~~ A Celebration of Life-long friendship ~~ Sew Sweet 16 ~~ Now N' Thens 3/11

[Terkina]

How great that you will get new floors for Christmas.
I hope you have a great day at Target today.

 

[Sweetly]

Please do not stop your daily posts. I do read them daily. I just don't always get to reply. However, I am wondering if I am having issues with the app on my phone, because I did reply the other day and it was gone. I don't even remember what I commented on.
LOVE the mantle. What a great idea!!! Funny that we are doing your kitchen floor. The other day my mother said to my father lets re-do the family room floor. My father had the funniest look on his face, because they are all decorated for Christmas. He asked her what does she think she is doing with the tree. We all started laughing. After the holidays the entire house is getting touched up.
Well back to work I go. Have a wonderful day!!!

 

[ljcrochet]

I love reading your daily post. I usually read it when I'm eating my breakfast at work.

I love the mantle on the red wall. Can't wait to see your new floor. How long have you lived in your current house?

 

[solana131]

Love love love the mantle. It looks great there, can't wait to see the finished floors . I've been there....I can actually picture it and I bet it looks fantastic!

 

[DMGeurts]

First off, if you ever decide to stop your daily updates, I will require a daily email in their place - I love reading what is going on with you. If anyone was interested in reading daily updates from me, I'd share mine - only with the way I DIS, they'd probably be every 3rd day or so

I love the mantle! And I love where you decided to put it and that you just decided to do it now! That's a good thing. Same with the floors. I am horrible for having ideas and supplies and never making the time to follow through with the home decor items. You may think it's nuts, but I think it's awesome. I need to tackle my to do list the same way!

So, on Saturday Peyton and I ran her 5K. We ran/walked the whole thing, but we didn't stop at all and we finished! They don't time it and I didn't want to have to worry about keeping up with anything so I didn't have my phone or watch on me, so I honestly have no idea how we did. I know there will be a next time, Peyton wants to sign up for the Spring program and they will have an end of the season 5K and there is also one sponsored by her running program in April that we may run together. I think I see a Disney run in our long distance future. I just hate that the kids Disney runs are at Wide World of Sports - not as fun as running through the parks. I'll have to cruise the runDisney site later this week to find out more about the events.

Hahaha... Ok, OK I will keep my daily updates going.... And if I ever stop - I promise I will start emails. Hehehe. Love ya Jennifer!

LOL - Yah - I am not sure what came over me? I think it was the whole living room cleaning rearranging for the Christmas tree, topped with the mantle hanging and decorating - it looked so nice... Then I looked down at my floors and they made everything look awful... So, I told Josh "this is it!" We need new floors now! LOL Thankfully - he is a handy guy... So, when I want something done, he can do it. However, most projects are never fully completed... I am still waiting for the trim to be finished on all of my new windows that were installed 6 years ago... And I am still waiting for the walls by the front door to be taped and painted... Hopefully both will get done this winter. Our house would be sooo much nicer if these few simple projects were completed.

I am soooo proud of you for doing the 5k with Peyton!!! I saw your pictures on FB - and it was just awesome!!! I dream of doing a Disney run some day... Allison and I were actually talking the other day, I might decide to try a running program (c25k) this spring... Now, I have no desire to be a full on runner - but I would like to be able to run a 5k... and I think with the shape that my body is in now, it is a realistic goal to tackle.

I wasn't done posting but the DIS thought I was. Perhaps that is a sign that I am being too long winded, however I am going to ignore that sign and just go on rambling.

After the run, we grabbed lunch with my parents. Then DH went to the gym and ran some errands and I decided to squeeze in the afternoon yoga class, hoping that a good stretch would help me recover from the run. I'm not sure if it did or not, it was hard to get up and down yesterday but maybe it would have been worse if I hadn't gone to yoga. I'm still a little sore today but hopefully I'll be back to normal tomorrow. I am heading out to yoga tonight.

Yesterday we did an early Christmas with my dad since he will be out of the country for Christmas this year. It was nice to get together. My dad got all of us girls hand embroidered scarves from Afghanistan. They are beautiful and I am looking forward to wearing mine later this week, even though I'm usually not a scarf person. We also talked about our menu for Christmas dinner. I'm going to give the make ahead mashed potatoes a try, as well as a new warm green bean salad recipe I found.

