dancing baby?

Yesterday I felt a weird feeling in my belly and I'm wondering if it was the baby moving... I was laying down. But I haven't felt that again, so I'm not sure!
Gas bubbles?!
Things are going well and I'm 15 weeks now. I have NO energy today or will to do anything besides sit around. I don't know whats wrong with me. DH brought all the Christmas decorations up here and I think its just overwhelming me a little bit. I've been decorating for awhile and then taking a break.. the tree is up and the ornaments are on it though. I can't find the angel... hopefully she will show up in one of the boxes I haven't opened yet. We will be traveling to North Dakota for Christmas so I decided not to overdo it on decorating this year. The more I put up, the more I have to put away later! But I do love leaving it all up for awhile after Christmas.
We have lived here for six months and there is still only one thing on the wall in the living room! We really need to work on that.
DH is working on finishing my craft room in the basement, then he is going to finish out the extra bedroomm down there so we can move everything and set up the nursery upstairs! Hopefully we can do that in February or so. Since we aren't going to find out what we are having, I'm not sure how we will decorate. But if we set it up early, we will have time to figure it out.
Tonight I'm actually going to look at a pack and play a lady in town has for sale... its basically brand new and has all the gadgets and gizmos... my parents said they would buy it for us for Christmas, its about $50 less than a brand new one and I had wanted one, so awesome!!!
I would say as far as baby gear goes, we have pretty much covered our bases! I want a bumbo, but plan to put that on our gift registry. My parents also said they would buy us the stroller/carseat combo and that was pretty much my last big ticket item that I needed for the baby!
Its weird to think that in six months, we will have another little person living here with us and our lives will totally change. We are SOO excited though.

jumping bean . . . an update

I need to be better about updating on here. I'm using this as somewhat of a pregnancy journal, although I might be better off jotting a few things down before bed. Its hard to make time to sit down and write a post.
This past week I had a bit of a scare. I was pretty sure everything was okay, but I had some spotting that I had not had before.. and it was scaring me. Plus it went on longer than it has before, so I called the nurse. She said I could wait to see if it quit or come in and see the doc. I chose to see the doc. An hour after waiting... (grr!) I talked with him and shimmied to the ultrasound room in a sheet over my bottom! eek!
The baby was fine. I was so relieved. It even LOOKS like a little baby now.. although its about 2 inches big in reality... He got the babe focused in on the ultrasound and we saw the little bean moving around. It was so awesome... so unreal though. Its weird to think thats happening in my body and I can't feel it! I can't wait to feel it move around, but he said that would be about 6 more weeks... But I got pictures from the u/s so thats fun. I'm keeping a little album of all of them.
I bought a pair of maternity jeans on Friday... I think I will be needing them soon. My darn pants are getting tighter and tighter as the days go by.
I am finally getting my energy back and actually cleaned the whole living room. It looks so nice right now! I moved the furniture and vacuumed the entire floor, as well as under the cushions. DOG HAIR! ugh, its going to be the death of me. We got the "furbuster" for sassy last weekend and I combed a ton of hair off of her today. I wonder if I keep combing if she will go bald? I worry that the comb might not be good for her... but the furminator has been used at petsmart, so I think its okay. I hope that will help cut down on all the hair in the house.
Well its about my bedtime! Gotta get up for 9 o'clock mass tomorrow morning!

ramblings

You know what I've been wanting to do for the last few weeks? and yes its crazy, but I blame it on my pregnant hormones.
I want to go to a hotel and sit in their pool room and smell that chloriney smell. OMG am I totally nuts or what? Sometimes I'll just have a craving to smell it and it seems like it would be so refreshing to me.
Not that there is any way in hell or high water I'd put my two piece on at this point... but still!
I have to say I've developed a bump, but to me it looks more like pudgy tummy! I actually bought a pair of maternity work pants today. They were on sale at Kohls and I had a $10 gift card, so I thought what the heck. They have this "secret belly fit" and its this panel that goes almost up to your boobs--at least at this point. But I think they will work for me the whole pregnancy, so thats awesome.
I ran errands today and I spent almost an hour at every store! Oops.
I had a berry smoothie at costco today. OMG it was like $1.45 and SOOO GOOD. damn, I wish we lived closer. def going to get one of those every time I go to costco from now on !
i spent an hour at costco, doing what? god only knows... an hour at kohls... quite awhile at michaels... and then awhile at joanns. i bought the burda sewing pattern for sleep sacks. i hope it works out! it ended up costing me 3.03 with a 40% coupon and a 15% friends&family coupon. SWEET! :) i love good deals.
i'll post belly pics soon.

