WOW, it has been 3 months!!

A great big hello to all of our family and friends!!! So much has been going on in the last 3 months, where to begin. First of all... We are all doing great and figuring our new way of life out. :)

Hannah had a wonderful end of the year. She did break her left pinkie (hmmm, I think Mom did that too), had ear surgery (on her left ear) and is better, passed the 2nd grade, found a new love, riding horses and roping, grew more and well, lets just say, she has been busy.

Todd is doing wonderful too!! I just love that man of mine... He is busy working and will start taking more classes to advance at work. He has been a great support and help with this new adventure we are taking.

And for me.... well, it is so exciting and yet, overwhelming. I was offered a teaching job, (K-1st), and accepted. (I finished the last 8 weeks of the school year and cant wait for the new year to begin.) I am finishing up my degree and will be working on my Masters while full time teaching. I am teaching summer school. Hannah is able to come with me and we have been enjoying that time together. We both miss traveling with Dad, Todd, but know it wont always be this way.

So on that note, I need to appologize for all the births, birthdays, anniversary and other special events we may have missed!! School and teaching combo doesnt leave much time for anything but Family Time and home. So, Happy Birthday! Congratulations! Way to Go!

Love to you all and I am going to try and post some photos. :)

Our 1st loan!

Mavdjuda Kalandarovna Niyozova lives in the region of Shahrinau. She is married
and has 5 children. She is 38 years old and has secondary education. She does
not work, but keeps her business by feeding, growing and then selling calves.
She plans to get a loan so that she can buy more calves at lower price as the
prices go down in February and March because of the lack of fodder. Summertime
is the season to sell for a more profitable price. This business helps in the
development of animal husbandry and stabilize the prices for meat and livestock
as well as help her family improve their financial situation. Mavdjuda has 10
years of experience in this field. She plans to pay off the loan within 12
months.

I love what Kiva does!! Helping is only making our world better and who can resist that... Mavdjuda needs $425 in loans and has only 29 more days to find those loans, if you can help follow this link, Helping Mavdjuda .

Thank you all! Have a most fabulous week!

The other blog!

Hi again! I can not remember if I have posted this before... I have started another blog about college, the journey to becoming a teacher and about the NEW job (I start tomorrow). So if you would like to visit here is the link... My Journey blog.

I also had a friend invite me to this site, http://www.goodreads.com/ , please email me if you join in. Great site!!

Oh, another GREAT site, http://www.kiva.org/, please stop by and see about this site, PLEASE!!

Have a fabulous day everyone!!

We're still here... :)

Ok, slacking? Nope, learning!! :) Actually I found a routine, who knew. I just wanted to post that we are all doing great and I miss blogging, but it has had to take a back seat for right now. I am striving for a 4.0 this semester and balancing my real world. How sweet it is! We love you all!! We will write more in a few days.

Have a fabulous day!

Hannah is turning 8... oh sigh!

Hannah turns 8, oh my!!

Oh where does the time go?!! We love you Hannah and wish you the very best birthday ever! :)

The pictures above are of Hannah and her friend riding their quads around the track at friends house. (Todds (oh yeah, and me too) gift to Hannah for her birthday.) :)

Todd brought it home with him and she hasn't stopped riding it since.

Alice, yep, she is a rat!

Ok, we are having a problem with a pesky, trap avaiding, pantry dirting, mouse! So, I guess the next logical thing to do would be to bring home a Rat for Hannah! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! (Please excuse the dirty kids in the picture, they have been playing out in the desert most of the day...:))

All kiding aside... she is very cute and several of our friends have/have had Rats as pets and loved them. So Hannah is proud to introduce Alice. This is going to take sometime to get use to. I am a, um, freak about, oh my gosh we have a pest for a pet! :)

Biloxi, Mississippi

Here is sampling of the photos... As I was going through these I realized I didn't take some of the photos I had wanted to, like the oak tree, the lighthouse, the tree sculptures, ok, I guess I can fire myself. :) I have been busy cleaning, organizing, laundry, panini making, sleeping, that I didn't even edit these photos. In fact, I think I am going to go take a nap right now. LOL

Enjoy and Happy New Years!!