So, we are quickly approaching the holidays. I've got to get my Christmas cards finsihed and out the door. I also need to get presents wrapped - ASAP apparently, since my mom said Peyton has been snooping around her house (in closets and such) for presents. DH's birthday is next Monday so I'm going to try to arrange babysitting and take him out for a nice dinner on Saturday. I'd like to take the girls to Big Hero 6, although I may save that until the after Christmas party of Christmas break. The Saturday before Christmas we are going to surprise the girls with an early Christmas present- we are taking them to the new American Girl store in Orlando so they can each pick out a doll. Not sure how I'm going to work the surprise yet. They think we are going down to Celebration for lunch and to walk around and pick something up from the doggy bakery for Cooper. If we can get out the door early enough, we may hit the AG store before lunch or we'll go on the way home. I'm not sure if I want to make it a scavenger type road trip or maybe just give them Christmas cards when they wake up or after lunch that say they get to pick out a new toy before Christmas or if I just want to stop at the store with no warning whatsoever. Suggestions are appreciated!

Hope you have a great day at Target! I have a busy day ahead of me here at the office!

Hahaha... You crack me up... The Dis sometimes has a mind of it's own.

I think doing yoga after your run was a great idea... I bet the streching really helped your muscles relax. Good for yoU!

It sounds like you had a nice early Christmas with your dad. It must be hard to have him gone for the holidays like that.

Sounds like you have a crazy-busy few weeks coming up... Ours are too! I also need to get presents wrapped. I might throw them in boxes today while the girls are at school, then wrap them tonight? Or not... Just forgot - I have floors to do. LOL I guess present wrapping will have to wait.

Hmmm... Are you getting them the new AG dolls for Christmas? Or is this just a "just because" trip? I would like more info. Here is what we did while our girls were growing up... Starting in 2004 (so the Christmas Josh was in Iraq) they each got one doll for Christmas - always from Santa. So, every Christmas, they always had a new doll under the tree... It was always a very special and magical thing for them to wake up Christmas morning to have a new doll waiting for them... Any accessories, clothes or furniture always came from us - but the dollies themselves were always from Santa. Each girl only ever got 1 doll per year, never any more than that. In 2007, I started collecting AG with them... So I also got my own new dolls as gifts from Josh or the girls. It was just a really special thing we shared together - and I firmly believe that our relationship now is a direct correlation with the time I spent with them, sitting on the floor dressing our dolls and doing their hair. Those moments, those years, are some that I look back on with great fondness... It's a time in a girl's life where they can either grow closer to their parents or further away, and due to our AG time together - I believe it helped me learn how to relate to them better and also made the girls my friends - if that makes any sense? So, I have no idea what that story has to do with your Holiday surprise... BUt I thought I would tell you how we always did it.

It's been several years since I've shared our AG collection here... But as of when the girls stopped collecting 2 years ago, this is our current collection... Remember - they only got one doll per year... So, this is what one doll per year looks like after 8 years of 3 people collecting.

OK - I guess this isn't our last photo - it's close though, only 3 dolls missing.

I hope you had a great day yesterday!

How great that you will get new floors for Christmas.
I hope you have a great day at Target today.

I know! I am pretty excited about it actually - it definitely needed to be done!

Thank you Lillian - same to you!

Please do not stop your daily posts. I do read them daily. I just don't always get to reply. However, I am wondering if I am having issues with the app on my phone, because I did reply the other day and it was gone. I don't even remember what I commented on.
LOVE the mantle. What a great idea!!! Funny that we are doing your kitchen floor. The other day my mother said to my father lets re-do the family room floor. My father had the funniest look on his face, because they are all decorated for Christmas. He asked her what does she think she is doing with the tree. We all started laughing. After the holidays the entire house is getting touched up.
Well back to work I go. Have a wonderful day!!!

I have not been able to access the android Dis app for several weeks - they have an out of date plug-in, I've posted in several locations about it, and it's yet to be fixed or updated - so I can no longer access The Dis from my phone or tablet - which is a bummer. Oh well. Some day, they might update it?

Thanks!!! LOL that is funny about your parents... There must be something about holiday decorating that makes people want to make their houses nicer? LOL

I hope you had a great day Lynee!!! Thanks for stopping by!

I love reading your daily post. I usually read it when I'm eating my breakfast at work.

I love the mantle on the red wall. Can't wait to see your new floor. How long have you lived in your current house?

Thanks!! LOL - I know - I love checking in on The Dis while I am having lunch.

Thanks! I do love having red walls - they were painted this color when we bought our house, and I loved them so much, I kept them. I don't know if I could have been that bold on my own? But that prompted me to not be so afraid of using color.

We've lived in our current house for 8 years... Seems like longer some times, and not as long other times. LOL But during that time, we have done a LOT of work to it! New roof, new steel siding, new windows, new back deck, new front porch... Plus a ton of other stuff - we had to rebuild a few walls - it was crazy the stuff we found! Sadly haven't done much to the inside... If you are bored, and you have a LOT of time on your hands... Here's the link to my old Picasa album, which details our BIG house project we did in 2008/2009...

https://picasaweb.google.com/geurts...authkey=Gv1sRgCPbL8dSG4JjImgE&feat=directlink

Love love love the mantle. It looks great there, can't wait to see the finished floors. I've been there....I can actually picture it and I bet it looks fantastic!