quick update

I have been so worthless lately! I'm so lazy or else don't feel good and spend a good amount of time at home on the couch. oh well, I figure I deserve and should enjoy it before the bean comes and life turns crazy.
I had nausea SO BAD two weeks ago, the entire week, it was horrible. Like morning to night, yucky stomach. Its better when I eat, but I get sick of eating, eating, eating. And food leaves a BAD taste in my mouth after a few minutes.
Its almost 7 pm on Sunday night and I haven't even gotten through 1/2 the laundry yet! Whooops. I did vacuum though. The dishes... uhm, no comment! I am planning tofinish the laundry, bake some brownies (for CCD tomorrow night, halloween party!), and do the dishes. By that time, I'll watch Desperate HOuswives and then off to bed I am sure!
DH was gone all weekend hunting so I guess I should spend a little time with him. Bonding over the sink doing dishes?! :o)
I am doing a craft sale next Saturday, but at this point I don't really care! I hope I sell a few things but honestly, I'm just not in the crafting business mood these days. I just need to get my christmas list knit out and then focus on baby things!

An update on my uncle with ALS, he did pass away. Very sad, but at his funeral I got to see all my mom's side of the family which was nice. I am glad he's not suffering and I'm sure he is in heaven looking down on us. Just goes to show that we should enjoy every day God gives us, for we don't know when those days may end.

newest WIP (work in progress)

Well... its official.

A babe is on the way! Anticipating his/her arrival May 28, 2009 !!!!

We are all so very excited!!!

new car ! 9/28/2008

Well this weekend I headed to North Dakota to buy a new car for us + baby. The two door monte carlo just wasn't cutting it anymore. we found a pontiac g6 at hazen motors with low miles, warranty, and a good price.

I took Friday off of work and drove home. Man that drive gets long when you have to pee all the time! Plus I was somewhat naseuated (sp?) on the way there... that made for a fun ride.

THen i took a wrong turn and ended up on this dirt road, ha!! oh well, eventually I made it there.

My parents both worked during Friday/Saturday but we still had a good time together.

I'm always so sad when I leave there. :(

I'm five weeks, four days.... I'm always sooo hungry, thirsty, and have to pee a lot. Experiencing an icky stomach feeling but usually just at night.

My uncle has ALS and my mom just told us his lungs are collapsing... ugh. His daugther, my cousin, is pregnant with her first baby, a boy, and due in january. I can't imagine how hard this is on their family.

Our Kohls opened today, the soft opening, so there really weren't too many people there... and Chad got some new shoes. MAN I am going to LOVE that store. i couldn't contain myself from adoring all the cute baby stuff either. They have a small selection of maternity stuff, but its way cute too! Some super cute sweaters... however, I must see the baby bump before I start buying stuff. And Chad said we couldn't buy any baby stuff until we see what the baby is (which won't be until birth!) darn, I hate waiting. I might sneak some uni-sex stuff in there somewhere!

Also, this weekend I found out Chad's best friend and wife are expecting their first baby, due THREE days after ours. Of course, no one knows I'm pregnant so we have to play it all off... but soon enough hopefully we can spread the news. I just worry about telling everyone too soon just in case something might happen. I would hate to have to explain to everyone how I had a miscarriage, I'm sure its hard enough just dealing with that fact muchless dealing with everyone asking you about it.

Thats all for tonight! I am sooo tired. and its 649, i need to go lay in bed and watch tv!

baby ticker

two + one = happy little family

Well... on September 15, 2008, I found out I was pregnant!! Chad had taken a week off for hunting, to go to Lewistown and the mountains. I was 99% sure on both Saturday and Sunday my period would be arriving anytime soon... cramps + spotting. Plus I was pretty sure we didn't time our baby dancing exactly right. But apparently, WE DID! :o)

So Sunday afternoon, Chad left... Sunday night I thought, well I'll just take a pg test in the morning for the fun of it.

So Monday morning came along and there I was with the dollar tree test in my hand... the control line showed up and that was all. I set it down and was sure I had confirmed my idea of bad timing. I hopped into the shower... upon getting out... I picked up the test, without thinking, and saw a faint line... WOAH!

I remember saying oh.. my... god... Well the night before I had read about evaporation lines and initially, thats what I thought it was... so I took a picture of it and emailed it to my friend Megan... (we haven't met in real life, but are e-mail friends). I consider her to be quite knowledgeable and she doesn't know anyone I do, so I figured the secret was safe with her... she suggested I get a digital and see what happened with that. I had no time as I got up late and had to leave for work soon! I had the urge to pee again, so I took out my last dollar tree test and tried it out... same result, in the time stated on the box. WOW!!!

