Re-purposed shirt

I had a sewing machine since I was 22 (9 years if you do the math right). It never ever worked for me. I made up my mind that seeing is not something I can do. A few months ago my mom sat down to show me how, and turns out a major piece was missing, which is why it never worked. Han so, maybe I don't suck at it...

Last week I had a sudden urge to attempt to sew, so I went to my mom's and got hers (which was my grandma's. And ironically, the day I had the urge is the day my grandma would have been 88.  Think she was talking to me.) 

I practiced for a few days and finally attempted on the real deal. This is Pinterest-inspired and turned our awesome! 

I just took a shirt that was too tight and added some fabric to the sides. The camp fabric is actually from my friend's marine BDU's. Which is fitting for the shirt. 

This is a before and after picture. 

Woody Wood Pecker

I love this little girl. She's going be be awesome at charades because she acts everything out ( because she's hard to understand still). 

(Video to come later)

Coleton shot his first deer this year during Thanksgiving with a cross bow. So proud of him!! 

Austynn entered the art show/contest at the fair in October and came in first for her class (1st grade). 

Brynnlei likes to do the dishes... Naked. 

Crispy Ranch Chicken... It's what's for dinner

Tonight’s dinner is definitely inspired by Pinterest.  I found this recipe about a year or two ago and make it every once in a while.  Crispy Ranch Chicken.  Mmm mmm!!!

 It’s really easy to make, even though the ingredients seem a little, odd? 

 What you need:

Boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 oz package of the ranch dressing mix (not ranch dressing sauce!!)
2 cups of rice crispy cereal, crushed
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
2 egg whites, beaten

 

Mix the rice crispy cereal, ranch mix and parmesan cheese together.  Dip the chicken in the egg whites, then cereal to coat evening.  Bake for about 30-45 minutes in 375 degrees until golden brown. 

 

I served mine with some Pork and Beans and Velveeta Shells and Cheese. 

 

Birthdays are still fun

It's my birthday!!!! 

Spent the day at work. My co-workers remembered my bday all week last week, and we even had cake last Friday. Today, they forgot. And I was not going to remind them either. They remembered 1/2 way through. I got a balloon and Reece's from them. :) my sweet BFF and I went out to lunch and she didn't even tell them it was my birthday, which was great!!! I was a bit worried about that. 

Got flowers from a friend of mine. 3 pink and 1 red to equal my age, 31. Cleverness right there. 

My mom and Austynn got me a HUGE box of nerds, my aunt got mr a bag of hot cocoa, and I bought myself a pretty pretty ring from Jared's, and my sweet SIL got me a sapphire necklace from Kay's. 

Kisses

*** meant to past back in July, when I had a husband and when this moment happened*** 

Who doesn't love kisses? My sweet B let her sister put lipstick on and then she puckered up. 

Following this, she begged to come to my house, just to see my husband. 

I'm sitting on their couch and me and here mom are talking about my two Bo's and little Bo's birthday. She heard the mention of Bo, ran outside and jumped in my car saying "I go your house. I see Boa (she adds a little "a" sound to the end of his name, super adorbs). We finally got her out has when I did leave she threw a fit at my car again. All just to see Bo. I had to promise she can see him this weekend so that I could leave. 

Another year for her

Happy 7th birthday to my Austynn. She has turned into such a beautiful young girl. Her heart is pure gold and she's not afraid of anything (except roaches). She was finally tall enough to ride almost every ride at the fair last month, which had been her wish for years. She went on Every one that she was able to. I was scared for her. 

She plays soccer and is pretty good at it too!! She learned how to do cartwheels and does them ever moment she can. Even on the soccer field she's running and doing cartwheels instead of always chasing after the ball. What a goober!! Her 7th birthday was at the skating rink. It was a blast! Plus it was her first party that she actually had classmates and teammates come to; it didn't JUST have family. 

(She also got a mini iPad for her bday from her Nina). 