Thank you - I love it! Sadly, we had to take the stockings down, because they are in our way while we are redoing the floors... I can't wait to get it all finished and share it with all of you... It won't be Better Homes and Garden worthy by any means. LOL But it will look better. I hope.

**********************************************************

Nothing really exciting from yesterday...

I worked at Target - we were pretty busy, so my day went fast.

I picked both girls up from school...

Came home, made dinner...

My new book came, I am very excited about it - I am looking forward to starting my Whole 30 right after Christmas...

I am having a strong urge to refocus again - even just for 30 days, I have heard so much great feedback about this program. If anyone is interested in joining me, I've set up a private group on Facebook. You'd have to purchase (Or lend it from your local library) the book (and read it) before then... But I think it would be fun to have a bunch of people doing it together. Also here's a link to their website for more info... www.whole30.com

And in reference to my above picture... I really think my face is thinning out - it looks really strange to me. Not in the mirror, but in pictures.

Anyways... On with my day...

We had a "carpet picnic" for dinner... Which was fun. LOL

Gus came over and hung out with Allison.

Josh started pulling out appliances, so he could scrape the floors underneeth... That was on of my biggest pet peeves about our old floors - when they laid our linoleum, they didn't go all the way under the appliances, just a few inches, so the linoleum curled up under there... it was impossible to clean and it looked like crap... So, I told Josh, we must have enough to have one continuious piece of linoleum to extend under all of our appliances. It's a requirement. LOL

I had my very last City Council meeting ever last night. It was kind of sad and bittersweet... But it was time. I can always run again, and I offered to take another term on Planning Commisssion if they couldn't find anyone else (they are all City Council appointed seats), but it would be done reluctantly. So, I am done... Turned in my keys to City Hall and my Code Book... Officially - my term isn't done until Dec 31st. though.

Came home... Went to bed. Happy to have my crazy Mondays done.

Today...

It's heavy lifting day for me.

I am starting on my next custom order... It's 2 bags in one week. What was I thinking? I have a rule that I stop doing custom orders 3 weeks before Christmas, because otherwise I feel like it's cutting too close to the holiday and risking it not being done on time. So, I only take local orders during this time - this order is for a co-worker... And it's 2 bags. So, I will be busting my rear this week to get it all done!

So, that's about all...

Since I posted it above - if you are bored today and want to go look at my old Picasa album of when we re-did our house in 2008/2009, you can go look at that. Lots of cool stuff and stupid mistakes for you to shake your head at. Here's the link... https://picasaweb.google.com/geurts...authkey=Gv1sRgCPbL8dSG4JjImgE&feat=directlink

And just for fun - a before and after photo to pique your interest.

This is what it looked like when we bought it... Yah - it was bad, but we were ambitious...

And this was after our big update... New windows, new front porch, steel siding and insulation... (this photo was taken when we didn't have the south side finished yet...)

OK all - have a great day!!! Prayers and good thoughts to all of you!

D~

 

[Chicago Mo]

OMG! I just love the upgrades! I adore your house anyway.. When Josh is done at your house can you send him over?!?! PLEASE???

Then i know we are doing a painting party at Suzi's

 

[MPWife153]

Please continue your updates! I look forward to checking the boards everyday & reading your updates especially. I read everyday, but am a total slacker when it comes to replying.

I think the mantel looks great! Our house it pretty up to date except for our bathroom. Tile EVERYWHERE, ugh. My Aunt & Uncle just re did their powder room & the took out their vanity which was only a few years old. We brought it home with us on Easter, but it is still sitting on our back porch *sigh* But at least we having a starting point when we can get that moving!

Both of my girls are into AG dolls now. My cousins collected them when they were younger & I think they are more excited when it comes to shopping for the outfits than even I am I am actually going to try & sew a few outfits for them as Christmas gifts. I love yours & the girls collection. Didn't one of the girls sew AG doll clothes to help with her spending money for a past trip?

 

[lovedonaldduck]

OMG! That before and after picture on the house is amazing! I'm going to go through your album when I have some time to see all the details.