So I took the picture, emailed it to Megan.... and went off to work.

I checked my email at work and she was pretty sure I was pg... But I still didn't want to really consider it, because what if the tests were false positives? So I googled it and of course I found something about certain dollar tree tests. So then I was doubting yet again!

I had my first night of CCD right after work, so once I finished that up, I headed to Walmart, got a cheapie test from there (they were out of digitals!) and then headed to Target and got a two pack of the clear blue easy digital tests.

I took the cheapie walmart test when I got home.... CROSSHAIRS. Holy crap, I'm pregnant!



This was our second month of trying, and me off birth control, my first cycle of charting... pretty crazy if I do say so myself... I still don't think it has sunk in.



Tuesday morning I took a digital and the first one didn't work!!! What?! I'm still planning to write them a letter about that. I took the second one... hourglass . . . . .



PREGNANT!

(Did I need some convincing or what?!).



So on Tuesday, I had an annual pap scheduled, I called and they rescheduled me to see an OB and my appointment is October 20. I'll be 9 weeks so I hope we can hear the heartbeat! Wow... that is going to be amazing.



So far I haven't really felt much different... boobs hurt a little bit, sometimes really super hungry and thirsty. No morning sickness yet, thank god!



And since Chad took the week off hunting... he still doesn't know! It is KILLING me not to tell him... I keep asking him when he will come home and I wonder if he wonders why I'm pressuring him so much... I just want to say IF YOU ONLY KNEW! what kind of a surprise was waiting at home for you!

I bought some baby camo overalls and will stick a digital test in there... I'm going to tell him I bought him an early anniversary gift (Oct 7 will be 2 years)... so I cannot WAIT for that moment...

I took another dollar tree test tonight to make sure it was still positive.. it was!

quick update

Oh sorry blog, I've neglected you for a lonnnng time. I just get too busy. And then I read my old entries and think, gosh I'm a dork. Oh well.
I don't keep a journal so I guess this is the next best thing, although I don't like to proclaim things on the Internet about certain subjects because it gets blown way.out.of.proportion.

Anyways, i DID get a new job. Wahoo! I started one week after we moved into our new house, and i LOOOOVE it. Way fun, way interesting cases, and very cool boss-man. Also v.v.v. cool gals to work with, fun and are so understanding. Its just awesome. I'm wondering where the flaws will show up :P Isn't that saying "everyone has one" you know, that one annoying person. I haven't met any yet though! good thing!

I hope I can post more. Not much going on in life, just signed up to teach kindergarten CCD at church again this year. Its fun and I love the kids.

I'll try to be better about writing. I need to blog about my canning adventures last weekend! Fun times, I even impressed myself!

-A

as the world turns

I have some of the lamest titles for my entries!
Anyways, I think I've come to a crossroad in my career. Since Jim died... I just don't feel like the firm is going to get me to the place I want to go. There is SO much stress there right now, and its just not a really pleasant place to be. Plus, there are secrets. and I don't like secrets. Lots of shut door meetings with everyone in the firm but me, granted thats only three people but still. Why can't I know?
I want to be a paralegal. I would prefer not to go to school to learn though, I want to learn on the job. I just need to find someone to give me that chance and believe in me, because I know I'm fully capable of learning. I'm a quick learner, but how can you learn when you can't get your questions answered??
I'm going to mull this whole idea over in my head, but in the meantime, I'm applying for two jobs this week, hopefully tomorrow... I haveto change my cover letter.. its a bit outdated. So I'm off to my computer upstairs to see what kind of magic I can cook up.
stay tuned....

-a

monday... oh wait, its tuesday!

I keep thinking its Monday, but yay, its Tuesday already! The weekend was nice, but not nearly as restful as I had hoped. I, for some odd reason, cannot sleep past 8:00 a.m. I think I need to sew myself a sleeping mask or something.

To prevent this from happening when we move into our new house, I bought thermal light blocking curtains! They are on backorder until June 11, but we should have them a few days after we move in. I also ordered barstools for our kitchen. This is all coming together and I AM SO EXCITED.

Anyways, crappy rainy day today. I thought I could live in Seattle with the rain, but now I'm second guessing myself after the fifth day of overcast and rain here in Billings. :( ew.

Wish I was here:

Why is blogger so crazy when you insert pics into a post?! Why can't they put the picture where you left your cursor. so annoying!

~*~enjoy the short week!

hubby inventory. . .

I am finally back! Almost two months since my last post, eeek! We have been so BUSY! With building our new house and the chaos I'm dealing with at work... its enough to drive a girl crazy.