Be Safe!!

A few of many more to come... :)

Ooopppss, I hit the wrong button, but I love it when this happens. :)

Biloxi, Mississippi... Christmas 2007

Todd took Hannah for a walk today while everyone was either napping or doing laundry or getting ready for Christmas Dinner... :)

We have much more to share with you and throughout this week and when we get home I will be posting more photos. Hannah, Todd and I are going on a photo safari Thursday and I can hardly wait to share those pictures. It has been an eye opening Vacation and you hopefully see what I see through the photos.

Hoping your Christmas Day is a blessed one!!

Hi Friends and Family!!

We are having the most wonderful of times... I can hardly wait to post the photos. It is just amazing here and we all are having such an enjoyable time!!!

Merry Christmas to all of you!!

P.S. Debi,

We stopped in Kent (?) Texas and I said a hello to you... I hope you got it! ;)

Tata for now... :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

We wish you all a very special Christmas and may this new year be one of joy and many great experiences!!

We will see you all next year... :)

P.S. We were to leave today, but our van decided otherwise (part comes in 1st thing tomorrow a.m.). I told Todd it was because I washed the car, knocked all of the dirt out. lol

Buddy..."Lucky" owners found two streets over...:)

Mom and Dad say YAY! Hannah says "BOOOO!!"

I was gone all day yesterday at my Math study group when I got the text...

"Lucky" found his people!

Who? Oh, you mean Buddy. YAY!!

At break, Todd told me that Hannah did not want him to leave and the owner lady actually felt a little sad for Hannah. But Hannah saw how happy she was to have "Lucky" back that she was ok with it, she guesses.... :)

Yay Lucky!! We will miss you!

Dogs... more dogs... found dog.

My dear hubby took and Hannah and the next door neighbor boys to the wash to play (while I took my 2 hour online final, 1 more down and 1 more to go! Thank you dear hubby!!) and look what they found sitting in our front yard, Top picture.

A full size Golden Retriever. Holy Moly Guacamole!! Is that how big Charlie is going to be?! We posted found pictures after he would not leave our yard and just cried and cried. It hit a low of 19 or so, so he slept inside (sorry to the owners for spoiling him, it was just too cold and our dogs were inside). Todd and Hannah are out right now hanging more flyers and dont tell Hannah, but I hope we find the owners today!

Hannah has a great big heart, but when it comes to animals... her heart just burst with love for them. She said we needed to come up with a nickname for him so he knew were talking to him and not one of the other dogs. :) Try explaining why we shouldn't do that to a 7 year old who fell in love already. Todd came up with... Hannah how would you feel if someone found Charlie and called him something else and gave up looking for his owner because they wanted to keep him. Hannah replied with, they wouldnt do that cause Charlie has a collar with a tag on it that tells them his name and our address!! LOL Please, let us find his owners today!!

1 Week and counting... is time to leave yet? :)

The storm rolling in... Hannah took these photos on the way to town in from the car.

Our John Deere Barn in our Christmas Village... Hannah's favorite.

Hannah wrapping a few presents...

Hannah's favorite thing to do right now, play tic tac toe with the Gingerbread set Grandma and Grandpa got her when we visited Tennessee in '05.

2 finals down and 2 more to go... YAY!! We are leaving in 6 more days, hooray!!!!

We haven't posted photos in a while and we thought we would share these. :)

Enjoy!

The Littlest Christmas Tree... Hannah's Class Performance.

Here are the links to Hannah's performance today...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QurQdMXGYYs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyE-tG_TIYM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOxENC1_lNU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTYi63aOSaI

It was soooo cute! The video was taken by Hannah's camera, so quality may not be that great, but you get the idea. :) (Hannah is the 3rd one in on the second row, in a long sleved green tshirt.)

Enjoy!!