I went to yoga last night and my legs finally feel back to normal after the 5K on Saturday. I started doing some research on upcoming 5Ks yesterday and I found out that the Spring season ending 5K for the running program that Peyton does is on May 2nd. I was super disappointed to also find out that is the weekend for the Everest Challenge at AK and Peyton will be just old enough to participate. I was running through all kinds of scenarios in my head - let Peyton choose which one to do, talk to her running coach about doing another local 5K so she'd still have something at the end of the season, or the craziest idea - run the local 5K in the morning and then drive down to Disney and do the Everest one that night. So, when I picked Peyton up last night I metioned to her that the events were on the same day. We started talking about it and when I told her the Everest run starts at 10pm she said there was no way she wanted to do it. She has no desire to do a night run. So, she solved my problem but I'm disappointed we won't get to do a Disney run together this year.

My dad is retired Navy and his current job requires him to be gone for 6 weeks at a time and then he is home for 6 weeks. He loves what he does and makes a good amount of money for he and my mom (way more than the military salary he was used to). I wish he would officialy retire or find a job that kept him home but I want him to be happy and he is working towards financial goals that will allow him to have the retirement that he wants so I do my best to be supportive. We miss him like crazy when he is gone and as the girls get older, it seems to be harder on them, but we get through it. Unfortunately, growing up a Navy brat, I'm used to him missing holidays and birthdays at home so we just make the most of it. Atlhough this is 2 Christmases in a row which kind of stinks but he was able to immediately come home and stay home for quite awhile when my mom had her stroke.

The new AG dolls are Christmas gifts. They were just going to be under the tree Christmas morning, but when they opened the store in Orlando last month, I thought it would be a lot more fun for the girls to pick out their own. They aren't old enough to open up an IOU on Christmas morning for their dolls so we decided we'd take them down right before Christmas so they could pick out their own as an early Christmas gift - it will be, by far, their biggest gift this year but Santa is handling other gifts.

I love your doll area! I would love to have something like that for the girls, although right now we have so much Bitty Baby furniture and so many non-AG dolls invading the space, it even looks like a disaster when I clean it up myself! Too much stuff and two little girls who don't want to let go of anything!

Thanks for sharing the story of you and your girls collecting together! I love that. I have a Samantha doll from my childhood as well as most of her original clothing. Maybe I can use the girls getting AG dolls as an excuse to get the new Samantha clothes for my doll?

Off to get a bunch of work done this morning. I am meeting a friend for lunch today. Tonight is the only night I have 100% at home this week (yoga tomorrow, hair cut on Thursday, and grocery store on Friday) so I am going to try and get a lot done around the house. Hope you have a great day!

 

[WDW2012]

I went through the pictures. Thanks for sharing. What an amazing job Josh did! It looks great. It certainly helps to have a handy hubby

 

[ljcrochet]

It's been several years since I've shared our AG collection here... But as of when the girls stopped collecting 2 years ago, this is our current collection... Remember - they only got one doll per year... So, this is what one doll per year looks like after 8 years of 3 people collecting.

OK - I guess this isn't our last photo - it's close though, only 3 dolls missing.

that is alot of dolls. One of my girls has 2 itty bitty babies and 4 or 5 AG dolls, my other DD has 3 itty bitty babies and 3 or 4 AG dolls.
I thought they had a lot.

We've lived in our current house for 8 years... Seems like longer some times, and not as long other times. LOL But during that time, we have done a LOT of work to it! New roof, new steel siding, new windows, new back deck, new front porch... Plus a ton of other stuff - we had to rebuild a few walls - it was crazy the stuff we found! Sadly haven't done much to the inside... If you are bored, and you have a LOT of time on your hands... Here's the link to my old Picasa album, which details our BIG house project we did in 2008/2009...

https://picasaweb.google.com/geurts...authkey=Gv1sRgCPbL8dSG4JjImgE&feat=directlink

Are you trying to make me not work? I love how you changed the front of your house. I wish i had a front porch on my house

I am having a strong urge to refocus again - even just for 30 days, I have heard so much great feedback about this program. If anyone is interested in joining me, I've set up a private group on Facebook. You'd have to purchase (Or lend it from your local library) the book (and read it) before then... But I think it would be fun to have a bunch of people doing it together. Also here's a link to their website for more info... www.whole30.com
D~

I might be interested in joining you on the whole 30 day. I'm going to see if my library has the book.

 

[lovegrumpy]

I love reading your updates every day.

 

[KatMark]

Love the new front porch and siding on the house, D.

 

[DMGeurts]

OMG! I just love the upgrades! I adore your house anyway.. When Josh is done at your house can you send him over?!?! PLEASE???

Then i know we are doing a painting party at Suzi's

Thanks Mo... I like our house much better now, but it still annoys me. It's an old house, and there is just no way to make the kitchen functional, unless we rip the entire thing out - which is expensive.

Yah- him and Tom can bunk while you, Suzi and I take off to FL for the winter. He has to be able to bring MM though...