The Fault In Our Stars:

I’ve been wanting to read this book for quite a while; before it was known it would be a movie, but I never could bring myself to read something that was going to be inevitably sad.  Since the movie has come out and so many people have praised it, I decided it’s time to jump on the band wagon and read the book.  I won’t watch the movie because I don’t want to knowingly watch something that will make me ball my eyes out.  At least with the book, when I knew a sad part was coming I could put it in the freezer for  awhile and then get it back out when I’m not so invested in the moment.  (anyone get the freezer reference?  Hint: Friends.).  That wasn’t the  case though. I didn’t end up putting my kindle in the freezer because I couldn’t put the book down. Period.

The Fault In our Stars was an amazing love story about a teenager who loves poetry and has cancer, who ends up befriending (and falling in love) with a teenage boy who has cancer and shares her same love for poetry and literature.  The story takes you on a journey of a teenager’s mindset when she has to deal with the thought of dying so young, leaving he parents behind. Would her parents still be parents if their only child died?  How will the boy she now loves deal with losing another lover one so early?  Even though their love may end early, they have their own infinite love for their own lifetime. 

If only we could all be so lucky to find that kind of love, whether for a fleeting moment or for 80 more years.  This book was FILLED with amazing quotes, and to share just a few of my favorite:

“Sometimes people don’t understand the promises they’re making when they make them,”  This is in reference to a moment when one cancer patient got dumped by the woman who promised to love him forever.  We all make promises in the moment, forgetting about all that we may have to endure in the future.  

 

“I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.” What an amazing way to describe falling in love.  It does sneak up on us doesn’t it? 

 

 

 

Just Listen

Just Listen

I’m just sure I like Sarah Dessen. I read her books every once in a while but they are all the same and really geared towards teenagers.

Annabelle is a teenager who’s mother pushes her to model, who’s two older sisters are models and have their own issues that push back on Annabelle, and who’s father puts up with it all.  She had best friends once, but a nasty rumor left her friendless.  Through the struggles, she becomes friends with a non-socialable boy named Owen.  Throughout the year, the truth slowly comes out about what really happened to Annabelle and Sophie’s boyfriend, Will Cash.  She probably wasn’t his first victim, and definitely was not his last.  Now that Emily has come forward and press charges, maybe people will just listen to Annabelle finally tell her side of the story to her former friends. Can they ever be friends again?

This was a good book. Annabelle went through something that a lot of girls have to deal with. She also kept quiet about the rape, similar to other girls. I hope this book will bring to light the seriousness of the situation and help girls come forward when someone violates them.  

 

This World we Live in

This World we Live in

This is the 3^rd book of the series, and I liked this book better than the 2^nd, but not as good as the first.  This book linked the first and second book together and tells a story of families coming together and trying to survive.  

To quote Amazon:

“It’s been a year since a meteor collided with the moon, catastrophically altering the earth’s climate. For Miranda Evans, life as she knew it no longer exists. Her friends and neighbors are dead, the landscape is frozen, and food is increasingly scarce.

The struggle to survive intensifies when Miranda’s father and stepmother arrive with a baby and three strangers in tow. One of the newcomers is Alex Morales, and as Miranda’s complicated feelings for him turn to love, his plans for his future thwart their relationship. Then a devastating tornado hits the town of Howell, and Miranda makes a decision that will change their lives forever.”

 

The Dead and Gone

The Dead and Gone

The second book in this series, this was not as good as the first.  The Dead and Gone tell a story of a boy named Alex, who has two sisters and brother. Their parents disappeared after that dreadful day in May when the moon shifted and everything changed forever.  Never knowing what happened to their parents, Alex began rummaging dead bodies looking for them.  Eventually, him and a friend discovered dead bodies have good loot worth a trade-in on food.  They would go in the mornings before school and scour the bodies, trade it in for food to feed their family.  This is a great book about the will to survive, and to keep your family alive.  

I actually have been thinking about the first book I read a while back since the big scare of Ebola has surfaced.  I remembered beginning a series about how people have to fight to stay alive when everything in the world was trying to kill them.  I thought ‘maybe I should read these books so I will know how to keep my family alive during the Ebola apocalypse’.  Ha. Funny, I know. But It got me into reading again. 