We are set to close on our new home on 6/16. We get to move everything in the weekend before and set up house, we just can't live there until we sign our closing papers. So... we are going to have a campout in sleeping bags the last night in our first home. I'm a bit sad to leave our first home... but I took pictures, lots of pictures, of everything here so we can remember it.

I ran across this on another blog so I thought I'd post on mine as well!

Hubby Inventory
1. What is his name? Chad W. Martin

2. Who eats more? I would guess he does. He likes chips and snack food more than I do.

3. Who said I love you first? He did! And then gave me a promise ring. Good memory in my mind...

4. Who is taller? He's taller by just a smidge.

5. Who is smarter? He is smart in construction and things along that line; I'm smarter with financials and adminstrative type things.

6. Who is more sensitive? Usually me, but sometimes he can be a little on the edge.

7. Who does the laundry? Me, for the most part.

8. Who pays the bills? I do.

9. Who mows the lawn? Chad does. I've mowed a lawn once and didn't realize you had to empty the bag so soon... :o)

10. Who cooks more? 99% of the time, I do the cooking.

11. What meals do you cook together? usually hamburgers, steaks, anything on the grill is a team effort.

12. Who is more stubborn? Hmm, most likely a tie on that one. We are both Taurus= bull headed!!

13. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Chad, I'm getting better in that department.

14. Who is more clean? He is!!! I have a problem with making piles of junk.

15. Who has more siblings? He does, 1 brother, 1 sister.

16. Who wears the pants in the relationship? I like to think its equal.

17. What do you like to do together? House projects, travel, watching movies/TV, cooking.

18. Who eats more sweets? I tend to think I like sweets, he prefers salty snacks.

19. Who has more friends? Well friends who live closer, him. Friends overall... not too sure.

20. Guilty pleasures? Yummy food, lazy days.

21. How did you meet? First year of college we met; my fourth year of college we pursued our relationship, two years later we weremarried!!

22. Who kissed who first? I think it was a mutual thing.

23. Who proposed? He did!

24. His best features? His smile, laugh, personality.

25. What is his greatest quality? He has a great sense of humor and loves to make me laugh. He has a tender heart and is easy to talk to. I'm a lucky gal!

life woes

Well, I'm re-adjusting to work. But I am just so moody here. I know its just work-related because once I get home I feel better and in the mornings, I'm happy for the most part.
I am just debating if this is a sign that it is time to move on in my life.
I asked one of the attorneys yesterday if I was still going to have a job down the line and he gave me a weird answer like, well we all hope to. Its like uhmm okay, well we are building a new house and I sorta need some type of income and that type of answer isn't a very promising one... So I actually applied for a job yesterday at lunch. Then after lunch, he called me into his office saying well we don't anticipate employment changing, but if something does we will give you plenty of time to find another job. I like the attorneys for the most part, but the attitudes in the office from others and sometimes a bit more than I want to handle. I don't want to hate coming to work everyday, as I spend a lot of awake time here with these people!
And like my mom told me yesterday, Amy you are a people person, it makes you happy to be around a lot of other people. And that is so true, especially since I moved here. I don't get any people interaction because we don't know anyone or go out and socialize! I go to knitting, go to CCD (kindergartner interaction!) and go to work. Pretty boring. I'm not a party girl anymore, but I do need some type of social interaction and that need is just not being met.
I told myself I'd see how this week went and decide what I should do. I had an opportunity awhile ago to work as an assistant for one lawyer and I should have taken it, but I didn't.... it was a temporary 3 month thing and then full time permanent after that, and that scared me quite frankly. I guess I just need to put it in God's hands and believe that he will lead me to where I need to be. Maybe its still here where I should be, but I sorta hope not. I'm ready for a change. I always felt so guilty about leaving, but really, your employer isn't going to look out for you and tell you when there is a better opportunity out there, its your job to find it for yourself.
There are some things going on in this office that I'm really not happy about and its so laid back that I don't see those things being addressed or changing. So I guess instead of changing the situation, I have to change myself, as in... relocate?
I'm not sure, the whole idea has been running through my head a lot... guess I just needed to get it down somewhere.

-A

the world lost a great man yesterday.