Please continue your updates! I look forward to checking the boards everyday & reading your updates especially. I read everyday, but am a total slacker when it comes to replying.

I think the mantel looks great! Our house it pretty up to date except for our bathroom. Tile EVERYWHERE, ugh. My Aunt & Uncle just re did their powder room & the took out their vanity which was only a few years old. We brought it home with us on Easter, but it is still sitting on our back porch *sigh* But at least we having a starting point when we can get that moving!

Both of my girls are into AG dolls now. My cousins collected them when they were younger & I think they are more excited when it comes to shopping for the outfits than even I am I am actually going to try & sew a few outfits for them as Christmas gifts. I love yours & the girls collection. Didn't one of the girls sew AG doll clothes to help with her spending money for a past trip?

I will - thanks for letting me know you are still here.

Thanks, I like the mantel a lot... It's going to be so fun to decorate for the seasons! I am working on getting a few basic items that I can use through out the year - like black candle sticks, and just change out the candles sort of thing. It should be a lot of fun!

AG is such a fun time! It's so addicting too! Sadly, the things they make and sell now are nothing compared to the quality of years ago - but it's still adorable how they can make things so perfectly small. And sewing for AG is even better - I truly enjoyed doing it! Hmmm... I think you were thinking of me? V has made a couple of AG outfits, but nothing we've sold. She did sell a bunch of lanyards though to pay for a portion of our meal at CRT.

I hope you enjoy every moment of their AG years... Such a wonderful, wonderful time.

OMG! That before and after picture on the house is amazing! I'm going to go through your album when I have some time to see all the details.

Yah - it almost doesn't look like the same house anymore. I do like it from the outside, but the inside is not very functional, and small... I wish we had more room to entertain. Oh- well.

I went to yoga last night and my legs finally feel back to normal after the 5K on Saturday. I started doing some research on upcoming 5Ks yesterday and I found out that the Spring season ending 5K for the running program that Peyton does is on May 2nd. I was super disappointed to also find out that is the weekend for the Everest Challenge at AK and Peyton will be just old enough to participate. I was running through all kinds of scenarios in my head - let Peyton choose which one to do, talk to her running coach about doing another local 5K so she'd still have something at the end of the season, or the craziest idea - run the local 5K in the morning and then drive down to Disney and do the Everest one that night. So, when I picked Peyton up last night I metioned to her that the events were on the same day. We started talking about it and when I told her the Everest run starts at 10pm she said there was no way she wanted to do it. She has no desire to do a night run. So, she solved my problem but I'm disappointed we won't get to do a Disney run together this year.

Glad to hear you are back to normal - that was a nice recovery. Hahaha - LOL that she solved your problem for you... She might not want to do it this year or next year... but there will be other years, I am sure.

My dad is retired Navy and his current job requires him to be gone for 6 weeks at a time and then he is home for 6 weeks. He loves what he does and makes a good amount of money for he and my mom (way more than the military salary he was used to). I wish he would officialy retire or find a job that kept him home but I want him to be happy and he is working towards financial goals that will allow him to have the retirement that he wants so I do my best to be supportive. We miss him like crazy when he is gone and as the girls get older, it seems to be harder on them, but we get through it. Unfortunately, growing up a Navy brat, I'm used to him missing holidays and birthdays at home so we just make the most of it. Atlhough this is 2 Christmases in a row which kind of stinks but he was able to immediately come home and stay home for quite awhile when my mom had her stroke.

I understand, but I am sure it is nice for him to be able to have that extra cash at this time in their lives. I hope he is not in harms way while he is traveling... And I agree - that was nice that he was able to come home when your mom had her stroke, I am sure everyone was very thankful for that.

Since Josh is retired military, as well - the girls and I are very used to him being gone. He was full-time ANG his job was much different than most, and required him to travel and be gone for months at a time... So, now when he goes off hunting for weeks, the girls and I revert to our old "girls days" and have a blast.

he new AG dolls are Christmas gifts. They were just going to be under the tree Christmas morning, but when they opened the store in Orlando last month, I thought it would be a lot more fun for the girls to pick out their own. They aren't old enough to open up an IOU on Christmas morning for their dolls so we decided we'd take them down right before Christmas so they could pick out their own as an early Christmas gift - it will be, by far, their biggest gift this year but Santa is handling other gifts.

I love your doll area! I would love to have something like that for the girls, although right now we have so much Bitty Baby furniture and so many non-AG dolls invading the space, it even looks like a disaster when I clean it up myself! Too much stuff and two little girls who don't want to let go of anything!

Thanks for sharing the story of you and your girls collecting together! I love that. I have a Samantha doll from my childhood as well as most of her original clothing. Maybe I can use the girls getting AG dolls as an excuse to get the new Samantha clothes for my doll?