 

Tell No One

Dr. David Beck met his wife when they were 7 and inseparable.  They celebrated each of their 12 wedding anniversaries at the very same place they met, his grandfather’s campsite.  On their 13^thanniversary, they continued the ritual, but this time, something happened.  Beck heard Elizabeth scream, and then he gets hit on his head and almost drowning.  Waking up in the hospital to the news that his wife is dead is not anything a man wants to hear about his wife.  Especially when he got injured trying to save her and still did not succeed.

8 years later, David Beck still goes on dates but cannot let go of his late wife, Elizabeth.  While working one day, Beck receives an email in code, but he deciphers it and determines that Elizabeth may be alive!  At this moment, Beck has been warned to tell no one. And he doesn’t. Instead, he runs from the people he trusts the most, plunging into a search for the shadowy figure whose messages hold out a desperate hope. 

But already Beck is being hunted down. He’s headed straight into the heart of a dark and deadly secret–and someone intends to stop him before he gets there.

I recently read my first book my Harlan Coben, and it was pretty great.  I decided to seek out another. I enjoy the murder/mystery books.  Honestly, I didn’t find this one as captivating.  It had so many twists and plots and part of the story that no one would add up in the real world. It was just hard to believe some of this would actually happen.  But, overall I did enjoy it still, and will find a 3^rd book to read by Coben.  I rated this a 3 out of 5. 

 

Missing You

NYPD Detective Kat Donnavan hasn't really dated since her fiancé, Jeff, dumped her 18 years ago; 2 years after her father was murdered and she was consumed to solve his murder. Her friend, Stacy, signed her up for a year's subscription for a dating site. Who does Kat first stumble across?! A picture of her former fiancé. 

Brandon Phelps is a teenager who believes his mom has been kidnapped, despite her texts, emails and calls confirming she is ok. Brandon contacts Kat to help find his mother, since he discovered she was going away on a weekend trip with her new online friend, Jake. Jake and Jeff are the same person.

  

Titus is a business man  who is out to earn money the easy way, by kidnapping rich people and torturing them. 

Can Kat handle the death of the man who confessed to her father's murder, flashbacks from her old relationship, and tracking down the whereabouts of Brandon's mother?? 

This is my first Harlan Coben book to read, but it definitely will not be the last. I'm a slow reader and it usually takes me more than a week to finish a book. Missing You took me 2 days. That could be record-breaking for me! 

The Secret Desires of a Soccer Mom

After reading this quick read, I thought I would give my quick review of it. 

Paige and her four girlfriends, who also happen to be neighbors, have a long friendship behind them. One day, they get the news that one of their girlfriends, Karen, died in a freak accident, alone. 

Paige decides to do some of her own investigation after Karen confided a dark secret to her only days before the accident. The local cops know that they have an open and shut case. Ruled: accident. Paige isn't so sure. 

Paige is determined to track down her best friend's killer.

This book is a very easy read, but also very boring. Paige is an extremely self-involved mother of 2 who does not take anyone else's feelings into consideration. She is strong and hard-headed. There are parts where I feel like I'm watching an episode of Desperate Housewives with the secrets and can plotting amongst some of the friends. 

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Debating on rating this a 2. Loved delirium and couldn't wait to pick this book up to see what happens next. This book did not peak my interest and seemed to drag on. Parts of it did not even make sense and I'm still very confused. I can see that the 3rd book will have a very rough, confusing love-triangle going on.

 

Lena lef her world to join the wilds with her love, Alex, only to have him killed before they made it. now, she must learn to adapt to the life of the wilds without the one person who convinced her of the deleria and to leave all she has ever known.  Eventually, Lena learns to trust those around her and adapt. 

 

After going on a mission that even she doesn't know what all it entails, she falls for Josh.  They have to fight for their lives and make it to a safe place outside. 