Yesterday, the world lost a very good man. A very kind, patient, loving man. One that you don't come across very often. He was a man that would always take the time to say hello in the morning, strike up a conversation about the current events going on in your life, take time out of his busy day to explain your question, and take an interest in you and your life. With all that, he knew he cares and you knew that you mattered to him.
He was a bit of a grandfather figure to me, as I had lost my grandfather when I was a junior in high school.
I replay the events from yesterday over and over and over in my head and I still, really, don't believe it happened. It was so sudden, so final. It happened in our office, his secretary found him at 8:06 am slumped over in the chair. He wasn't breathing, his hands were already cold, and he had lost color. She called 911, I tried to help get a pulse, ran to find someone who knew CPR. No one did, lesson learned, I think our office will keep up on our CPR lessons. The ambulance arrived, they were in his office for over 20 minutes trying to revive him, shortly after a woman EMT or paramedic came out to inform us they had tried everything, pushed two different meds, but he was gone. I prayed hail marys and our fathers the entire time, I just felt like in a time of panic and need, you need to pray. And although that didn't bring him back to life, maybe it helped him or his family or his wife, as he was making his journey to heaven with Jesus. I hope so. I've been praying the entire day that Jesus will open his arms for Jim and let him into his kingdom. He was a good man, I have no doubt that he is in heaven looking down.
The funeral is Monday. I'm going into work for a little while today but I'm scared to go to our office... It was a traumatic experience to go through really.... Seeing someone die leaves that memory with you, for a long time I am sure. Death is sometimes hard to accept so I'm just trying to go along with my every day. I will always remember Jim and he will always hold such a special place in my heart.
After someone dies, it stings and it hurts. Sometimes you think, well I shouldn't take people for granted, and no you really shouldn't, but you get so caught up in daily life and your own things that sometimes you lose sight of other things in life. Then you wonder if you should let people in, if you should have children, because someday you will utlimately lose those people from your life. But, I do believe that its important to love everyone the best way you can. And do everything good in your life that is possible because life is such a fragile thing and it can be taken away at any time.
Rest in peace Jim, you are dearly love and will be greatly missed every day at work. I hold a special place in my heart for you and will continue to admire and look up to your loving and caring ways throughout your life.
-A

welcome sun !!

i woke up at 8 am.. but i wasn't tired anymore! the sun was shining brightly into our bedroom even with the shades closed, the dog was whining to go out... so i just got up.

i always look forward on the weekends to sitting in my pj's in the living room, letting the sun shine in and drinking piping hot coffee... it seriously is one thing that makes me sooo happy.

i am an odd one! :) i dont like to see the sun on the days i work because those are depressing days, ha! today is supposed to be in the 50s and we have lots of projects to get done (hence the coffee for an extra burst of energy and ambition!)

we are heading to the home improvement show and maybe grab some cans of paint... we just have to paint our master bedroom and our big painting jobs will be done in this house... which ahem, we painted nearly every room, ha! i love color, what can i say. i might have a bit of a freakout in the new house because the walls AND the ceilings are all the SAME color, a neutral tan.. but i already have plans to paint an accent wall in the dining room. dh is not aware of this nor does he need to be until i come home with a can of paint. hee hee!

the more i think about it, the more sad i get to leave this house. it was our first little house and i really do love it.. dont really love the neighborhood or the neighbors (well one set) but this house is awesome... i'm going to take lots of pictures of it before we leave... makes me sad! but it will be great to have a bigger, new house as well... a bigger yard, not such close neighbors, an awesome kitchen.... and a basement that we can design ourselves... and a place to park ALL our cars so we don't have to clog up the street anymore! but still, you know, i get all sentimental and stuff.

anyways.. back to knitting, i found my next WIP... however i need to a. get the book and b. get the yarn.. in order to get the book, i have to drive over to a little town about 10 miles away, get a library card, and make some requests.. which means i will have to drive back over there to get it and then again to return it. oh well, cheaper than buying the book. i've been wanting to get my hands on some debbie bliss baby books too, and they ahve them! too bad the billings library has to suck so bad, damn them.

anyways, shopping tunic... hello i am in love! its so chunky, soooo lovely. hopefully i have enough skills to pull it off...

xxoo enjoy the day !

oh knitting..

How I've missed you!

I finally got the knitting bug again, same as I felt when I first started.... I discovered someone in my city who SPINS yarn and hello how totally awesome would that be?! I could dye and spin my own lovely creations. yeeeeeeeah!
i bought two skeins from her today and they are just soooo stunning. i don't know what i'm going to make yet... but something spectacular! haha!

DH is out with his friends tonight and I'm cruising around ravelry and knitting help to find new patterns and learn about spinning.

And... if I'm good at this spinning thing... I could def. sell my creations and make some extra money... but I do think thats a ways away... don't count your chickens before they hatch right. I learned that with our tax return this year. :(

I forgot!

How much I love to read!!!

Requested this book at the library and got it last week... I'm almost 3/4 done with it and that makes me so sad. I hate when I finish a good book because I always want it to last forever. Oh well! I know there is a lot more to come in this book and I can't wait to finish supper and settle in to read... plus I put this quilt I got from my grandma on our bed and its like a cozy little cacoon to snuggle up in and read. One of my favorite things!