Ahhh, got it. I understand now.

Our doll area is in our office... So, it's kind of nice to be able to close the door, some people (ahem - Mo) get freaked out about dolls. And besides our collection is quite huge - and it's a little embarassing for people to see how much we have. However, it was a big part of our lives for so many years - I have every intention of holding on to it for the girls until they have children of their own.... I've heard so many stories of (now) adult girls, whose parents got rid of their collections when they were about my girls' ages, and these adult girls are out on Ebay trying to recreate their childhood collections - some of the items just aren't out there anymore and the ones that are, are hugely expensive... So, I've promised to keep their collections so they can be passed on one day.

Yes!!! Enjoy your Samantha!!! They don't make items for her like they used to... They archived her in 2008, and just brought her back this year - but they totally revamped her entire collection, and it's just not the quality it once was. So, make sure you hold on to what you have for her, but adding to her collection would be fun too!

Off to get a bunch of work done this morning. I am meeting a friend for lunch today. Tonight is the only night I have 100% at home this week (yoga tomorrow, hair cut on Thursday, and grocery store on Friday) so I am going to try and get a lot done around the house. Hope you have a great day!

Have fun!!! And enjoy the rest of your week - sounds crazy! Just the way I like it!

I went through the pictures. Thanks for sharing. What an amazing job Josh did! It looks great. It certainly helps to have a handy hubby

Thank you so much for taking the time to do that. I'd forgotten I even had those albums on Picasa... I have a bunch more on there, I should really share... Lots of house remodeling stuff. It's nice that Josh is so handy... The only issue is that he gets really excited to get to work on a new project, but fizzles out about 3/4 of the way through, so most projects are never fully complete. Pretty much, every project we've ever done, still needs trim. But I love that he is so talented, and willing to save us $$ by doing things on our own.

that is alot of dolls. One of my girls has 2 itty bitty babies and 4 or 5 AG dolls, my other DD has 3 itty bitty babies and 3 or 4 AG dolls.
I thought they had a lot.


Are you trying to make me not work? I love how you changed the front of your house. I wish i had a front porch on my house


I might be interested in joining you on the whole 30 day. I'm going to see if my library has the book.

Yes, our collection is a bit massive... but if I were to show you the pictures through out the years, you would see that it grew by 2 dolls per year... sometimes 3... and there were 2 times V saved up her own $$ to purchase a doll on her own... But, I still firmly believe that it was $$ well spent. Birthdays and Christmas' AG clothes and furniture were the big gifts... When you get them from Aunts, Uncles & Grandparents, that stuff adds up fast. But it was fun, and there are lots of great memories there.

Hahaha... No, I am not trying to make you not work... Hehehe... Maybe just a short break?

Oooh - that would be awesome! Let me know if you want me to add you to my FB group... Are we friends on FB? I can't remember...

I love reading your updates every day.

Hi!!! Awesome!!! Thanks for chiming in to let me know.

Love the new front porch and siding on the house, D.

Thanks Kathy! It was a huge project - it took us years to complete (3 years to be exact), but I am happy with it.

**********************************************************

Yesterday was a fabulous day for me!

I did my heavy lifting right away in the morning... It was a good lift.

Then I was upstairs all day working on this week's orders.... I was able to get both bags cut out and mostly quilted... I still have a wee bit of quilting left to do this morning. Thankfully, both bags are *almost* the same theme - so I am using the same fabrics for both. It makes things a little bit easier.

After Josh came home, we hung out for a little while, then I made dinner (left over salads)... Then we got to work on the floor... We made good progress. We laid out the linoleum and we were able to make a couple of key cuts into it... Then we rolled it up the opposite way... It took all 4 of us to do it - it's hard to wrestle that stuff!

Josh took out my dishwasher last night, so that's in our living room too now. Tonight, he will move the fridge and the stove... So we will be with out cooking appliances - except for the microwave for at least 24 hours... That should be interesting. Once we get all these appliances in the living room - we won't be able to move in there at all. I think - while everyone is gone today, I will take our dining room chairs and move them in the office - which will give us more room in the living room.

Today... It's my easy work out day... Thankfully. Just doing Walk Away the Pounds.

Then I will finish quilting the bags from yesterday... and I will start on their appliques.

I have to take Alli in to work tonight.

Then I am meeting my co-workers (my Cranfest buddies) for dinner... It should be fun.

While I am doing that, Josh will be slaving away at home. The plan is to glue down the floor tonight - so I am going to try not to take too long at dinner, so I can get back home to help him.

So, that's all for today. I hope you all have a wonderful day! Prayers and Pixie Dust to all of you!

