdy.... but here is where we learned a valuable lesson. MEASURE THE DEPTH OF YOUR MATTRESS! Holy cow is this this tall! ANYWAY, I blame myself for picking out the mattress... not John. He was a little disappointed but I think it looks great. Enjoy the photos!

Bringing it into the room..and out.. and back in again- it is not light!

I thought I should at least do something!

Proud John.

Getting here.

So I wanted to wait to blog until I had taken pictures of our rental home, but.. I keep waiting until the house is completely "finished" and semi de boxed. While it is almost done, I will just move on to the other things that we have accomplished while being here.

John has started his job and amazingly a month has gone by! He loves it. He loves doing his own cases and loves that he gets paid for what you work for. If you don't do a case, you don't get no money. The weather, while "hot" in the afternoons, is wonderful. Nice and cool in the mornings and evenings, we are able to go for long pregnancy walks and able to play with the dogs and not feel like we are melting.

So we made it here after a surprisingly pleasant 4-day drive. When we arrived in Tahoe, we stayed at this enclosed 3 acre retreat place that our dogs were able to play and run around with other dogs for two days.

They had a blast! It was gorgeous! We figure this would be a great place for our families if they ever want to come and hang out with their dogs too. You can rent a one bedroom cabin or the entire place! It is about a 5 min walk to the gorgeous lake Tahoe.

From here, we drove to Emerald Bay...named appropriately for it's color.. GORGEOUS! From there, John and I and the "children" went for a 2 mile, hard for us, hike to a hidden lake named Eagle Lake.

Not working out for a long time, being preggo, 4 days of travel food and high altitude made for a difficult but great afternoon. So worth it!

After our fun times, we moved into our rental and waited about 2 weeks for a our belongings to arrive. In August, we went to something called , "HOT August Nights." Every year there is a huge car show at all of the casinos in downtown Reno...Music, food and of course.. cars.

Okay, almost done, I promise. Later in August, my mom dropped by and we enjoyed a little 2 hour cruise back to Emerald Bay.

It was a gorgeous afternoon and the views were, well, beautiful!

Okay, can you tell I am done?? That's all I have for now except for about 400 photos to go through from a Balloon Race we went to this morning at 5 am! Hopefully I can get those uploaded soon.. not all of them!

Happy Reading.

Oh, and Baby is doing great! It's a girl!

New Collars for a New State

So of course I would eventually have to write about the puppies. We found a collar for Diesel a while back and I was in search for the perfect collar for our little Radar....and we found it!!! Like I mentioned in my last post, Radar is in love with me so we think this collar is 100% accurate.

First Trimester...this and that

So as of now, I am at 12 weeks. The baby is the size of a lime and has a diet that none of my healthy, organic friends would approve of.

Here is a list of the things I have learned or become aware of during the first trimester.

1. THE MOST IMPORTANT- I have the most wonderful husband. His food flexibility has amazed me (any time, any flavor.) He tells me all the time that he is thankful that I am carrying this child (who does that?) He never looks down on me when he leaves the house and I am on the couch and when he comes back I am still there ( I guess, technically he is looking down on me but only to smile at me and ask me if I need anything!) Did I mention that he is studying for another test and still is this way???

2. From week 6-12 I went to Subway and ordered a 6-inch chicken breast on wheat with extra pickles.... no more than that.... um, a little more please...thank you, lettuce, tomatoes, vinegar...a little more please, and a stripe of chipotle sauce...... everyday for lunch... everyday. Then one day at Subway, I was sitting outside while John purchased our sandwiches. (they had just pulled out some freshly baked bread which was repulsive smelling) ANYWAY, while I as waiting outside with the puppies, Diesel and Radar decided to eat some leftovers on the ground which I could try to explain to you but honestly I might vomit on the computer. And you know what? That did it! It cured me of the subway sandwich streak.

3. There is a Whole foods at the corner of Cedar and Warensville near our home and if I am forced by the red light to wait, I begin to pray that smell permeating from the store buffet will not get to my car before I begin to dry heave.

4. I am surprised that I have not cried more.

5. When I don't feel gross or tired I get nervous that I have lost the baby. If I wait 2-3 hours, God reminds that I am still INDEED preggo.

6. I have a constant cold and or allergies.

7. I was hoping my food baby that I acquired while living in Cleveland (10 pounds yall) would slowly disappear by week 7 cause I would be showing.... nope... now it just sits on top of my growing hips and belly... and still no baby bump... just a food pooch.

8. Radar is IN LOVE WITH ME! Our dogs have always been everywhere with us, but Radar seems to never leave my side. He waits for me when I am in the rest room, he will not let me go from room to room with out him, down or up the stairs with out him and he is constantly by my side when I nap. It is totally cute.. for now.