Its hump day--hurrah for that! Tonight we need to get our house picked up.... it turns into such a mess so quickly, I hate that!

Also, our electric meter was broken and our energy bills were SO cheap... finally I called them because I thought it was weird and yesterday we got a bill for $500 in backcharges. Yuck!! Not to mention we hardly got a return and have to use 1/2 our state return to pay our federal!!! eww!! Guess I'll have to pinch pennies in other places.

This weekend is the home improvement show in town so we will head to get to get more expensive ideas for our new house. ha!

happy hump day ! <3

update

i am so horrible at updating this thing... between looking at other blogs, doing flickr, picking appliances, getting light prices... and then actually doing my WORK.. i have no time!!!
i need more time at home, less time at work. think that could be arranged on the same salary?okay, doubtful.

im going to leave the house updates for the other blog... so hmm what else is there to blog about? nothing really! I've let the house project consume me...

i havent sewn in what seems like forever. i need to declutter my craft room and turn on the heat. its chilly in there. maybe this weekend. we have to get some things done to our house so its ready to show when we put it on the market... i hope it sells quickly! it sold in less than 1 day when we bought it so i hope that is the case for us as well.

now onto another subject... online friends. its pretty hard to make friends in a new town and new state after you graduate college.. i moved here the DAY after i graduated in order to be with my now DH... im glad that we are together, but sometimes i don't think he realized how hard it really is to just start your whole life over while not much has changed for him. i miss my parents horribly.. i just wish they lived a little bit closer than 6 hours one way... its hard and i need to see my mom more often... we don't have any "couple" friends, we could... but I think DH has his reservations and judgments up against those people before we have even really met them! i need to get him out of the house and doing something with them.
i was thinking about once a month doing a little supper or get together where one couple prepares a meal and then we could switch every month... i'll have to ask my friend and see what she says.

craft-wise... i'm trying to get the wedding gifts ready for this summer, i'm doing handknit dishcloths, a homemade recipe book with some of my favs, two mixing bowls, maybe an oven mitt, and some bamboo utensils. i hope they like them...

ill try to do better at blogging!

new blog

I have decided to do a new blog for our "house building adventures". but i haven't started it yet.
I'm thinking of naming it:
chad & amy build a house.

how original, riiiiiiight?!

-A

its been awhile...

i guess life just gets busy and gets away from you... although i'm kinda bored right now. :) actually, I'm just waiting in anticipation to get a big project rolling. . .

updates for us: one day three weeks ago, we were looking at putting in laminate floors... the next day we went to an open house for a builder in town and talked with his realtor. then we decided to build a house. we are crazy, i tell you!!!

so the weekend after that, we met with the realtor and the project manager, looked at two more floor plans, found a great lot, and signed a buy/sell. the next day the lot was ours and we were on our way to being the newest homeowners in the subdivision!!!

fast forward to this week... the permits have been obtained and they will dig the hole for our house next week! I need to get over to our lot this weekend to take some pictures of the bare ground, I'm going to try to document the whole thing through photos. because who knows the next time we will build a home!!!

its all very exciting and new and i have ten million questions about everything... but its fun. a little stressful because im weary about the interest rates right now, we won't be able to lock in until probably may. :( i'm hoping for 5.5 or 5.625%... please god! right now our rate is 6.5% with our current home.

i guess the lender is going to talk to me about a conventional loan today so we'll see....

here are some pictures of the floorplan we have chosen, in someone else's house. my DH is going to wire our entire house (hello money saver!!) so our lighting will probably be different, and our cabinets will be a darker cherry color, and tan walls, not white. we will also have a THREE stall garage!!!! total upgrade from our skinny one stall right now that we can't fit anything else in! eek!

our basement will be unfinished but that will be a good project to keep DH busy during the non-hunting season..