D~

 

[Terkina]

I hope you have a great time with your co-workers.
Your house has to be chaotic when everything has to be moved out from the kitchen. I hope you get the floor done fast so you don't have to have it that chaotic for long.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Good for you for making the decision to replace the ugly flooring. We have the same kind of dilemma, not making a simple change because we need to make a big one. We replaced the ceiling fixture in the kitchen, revealing old paint, but instead of repainting the kitchen ceiling, we left it like that because we really need to redo the whole kitchen. I know, it is crazy.

 

[Clio]

Have fun with your coworkers today.
Your floor will look so nice when it's done. our kitchen floor is a mess. My late husband put tile down years ago but it wasn't best quality and over the years the top layer has started to come off. It doesn't help that one of the cats likes to pull strips of it off. We also have a house of half done projects, so of them are my fault like the kitchen with 3 painted walls. the fourth has a big mural of a tree that I can't figure of how to cover.
I did get the tree up Sunday. It's the little one with white lights.
I almost forgot, your house looks really nice. Josh did a good job.
Have a good day.
Liz

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

Hi D~! I cannot believe it has been almost a month since I logged into Dis. Our work started a new wellness program that included a free Fitbit, so I had been wrapped up into logging daily and having that be my new routine, but I miss you all and Dis.

I cannot wait for the whole30. I have done paleo before and am ready to kick the artificial ingredients out of my life. I still need to buy the book, but much of the information is on their website. Your result pictures are amazing. You should be super proud of yourself.

Marissa has been so busy with the Oregon Marching Band, but she has been having a blast. Her college football team just won the Pac-12 championship and she is super excited that she gets to go with the Band to the Rose Bowl this year...which includes a trip to Disneyland. She is super excited about that and I am jealous that she gets to squeeze in 1 more Disney trip for 2014 (making it 4 trips). I am sending her with money to bring back presents for me. She asked if she could take the Olaf bag. She is super excited to show it off to 200+ members of the marching band. Plus, she gets to perform at Disneyland.

Dance for Chelsea is in full swing. We just finished with the major Nutcracker performance weekend right after Thanksgiving. She still has a couple of shows but nothing huge.

Sorry I haven't been around much, but after a couple of hours, I am caught up with you. I will have to catch up with Mo and Terri next. I am so thankful for FB though to keep an eye on your all.

 

[DMGeurts]

I hope you have a great time with your co-workers.
Your house has to be chaotic when everything has to be moved out from the kitchen. I hope you get the floor done fast so you don't have to have it that chaotic for long.

We had a very nice time, thanks!!

It is super chaotic... I really should take a photo of my living room right now... It's quite crazy!

Good for you for making the decision to replace the ugly flooring. We have the same kind of dilemma, not making a simple change because we need to make a big one. We replaced the ceiling fixture in the kitchen, revealing old paint, but instead of repainting the kitchen ceiling, we left it like that because we really need to redo the whole kitchen. I know, it is

Yes, it's so hard, but let me just say - it's a huge relief to have it almost done. It looks so nice compared to what we had, and it makes me feel so much better about our house. It's amazing what new floors can do. Now I want new carpet. LOL

Have fun with your coworkers today.
Your floor will look so nice when it's done. our kitchen floor is a mess. My late husband put tile down years ago but it wasn't best quality and over the years the top layer has started to come off. It doesn't help that one of the cats likes to pull strips of it off. We also have a house of half done projects, so of them are my fault like the kitchen with 3 painted walls. the fourth has a big mural of a tree that I can't figure of how to cover.
I did get the tree up Sunday. It's the little one with white lights.
I almost forgot, your house looks really nice. Josh did a good job.
Have a good day.
Liz

Thanks Liz, we had a great time!

Yes - I am loving them already! I can't wait to get the trim up and all the appliances back in their rightful places.

Our house is full of half-done projects too... It's so annoying. I am really hoping to have our front door/closet finished in the next few weeks, so we can start trimming the windows - I'd love to have those done yet this winter.

Yay! I am happy to hear that you now have your tree up, I bet it looks nice and feels festive.

You too!

Hi D~! I cannot believe it has been almost a month since I logged into Dis. Our work started a new wellness program that included a free Fitbit, so I had been wrapped up into logging daily and having that be my new routine, but I miss you all and Dis.

I cannot wait for the whole30. I have done paleo before and am ready to kick the artificial ingredients out of my life. I still need to buy the book, but much of the information is on their website. Your result pictures are amazing. You should be super proud of yourself.