9. I sleep ..... a lot.

10. I have had to wear a rubber band around my buttons on my shorts for the last 3 weeks.

Looking forward to what the 2ND trimester brings.

Starting Again...and for good reason.

Okay, so it has been a while, and I don't think I accomplished any of the resolutions from the previous post. I even started a new blog as many of you know, but once they started charging me for pictures to be uploaded, that seemed to fizzle out. So here I am again, going to give it another go... so here it goes.. I hope it lasts longer than one blog.. okay.. I am going to start now... alright.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is the biggest reason I have begun blogging again. Facebook has taken away most of my time with one liners throughout my day, but I figured that most of my family will be interested in the thousands of photos I will soon post of the baby... okay, at least the moms will be.

Happy Reading... hopefully.

2010

Here we go. It's time for the New Year's resolution list to go up on the blog. That makes it sound like I have done one before, but no, I haven't. I am hoping that it will keep me accountable to those two of you who might read my blog.

1) Run a half marathon.

- Have started a run log and team named NO EXCUSES with other friends to keep me accountable.

2) Read the Bible in a year.

-Have RE-signed up for an internet Bible reading plan. I get the e-mails daily.

3) Master the art of French Cooking

-Inspired (sadly) by the movie Julie and Julia, I have purchased this book and hope to learn how to prepare meals with out using recipes. This book is meant to give you that education.

4) Journal

-I used to do this ALL the time. EVERYDAY. It was mainly prayers and bible study times...I am excited to get back to this tool.

5) Read 4 books

- Not sure yet which ones- but John got a Kindle and I want one too (I think.) I have to prove that I would use it! My motivation should be to EXPAND MY HORIZONS but really I just think the gadget is cool.

And of course the usual:

6) Watch what I feed my family and myself

7) Lose a Gazillion Pounds.

Okay, what are your resolutions?

Christmas Time

Tonight is Christmas Eve. John and I are just hanging out at the house, just the two of us. I am wondering how many times I can watch "The Santa Clause" (1-3) with out going crazy. Not yet, folks!

Traditionally, (3rd year now) we watch HOLIDAY INN.

Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, I think, equal warm, cozy, holiday feelings.

Tonight, I am preparing for our Christmas dinner. John is smoking a turkey and brisket. I am making my mom's green bean casserole, broccoli cheese casserole, mash potatoes (already made from Thanksgiving and frozen), grandma's salad, and rolls. Then, for the first time ever... I am attempting to make traditional Bread Pudding. YEA!!

Of course Christmas is clearly not about Trees (which we decorated) or lights on the House (which we put up) or lots of food ( which we continue to eat) or even gifts (which we love to give and of course get).

Jesus Christ, born of the virgin Mary, to take away the sins of the world.. this is why anyone should celebrate Christmas. I think it is interesting that non Christians celebrate Christmas. Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus. I wonder what the world thinks about when Christmas day comes and goes? I am very guilty of getting "wrapped" up with the holiday....um , spirit. Tonight, John and I will listen to a Christmas Sermon, enjoy Holiday Inn, and snuggle up with our two sweet puppy dogs. These things are not wrong, but my prayer for my family is that we continue to celebrate the Truth throughout the year. He came to take the wrath of God, which the Bible says that I was born an object of, away from me so that I can enjoy Him and His glory everyday. He came because he Loved His creation. Christ was born and Christmas will forever be known as the day God came to be with the World. Immanuel, God with Us.

Here is a great story with a Christmas Twist. The Innkeeper. Enjoy and Merry CHRISTMAS!

COOK

Today I cooked 2 orders of bacon and eggs, An order of Pancakes with sliced fruit, fresh guacamole and salsa, and a potato sand which with tomato and basil salad. Yes, I was busy.. and I even got a gold medal for my eggs!

OKAY.. today I got to open an early Christmas gift from John..

Cook or be Cooked from Wii!

It was super fun. Okay, that's all. More to come.

The New Addition

He has arrived. Our second puppy is finally here! His name is Radar and he is already is showing his personality. He is very different from Diesel. Diesel was shy and would run to someone when anything came towards him... like another dog or if he heard a loud noise. Radar, however, is already showing signs of playfulness and boldness. Diesel enjoyed a his cuddle time but wanted to be out exploring everything. Radar loves to just fall asleep in your arms.... in his crate.. or just in mid walk! Super cute! Here are some comparison pictures. These are Radar at 6 weeks and Diesel at 5 and 7 weeks. I think Radar will be smaller! Can you tell who is who?