drama-rama

so... i know i said i wouldn't touch on "family" matters or should i just say "in-law" matters because honestly, rarely is there an issue with MY family. they're perfect, you know. okay, kidding. so maybe i'm the nit-picky bitchy daugtherinlaw. who knows. i honestly dont know how chad and i fit together because the families we come from couldn't be any further on each side of the spectrum. i have a hard time relating to his family because they are out there, at least according to the way i have been brought up and naturally i want to live my life the same way that i was brought up (and better, my life wasnt perfectly).
dh has been sportin' an attitude lately. super crabby about anything and everything. little things that you can just have a simple little chat about to resolve them. like, my lovely wife, would you please clean up your craft room so you can at least walk in there? me: sure husband! but no... its more like yell yell yell SCREAM yell yell yell. and you know, with all that yelling, i really don't listen. i mean, who likes to get yelled at anyways? i used to be a yeller, a lot more than now, but what good does it do? just simply explain what is making you mad and why... offer a solution and thats that.
well dh was NOT raised with any of those suggestions. his family is SCREAM SCREAM SCREAM bloody murder scream... then storm off, slam doors, throw things, etc... and ten minutes later, act like nothing happened.
okay so how does anything get resolved? well, i dont think it does?? it just builds up and up and up and adds fuel to the next blow up.
so dh was doing this attitude thing on saturday, we were going to meet bil and his kids at some sports show... well dh kept it up up up and his brother got there and i told him i wasn't going in and i was going home and he couldnt come home until he knocked it off. so i went home and locked the door! yes, it probably was immature but he doesn't get it unless i really put my foot down (at least i think so) and its like he just continues to think that its okay to treat people much less his wife! this way.. so i guess they (him and his bro) came to our house after the show and i was up in my craft room (clearing a path to walk, heehee) and my music was blasting (for motivation to clear the walkway, you know) and so the door was locked and i didnt answer the door!! so OH LORD dh's dad was with them as well... and now they ALL know that i being the horrible wife i am locked my husband out of the house.... and you know what they do with a juicy piece of information like THAT.
blab it, of course. i hear from my SIL that fatherinlaw couldn't stop talking about how i locked dh out. you know, i guess im flattered that they have nothing else to talk about but MY drama, but for real. i dont know.. they drive me insane. its like they are sooo interested in all the drama in our lives, i guess so they have something interesting to talk about with others? im not sure.
i just know that im not one who likes to be talked about. guess i better quit locking my dh out, and not mind so much. i just needed to vent.... all this stupid inlaw drama. this hasn't been the first time and im darn sure it wont be the last.

jan recap

So january is almost 1/2 over... it seems like christmas was a long time ago to me though... sadly had to take the tree down last weekend... hate that! i realized i have WAY too much christmas stuff... need to buy another tote to house it all. the bad thing is the more stuff i collect, the more i run out of room. and dh isn't too keen on "clutter" for obvious reasons when you meet his family--but thats a whole 'nother blog that I have to keep under lock and key due to wandering eyeballs.

i got a raise. not up to the penny i wanted, but enough for now. plus a guaranteed nice bonus for next year AND a promised bonus of some of the money i'm bringing into the firm billing my paralegal work hours. so, for now, i'm happy.

i hope this year is good for us... dh and i. the past year was a little bit rocky but i guess its all part of growing together and being married. you've got to have some bad times to appreciate the good ones, right? i think we are getting on the same page more and more now and learning to respect each others opinions. we are both pretty darn stubborn, i know i am, i'll openly admit that one. and i like CONTROL and i dont like other people to have it... its quite apparent in our house.. ive decorated almost the entire thing (and want to REdecorate it now...) but dh loves to hunt and wants to display some of his ahem..trophies around the house. well i suppose i dont live in an animal museum for a reason... so still working on that.

flickr has been soooooo inspiring for me lately. i just LOVE it. i know the life i want to create for myself and it helps me pinpoint those things and work towards them. so yay for flickr, i visited that site a year ago or so and HATED it. i guess i just didn't quite understand it.

and now a rant... fabric stores! like joanns... come on.. get some cute fabric for cheap.. please?! i promise i will support you... we have a quilt shop here... fiberworks. omg... so so SO much fabric. so much love there. i could live there... but dang, the fabric is NOT cheap. of course i love all the expensive stuff, does that surprise me--no! there are a few other shops around town though, so i need to check those out. ive found a site online that has some cute stuff for a few dollars a yard cheaper too, not sure if the shipping costs will make them more than local shops here or not. im always out to save a buck though! tonight joanns had their calico whatever the hell prints.. most of them are crap, but they were 40% off and i found some alexander henry! yum!! "mocca" is the print... hopefully i can do my first apron with that.

okay missy, no more buying fabric and lots more creating with it. i have OODLES of flannel to use. one of my friends had these blankets for her daughter that were great for swaddling so shes going to get me the measurements and i plan to make lots o' those. i have four pregnant friends right now!!!
sorry no pics. i've been lacking on any crafting lately. the couch just sucks me in after i make supper.

but, we are going to change up the lighting in my craft room and i think that will be great.. right now the lighting in there totally sucks... its one dome shaped light in the middle and i think because of the color it just isn't working well.... so hopefully i can sweet talk dh into doing that this weekend! our stupid tub keeps leaking and leaking and we dont know how to fix it... had to cut a hole in the ceiling. :( and maybe another hole in the wall!! sadness! i have some projects i need to finish up around teh hole and i heard we were supposed to get 4-5 inches of snow tomorrow so i need to get up early and do my running around errands before that hits! i really dont love to drive around in the snow in this town...

thats enough babble for tonight. :)

anticipation

well, tonight I went into (one of) my boss's office and stated my case why I deserve a 1.70/hour raise. I sure hope I was persuasive enough... now I have to wait THREE whole days to find out if I won my case.