P.S. Parents, when attending you children's performances... TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONES... oh yes, besides turning them off, DO NOT answer them and carry on a conversation, no matter how brief. (Happened today 3 different times by 3 different people, can I just say... It's an hour of your time and really if you can not live with out talking to whoever is calling, take it outside!)!! :) Sorry for the rant, but are you kidding me?! :)

2 Questions, really, 1 question and an observation...:)

First the question...

I am using the video part of Hannah's camera, how do I upload to the blog? Today is her Christmas performance and she wants to share it. :) I tried it a while ago and could not figure it out. (Brain malfunction!!)

Second, the observation...

Christmas is what we make it to be! I was speaking with a few friends and it was so fun to hear how each and everyone of them had a unique way of celebrating the holidays and memory of the most important moments of Christmas past. There is no specific way it "should" be done, how wonderful is that!!!

(My other observation is this... mental exhaustion is more tiring than "physical" exhaustion.) :)

HEHEHEHEHEHE!!

11 days and....

This morning Hannah asked again... How much longer until we leave, can't we pack now, we can't forget to take the Christmas Tree, mom, you have my pack stuff list right? I am not exaggerating either. Everyday it has been a list of questions. I think, no, I know she is ssssssssooooooo excited! :)

We leave in 11 days and there is so much to do... :) If I can just get through finals this week and next Monday, then I can focus on the trip. YAY!!

We are wishing you all a very Merry Holiday . Be safe and enjoy yourselves!!

(Posting will be hit and miss, until we hit the road. :))

Pinky Update...

Well it is still broken. LOL

It still is bruised. It still hurts. It gets in the way of everything... it is like I am drinking a constant cup of tea. :) (pinky out!)

Now for the funny part, um... I really, really, really am squeamish and don't want to have surgery (re-break? what? pins put where?). So, if you give them the unrealistic schedule they will just say they can't do it!! HAHAHAHAHA I am delusional!

My last day of finals is the 17th, we leave early the 21st, so if you can do it with in that time frame and have me ready for vacation, then lets set it up. lol When do you get back?? Oh no, they arent falling for it!!! When you get back, that will be fine, just means, uh, MORE PAIN probably. :)

I have 2 weeks off when we get back from Mississippi, so, I am hoping they will be able to fit me in. lol Yep, delusional, that is it, delusional! HAHA!

Fridge Art by Hannah Banana

Look at what she drew last night... She is so darn funny!! We spent an hour or so at the library yesterday and one of the books was a drawing book, she LOVES drawing books. She got her own library card and was so proud... How much fun did we have!! :)

Regrets?!

Ok, it is 3 am and I awoke to tears streaming down my face.

(Never go to sleep watching Oprah!!) :)

I know we will have regrets, but I have realized something... I want to have as few as possible. This to me, like everything I do, is something I need to find the balance in. I usually jump in feet first and go, go, go. Over the last few years I have become hindered some where.

Today was one of the moments that if you could redo you would.

Hannah had a half day today... "Mom can we stop at the library today?"

Oh, as I type this out, oh, I feel like such a heel!!!

My answer was "No, not today. I have a class in a few hours and we have to much to do at home."

So not Ok! Oh, so not ok!

There is so much more than just this moment. I have recently visited a blog, not expecting to find what I found. A Mom of a little girl named Hannah, who does not have the chance to take her Hannah to library one more time. I know we can not live in the fear of no more tomorrow. We can not live our lives with the regret, or saying tomorrow, tomorrow. So... things will have to change!! Believe me... they will!

This has been a very hard few months, deciding, changing, figuring out priorities (the ones that really matter) and... :) The tears are a sign of that change and working through it all.

Ok, now that I have gotten that out of my system... hehehe

We WILL be going to the library today!!!

(I even went in and sat with Hannah for a few minutes hugged her, kissed her, and whispered in her ear, I love you sweety a million times. Poor thing!) :)

Thank you for listening and please make sure to give someone you love a hug today.

Paper Mache Snowmen or ??

Today we decided to let the kids loose with paper mache. (are we crazy???) :)

Todd and my dad are going to make a mountain for our village out of paper mache and they thought it would be fun for the kids and has it been!

Even Max wanted to help! :)

It started to turn in to an all out war...