Marissa has been so busy with the Oregon Marching Band, but she has been having a blast. Her college football team just won the Pac-12 championship and she is super excited that she gets to go with the Band to the Rose Bowl this year...which includes a trip to Disneyland. She is super excited about that and I am jealous that she gets to squeeze in 1 more Disney trip for 2014 (making it 4 trips). I am sending her with money to bring back presents for me. She asked if she could take the Olaf bag. She is super excited to show it off to 200+ members of the marching band. Plus, she gets to perform at Disneyland.

Dance for Chelsea is in full swing. We just finished with the major Nutcracker performance weekend right after Thanksgiving. She still has a couple of shows but nothing huge.

Sorry I haven't been around much, but after a couple of hours, I am caught up with you. I will have to catch up with Mo and Terri next. I am so thankful for FB though to keep an eye on your all.

Hi Shannon!!! It's great to see you here!

How awesome about the fitbit... Everyone loves theirs that I know of... Sadly - I think it would make me depressed to wear it, since my excercise wouldn't be recorded accurately on it. I hope it's helping you to make better changes!

I am so happy you are joining us for the Whole 30... I think it's going to be a lot of fun for many of us to do it together and support eachother.

Oooh - how awesome that one of my bags (and Marissa ) get to go to the Rose Bowl and DL... Will you beg her to take pictures for me???? Pretty please! Congratulations to her!!!

Sounds like Chelsea is keeping busy too!!! It's that time of year! LOL

Thanks for taking the time to catch up here! I've missed seeing you around.

**********************************************************

So... Yesterday...

I worked out right away in the morning... It was a good work out.

Then I went up to work...

Sadly - I think I wrecked the applique on one of the bags, and I need to do it over. It's a bummer, but when I put the lettering on it with my embroidery machine - I didn't have enough stabilizer on one part and it puckered really badly... So, guess what I am doing this morning? It is a real bummer actually, because I have to start from the very beginning... Cut out the fabric, quilt it, I think I will put the word on first this time and then I will redo the hand applique. This is the exact reason I really shy away from putting words on my bags - it's just a huge process if something like this happens. Oh well... Gotta do it right.

When I am done with that... I will start all of my pre-assembly work.

I had an awesome night last night... I went out to dinner with my co-workers... It was a very nice restaurant, and one of the best meals I have had out in a long time. They actually had a very small "gluten free" menu, and even though I am technically not gluten free, that sort of thing works well with how I eat. So, it was a steak, with roasted veggies (sweet potato, carrots and beets) and roasted red potatoes... Delicous!!! I really want to remake those roasted veggies - they were sooooo good.

A photo of the girls and I from last night... It's not a very flattering photo of me - that light on my face is just awful, sigh.

And then I came home to this... Please ignore my counter tops too please... So sorry that my house is trashed. I am taking some time this morning to hand wash all of our dishes - even though the dishwasher has only been unhooked for a little over a day - they pile up fast.

And seriously - that outlet drives me NUTS! But there is nothing we can do with it, and we use it all the time. I want to (at least) paint it red to match the walls so it blends in better, but one of Josh's biggest pet peeves is painted outlets/switchplates... So, I dunno what we are going to do? The girls and I keep singing: "And the stockings were hung by the outlet with care, in hopes that St. Nicolas soon will be there." Hahahaha... <---- Well, we find it funny anyways.

Super, super, super excited! Words cannot describe how overly excited I am about these floors - seriously! I cannot believe we waited this long to do them, it's such a relief to have them done.

So, tonight, we have to move all of our appliances back into their rightful locations... They are all stacked in our living room... It's a mess! Currently, in our living room resides our dining room table (which is now full of stuff, because we have no where to put it currently), our trash/recyclying cans, Dishwasher, stove, refridgerator, charging table - plus all of our regular living room furniture... It's very claustrophobic.

I can't believe I am sharing this here... It's beyond awful!

Once we get our appliances back in their spots, then I think Josh will be working on our trim... I hope. That's the part that never seems to get done - so hopefully, this time...

So, that's all... At least my week is much more exciting this week than last week. Have a wonderful day everyone! Prayers and good thoughts to all of you!

D~

 

[ljcrochet]

Floor looks great.

I'm not friends with you on facebook, i do stalk your business page. I decided i do want to do the whole 30. I'm pm you my name later so you can add me in. - pesty work.

I have a sewing machine question for you, i have been making my girls reversible fabric headbands. DD1 decided she is she playing basketball with her friends I should make the whole team headbands. I have all the pieces ready, just needed to add the elastic and attach them, while on the third one last night, the fabric got caught under the dog feeders. any ideas on they way to get it unstuck? I have a brother sewing machine.

 

[Chicago Mo]

Ok the appliances in the living room is a DANG RIOT!!!! I LOVE IT! I LOVE THE CHAOS! can't wait to see it all done!