DH is getting four teeth pulled out tomorrow to make room for his teeth and another step closer to getting his braces put on!! he is quitting chewing... he's been done for three weeks, I am so proud of him!!!

greys is on right now. yaaaaaaay. i have so missed this show. but i am seriously partial to men in trees. gosh, can i just move to elmo? i LOVE it. so simple. i want my life to always be simple.

i have a TON of cleaning to get done this weekend, i'll be happy when its all done.

OMG the upstairs darn tub is leaking through the ceiling on the main floor... jeez. owning a house isn't fun sometimes.

so... my latest inspriration. makes my heart happy !!

buzzin in my brain

I'm slacking on posting again... sometimes I just don't have time, sometimes i have nothing interesting to say.
so this is going to be a really random post... just things that are floating around in my head and, somewhat, stressin' me out!

ccd--first class back in 2008 tonight... have to throw lesson together after work tonight, then run over to church and class starts at 6. no idea what to have for supper... made soup last night and dh turned nose up at it. figures. must get hat to amy to do a test fit on daughters and then knit pink hat and add flowers to both hats and hopefully have finished before june and hot weather. ugh.

bathroom lights--remodel this weekend. not loving the new light fixtures. maybe its those stupid energy saving lightbulbs that give off light like you are in a garage. yuck. must buy new bulbs and try them in the light. otherwise, return to lowes and start over. the hollywood bubls might be ugly but i like the light they give off. plus, they're cheap. need to figure out how to add some splashes of color to the vanilla + white room. PLUS need to return flat paint for "gloss" paint and ask lowes paint man about best paint to refinish vanity. hopefully finish that project by 2009 !!

lunch with inlaws. i really dont like to associate with them. they have nothing to say. i have nothing to say. they show up without calling and thats a pet peeve of mine. im trying to be better with them, but its hard.

northwest energy. our power bill has been really low for about six months. i thought maybe they were just giving us a break because they overcharged us? ha, i shouldn't be so niave. i saw it said we only used 2 units of power last month and i think the meter is broken. sent an email inquiry to them today.... waiting on the response. hoping to god they don't charge us for all the power we used in the past six months. def. be broke if that was the case. :(

living room. too dark... but might be okay if we add the recessed lighting that dh has been talking about. plus going to add wood floors which may help lighten up as well.

work... maternity leave. yeah its a long ways away but im already thinking about how i can negotiate part of it as sick leave. we don't have a sick leave policy, but i've taken two days of sick time in two years. i want to ask for 2-3 weeks of paid sick leave during maternity. the rest will be unpaid and i've already budgeted for that. long ways away, shouldn't even be worrying about this. and anticipating yearly raise for 2008. want 5% increase.

teeth/gum pain. going to dentist feb 18, must remember to talk to him about this stuff. scared of root canals and other pain causing things.. but oh well.

braces for dh. doubtful that insurance will cover extractions of dh's four teeth. goodbye 1350 dollars. :( oh well. he will be happy once he has straight teeth. braces for dh = 6500. eek. i want to get my top teeth straightened again too. i think if i whitened them i wouldn't notice the gap as bad. much cheaper than braces.

clutter-must get Less is More attitude and CLEAN OUT house. have rummage sale? too much work? undecided on that. i hate just throwing things away.

okay, thats all for now.... hopefully that helped me clear my head a bit.

knitting list...

I've got quite a few projects on my plate, or waiting in the wings to get finished!
I need to make myself a concrete list that I can refer back to, so I thought it would be good to do it here:

1. finish petal hats for Amy - 1 pink, 1 purple- by 1/7/08.
2. finish brother's felted slippers and mail to him at college--received by 2/5/08 (birthday).
3. knit hats for emily + friend, get head sizes first... paid project!
4. finish baby bib for mikayla and choose hat from stash--by 2/1/08.
5. valentine dishclothes for parents, grandma, j&p, carla, pam
6. dishclothes for wedding gifts--dani/kyle--august 8; adam/tasha--august 2; mandy/aaron--june 14.
7. felted slippers for mom done/mailed by march 12, 2008
8. felted slippers for chad by may 2, 2008 (hopefully sooner!)
9. big stack of dishclothes for craft sale table

to be continued...