How funny is this? :)

Check this out.... ot will make you laugh. :)

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1127105797

Christmas Spirit has made its mark this year...

Merry Christmas... HoHoHo... Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells... Here comes Santa... O'Tanebaum, O'Tanebaum...

Yep, it is here... It was a very cold afternoon, rainy, foggy and overcast, what better weather for Christmas Spirit. Everyone around town seems to feel it too. Christmas lights and decorations are going up every where. YAY!!

Todd and I have been deliberating over the Christmas tree... Do we get one and take it down before we leave or do we go without one. Well, we found the solution at WalMart. It is approximately 2 ft. high and just perfect.

A living tree, which we will plant before we leave. Hannah picked out some small ornaments and it was on. :) We bought the "snow" for our Christmas village and train set (the project my dad and Todd are working on). We brought it all home and started to decorate.

Oh how fun it is!

P.S. A bad picture of the broken pinky. ;)

Wooohoooo!!! 22 days and counting!

22 more days, and a half, until we leave for Mississippi!! We are all excited... Hannah can hardly stand it, every morning, "Aren't we leaving yet?". I ordered us a new luggage set. One of the perks of Todd's job is getting to sign up for the rewards programs with the hotels. We do most of our Christmas shopping that way, as well as, that is how I bought the luggage. Nothing beats "FREE".

We will be taking 2 1/2 days to get there and stopping for some site seeing. YAY! We didn't do that last time we went to Tennessee, so this time Todd said we would. One of our stops we are hoping to stop and visit with Todd's cousin Stephanie for a few hours. The anticipation is building, can you feel it?! :)

Christmas is in the air and what a Christmas it is going to be.

Have a fabulous day!

I was joking.... But REALLY it is broken!

Well todd and i just spent 3 hours in the ER, it is broekn. We did it good!! Broken starting right at the bottom of the first bone through the joint into the second bone. Todd and I could not stop laughing... The entire thing was just so ridiculous. :) Never realized how much I used my pinky until this happened. The one good thing, Nurse told Todd "she absolutely can not use this hand for washing dishes, laundry and any other household chores!" LOL yay! Just think how my house is going to look... pulling out my hair!

I have to call a finger doctor on Monday. The er doc told me they will mostly likely will want to do surgery to do any repairs so i dont loose mobility. (you've got to be kidding me!! we were just horsing around.) It hurts now that i know. :) Anyways... happy freaking thanksgiving, huh, just kidding, we still had a blast and to think i did all of that fun stuff with a broken finger. lol Todd now knows that i am not as weak as i play, according to him, so just you wait! Great!!

We will keep you posted!

Garlic Herb Cheese causes broken pinky.... :)

This is the story... Todd and I horsed around all day, hyped up. We had *S*, *M*, and *M* over again and we were all feeling pretty spry.:) Well, I was eating some garlic herb cheese and crackers and jokingly blew the scent into Todd's face, (here give me a kiss honey, he leans in... and whammo, blew it right by him). He started to run away, we all were roaring with laughter, I grabbed his shirt as he was breaking away, my pinkie became entangled in the shirt and SNAP! It is swollen and bruised pretty good. OUCH!!! @#$%&*(&%# I tried taking pictures, but the flash, they just weren't turning out. I took 2 of Todd's Ibuprofen and iced it up and we continued by playing football, then tether ball, and going out to the wash for paintball fights.... I am going to pay tomorrow. Let's hope it isn't really broken, but if you could see how crooked it is. LOL Todd is going to tape for me tonight. :)

I hope you all had fun, lots of fun, laughter, good food, love and wonderful time spent sharing!

Happy Thanksgiving

Giving Thanks

For the hay and the corn and the wheat that is reaped,

For the labor well done, and the barns that are heaped,

For the sun and the dew and the sweet honeycomb,

For the rose and the song and the harvest brought home --

Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For the trade and the skill and the wealth in our land,

For the cunning and strength of the workingman's hand,

For the good that our artists and poets have taught,

For the friendship that hope and affection have brought --

Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For the homes that with purest affection are blest,

For the season of plenty and well-deserved rest,

For our country extending from sea unto sea;

The land that is known as the "Land of the Free" --

Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

Author Unknown

Happy Thanksgiving Family and Friends!!