 

Lena learns that her mom helped rescue her, but she hasn't seen her mom since she was told she killed herself after the deleria took over her body.  She knows she's alive, but to see her... wow.  and not to realize who she was until she is long gone again?

 

Lena promises she won't leave Josh, and then she hears a voice behind her. Alex. 

 

I'm not sure I really enjoyed this as much as the first one. It didn't grab my attention and I found parts confusing. And Alex is back? but he died.  Maybe he was only injured and just held captive, but why didn't they just kill him since they know he wasn't cured?  Guess I'll read the 3rd book and find out what happens next.

Mothers Day 2014

 

On Friday before Mother’s day, I received a card in the mail from my mom (who lives in the same town as me, who I see almost once a week at least).  I opened it, and it was a Mother’s Day Card. I’m not technically a mother, but I did inherit 3 stepkids, so I have the step “mom” title.  The card was sweet.  I thought nothing more about it.  I’m not a mom. 

 

Sunday morning (Mother’s Day), the first words out of Bo’s mouth is “Happy Mother’s Day”. He was acknowledging my hard work as the stepmom and my mother-role in our family.  It was sweet!  Not what I expected. I’m not a mom. 

 

We went out with his family to celebrate his mom, Nini, and sister as mothers.  We then went out to dinner with my parents. (We celebrated my family’s mother’s day the night before).  That evening, I get a phone call from my sweet kids who wanted to tell me Happy Mother’s Day.  Melted my heart.  They were acknowledging me as one of their moms.  I won’t compare myself to the role their actual mom has, but it’s still great to know I have been accepted and everyone knows that as a stepmom, we are still a mom/caregiver to our children.  When we went to bed that night, the last words Bo told me again was “Happy Mother’s Day”.  It’s been great! 

 

Three days later, a friend of mine had mailed something to me that also said “Happy Mother’s Day”. And he hasn’t even MET my family yet.  Made me smile again.

A Plain Death

Chloe, a 24 year old computer engineer is offed a job by phone in a small town Amish town of Appleseed, in Knox Count, OH. After moving her 3hours away  from Cleveland, as she arrives in her new town she encounters a 19 year old blonde female being harassed on the side of the street.  Chloe steps in and offers to help the girl, who jumps into her car and said she is going home with her. 

The blonde, Becky, is an Amish runaway with nowhere to go and invites herself to live with Chloe. Becky calls her brother, Timothy to tell him she is ok and has a new friend. Timothy takes it on himself to befriend Chloe. One day while Chloe is at work, Becky calls to tell her she was in an accident. While driving Chloe's car without permission, she runs into an Amish buggy, killing their Bishop. 

Upon further investigation, the police determine that the brake-lines were cut in Chloe's car, and their first suspect is the two men who were harassing Be ky on Chloe's first day in her new town. 

The police ask Chloe to help figure out who would want to kill the girls, and Chloe uses her new connections to the Amish town to do just that. 

This is a cute, quick read. I really wasn't too sure how it would end for most of the story-line, and I prefer books that aren't obvious like this. 

I rated this a 4 out of 5. 

Dakota

Back in October, October 5th to be exact, last year, Me, Bo and the kids were spending a weekend in Austin, helping his sister and her family move. My mom was doing us an awesome favor by dog-sitting two of our three dogs, Dude and Dakota. We brought Sunshine with us, but didn't have room in the car for all three, more room in Bo's Mom's house to keep all three while we were staying with her.

On that beautiful, hot, Saturday afternoon, my mom called to tell me that Dakota, my sweet, beautiful Vizla (who looks like a Pitbull :P ) was bit in the face by a snake (turned out to be a nest of snakes t give her more than 7 snake bites). She said she is ok, but her face is swollen and it's obvious she is in pain. Mom took her to a vet and they gave her some antibiotics and sent them home. Sometime late that night, my mom noticed that both of her eyes had red liquid coming out them, she couldn't open her eyes, and her face and neck had swollen much much more.

Mom made the decision to take the dog to a neighboring town where they had a 24 hr pet hospital. They immediately admitted her in, and gave her several doses of antivenom. not konwing what kind of snake, they couldn't be 100% sure which antivenom to give her, but did their best. That Sunday evening when I got home, I went to visit her and that Monday morning I moved her from the hospital to a local vet for care and treatment.

Throughout that week of her staying in their care, frequent calls checking on her, visits every morning and evening with her, their lovely assistant staff, were quick to jump to conclusions about Dakota's fate and pass those conclusions on to me. I was first told she wouldn't make it through Monday. Then I was told on Tuesday that she will probably lose one or both eyes due to the liquid coming out. Then I was told she will need blood/platelet transfusion (for only many thousands of $$$), among other things I'm sure. I was a nervous wreck that week!!! Friday I was able to bring her home, thank goodness.

That night, she had scratched the top of her head and it peeled off a healing scab from one of the TEN (yes, you read that right) TEN SNAKE BITES on her face. Her head was filled with lots of fluid/puss which began pouring out of her head from that scab wound. The following Monday, I had to admit her back to the vet clinic for her to have surgery so they could insert a tube in her face to drain the liquids. She had to wear a cone for a week. Friday, they removed the tube and she was slowly getting back to her self.

Several months later, Dakota was still lazy and not moving as much. This is due to her white blood cells count dropping so low and her turning anemic. 

Today, she is a great, healthy baby again. She is more loving than she was before the snake bites, and just wants to sit and cuddle any chance she can get.  

Delirium

I was looking for a new book to read, while I waited for the one I really wanted to read to be available at the library. I'm not a fan of buying books if I can rent them/check them out for free. The book I chose was comparable to The Hunger Games. 

The United States Of America has found a way to cure the infected people and maintain control.  When a person turns 18, they undergo a brain procedure that will prevent them from becoming infected. The disease: LOVE.  Prior to turning 18, you must go through testing so they can determine if/what college you will go to, what you will study, who you will marry, and how many children you will have. 

Lena is counting down the days to your 18th birthday for the procedure.  She is ready to be cured before she is infected.  The infected are either killed, held in The Crypts, or flee the city to live in the Wilds, never being allowed to return.  When Lena and her best friend Hana were out for a jog one evening, they meet a cured man, who takes a liking to Lena.  She thought she was safe to be around him, having the feelings of the disease inside of her, because he is cured, so no harm can come from it.  Turns out, he isn't cured afterall. 

While secretly dating Alex, lying to her family, and falling victim to the disease of love, Lena is no longer is eager for the cure.  They plan to run away into the Wilds and be together forever, until the protectors discover that she is infected!!  The evening before her re-scheduled procedure, Lena escapes her house and runs off with Alex, only to have the police, protectors and helicopters chasing after them as they drive quickly towards the Wilds to escape for good. 

I have to admit, I was very upset up the ending of this book. I know this is a series, and am now eager to see the next book to know what happens to Lena. 

For One More Day

This is a great, quick read. I am a slow reader and within less than 2 hours, I was halfway through the book and engulfed in the story.

It jumps around from the main character's current life, to life growing up, to telling stories about what he did growing up.

This is a great read about a man who loves his divorced mother and father; who is always eager to please his father, who is rarely even in the man's life.

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

Welcome to The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, an all-girls school.  Anyone looking at this elite private boarding school would see just what The Gallagher Academy wants you to see--a preppy school for privileged girls, complete with a guardhouse and stone wall to keep the curious away from their precious charges. And they'd be right, of course, and yet they would be so very, very wrong!

Because The Gallagher Academy isn't exactly what it appears to be. It's an elite school, that's for sure, and the only boys who grace its grounds are the male teachers. After that, though, the similarities between The Gallagher Academy and every other elite boarding school in the world ends. Instead of math and reading, English and horseback-riding, the girls who attend this school take courses in Covert Operations, Ancient Languages, Countries of the World, Culture and Assimilation, and Protection and Enforcement. The Gallagher Academy is, in a word, a school for spies.