Have a very Blessed day!

MMMmmmm.... My new potatoe recipe.

Ok, the guilt was starting to hit about my mom's potatoes. It is just so rich and full of fat. Oh, I love those potatoes, but they just aren't fitting in. Plus, they are only great when Mom makes them. :) So, I have taken a few of my other favorite mashed potato recipes and combined them as follows: :)

4 lbs potatoes
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups pureed cauliflower
margarine (yuck!)
2 cups milk

+ a good cheese, I am going to eye ball this.

SSSShhhh, don't tell Matty, there's veggies in these potatoes. :)

I was thinking of substituting Mashed Cheesy Cauliflower for the potatoes, but I had some grumbling from the peanut gallery. I guess I will just have to use self control, now that is funny!!

We will be trying another new recipe this holiday... Anitgone posted a wonderful cranberry salad recipe. I am one who likes real cranberry, either chutney or a salad like Antigones. Yummy!!!

Here's to enjoying one another... Have a very blessed and happy Thanksgiving!!!

Monday Maintenance

Ok, I won't be getting to anything at home for Maintenance Monday... but does this count, I will be finishing up the paper that was due yesterday and starting the "Big" one that is due this coming weekend. Can you say, procrastinate!! I have a lot of anxiety when I write, grammar, punctuation, my thoughts are so jumbled, lack of organizational skills and the list goes on. I am seriously thinking about starting over my English classes. My teachers were not the best and I don't know that I really learned what I needed to know.

My first teacher was more interested in our "feelings" in our writing and my next class, well that teacher made me cry! Ugghh!! Yep, that's right, she made me cry. I already had some anxiety and the teacher I began the class with quit after 5 weeks and the new teacher was full of herself. I explained my anxiety to her and asked if she was willing to help me with some extra guidance. HA!!! She told me what did I think, was I still in kindergarten, did I want her to write my papers for me, all the work you have done for the last 5 weeks I am not counting and you will have to redo it all... and this was in front of the entire class, hence the tears. Why do people like that even teach?!

Anyways, see what I mean by my thoughts being all over the place... ;) If you read this blog, you know what I am talking about. :) Anyways, just in case I dont make back on here to tell you all... Have a great Thanksgiving and enjoy one another!

I am so thankful that I have met you all and consider myself very blessed!

God Bless and Happy Thanksgiving!

Courage...

This morning I was lucky enough to be clicking through the channel and catch an interview with one of my favorite people in our world... Dr. Maya Angelou.

"Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency." Dr. Maya Angelou This has to be one of my favorite quotes of hers. She spoke about finding the courage to ask a stranger "their name", not Billy, Bob, or Sally, but "their name". To remember that strangers name and to use that name the next time you come across them or call on them and it will show them that they are remembered. How Wonderful... we all want to be remembered.

What a wise and articulate women. I hope to achieve even a 10th of her wisdom and courage.

Happy Birthday Dr. Maya Angelou!!

I lost a week... anybody seen it, if so can I have it back, PLEASE!!

Hannah's Tropical Island

You may detect my need for an extra week... :) I was checking my school assignments and realized the paper I have been avoiding ( I am to write on a country's development potential and discuss that potential using concepts we've covered in class)is due this Sunday, not next Sunday. Holy Moly!! is right!! On top of that, I have 2 ;literature reviews due the week after Thanksgiving. So, I know what I will be doing over Thanksgiving break... :) I never knew it got harder as you go, lol, now that is funny!


I still am finding time to vent to you all though, hehehehe. This is my saving grace right now. Suck it up and take deep breath, I keep telling myself. Hannah keeps drawing me pictures of the water and tropical islands, trying to help me relax. :) OK, I am done venting and will get back to it. Maybe I will go vacuum the floor and mop, that always relaxes me... ok, yes I am still in avoidance mode!!!

Have a fabulous day!!!