Cammie Morgan is a sophomore here, living in a room with her two best friends, Liz and Bex, when a new girl shows up and the only place available for her to stay, is with Cammie and her friends.  Just like the rest of the town judges all these ‘snotty’ girls, Cammie is quick to judge Macey, the tall, beautiful, skinny legs roommate who seems not fitting for the smarts you need in this spy school. 

But then things start to get a little out of control.  Cammie meets a boy in town, Josh, while on a CoveOps assignment for class.  But now Cammie is balancing on a dangerous ledge--knowing that no one outside of the gates of The Gallagher Academy can ever know who she truly is, and wanting nothing more than to spill all of her secrets to Josh.

As lies tangle with truths, as first love duels with obligation, Cammie will need to learn exactly what it means to be a spy, and a young girl falling in love, and loyalty to her friends/classmates.

I’ve rated this 4.5 out of 5 as this was a book I couldn’t put down, even after my 13 year old step-daughter informed me that this is the same book her middle school announcements encourage them to read each morning. 

Family car

Wow – It’s been two months and I haven’t posted about this yet.  I’ve been saying for a year that by summer 2014 I will have my first SUV. I’ve had trucks and cars, and fortunately, I didn’t buy a single one. They were given to my by my parents.  I’m 30 now, time to get my own car! The truck I’m driving is small. Doesn’t fit the kids in it, is now 15 years old, with almost 350 thousand miles on it. SHEESH! One day, it will break down and I won’t be able to afford to fix it.  Me and Bo have been looking for a few weekends. I’ve compiled a spreadsheet of the possible vehicles I want, then researched them, crossing off the ones with the worst reviews and least gas mpg.  We test drove several, and kept coming back for the same make/model. We went up to Houston looking around on a Saturday, found one that drove great, but was brand new and we did NOT want a brand new vehicle.  He said they didn’t have any others ,but would ‘run some numbers’ on the new one. While he stepped away, Bo got on his computer and pulled up a list of vehicles they had on the lot, and saw a 2011 that fits what we wanted. We asked him about it when he came back, and ended up leaving in it that very night. It’s a 2011  Chevy Traverse, and it’s wonderful! It seats 8 people. I haven’t gotten it 100% full yet, but the kids love the room and space and it drives so great and wonderful.  I’m so super excited!!  Here’s me with the new car the morning after I got it. 

Beyond Tuesday Morning

I am definitely becoming a new fan of Karen Kingsbury. I didn’t know her books had such religious affiliates to it, but it is definitely a great read and helped me with some of my own issues with God and myself. 

Beyond Tuesday Morning is the second book in the 9/11 series, coming after “One Tuesday Morning” when the Twin Towers were attacked on September 11, 2001.  

Jamie and Laura have learned to live with their final news they learned about, 3 months after the terrorist attacks.  Laura’s husband was alive, and had finally remembered who he is and wanted to return home.  Jamie’s husband died doing what he loved best, savings others. 

 Three years later, Laura is still loving every moment with her new-found husband Erik, who learned a lot from Jake, the man that once loved Jamie and looks just like him.  Jamie and Sierra have re-adjusted to life without Jake.  Jamie volunteers at a memorial for 9/11.  One day on her way to work, she was held at gun-point by several punks.  Little did she know, but earlier on her ferry ride she caught the attention if an off-duty officer who was from California.  He noticed the men and confronted them, saving her life.  They spent every day together for the next three weeks while Clay enjoyed his vacation/training in the Big Apple.  When they discover who they both really are, can Jamie overcome her sadness from her husband’s death and be happy? Can Clay accept the role that Jamie once played in Clay’s family’s life 3 years earlier?  This is a great story of love and God’s love for all of us. 

Adventure Time

Today has been an adventure. I woke up at 6 with Brynnlei.  We took a Nap by 10:30. We took her to the mall where we pissed off the cleaning lady. Who closes off the bathroom to a busy mall during the day?! B is potty-training so when she says she has to go, we went in even though it was blocked off. Lady kept trying to kick us out. Then we set off the emergency alarm at Academy for a good 2 minutes. Then she got herself dizzy and ran into a metal pole. Lol