History Was Made

Fellow blogger, Jen, had posted on Facebook about how she asks her students to write about their memories of 9/11 every year (she's a college English Prof.) Of course, I think about 9/11 every year on the anniversary (and throughout the year as well) but for the life of me I cannot remember my actual experience that day.  Usually I have an impeccable memory.

I can remember that I was sitting at my vanity in my bedroom doing my hair and makeup for school.  I was listening to the local radio morning show that I still listen to today!  My older friend who drove me to school before I had my license had walked into the room and we briefly discussed what was happening with my mom before we rushed out the door for school.  While we were at school the teachers had the news on in all of our classrooms, even after our principal ordered that the tvs be turned off.  I can assume that most of us high schoolers didn't understand the seriousness of what was taking place.  History was being made, right then.... right there.  Brandon remembers our school playing the news in every classroom and he remembers our school counselors being available for those kids that had relatives or friends that they couldn't contact.  I would like to assume that parents came and got students that were in that situation, but I just don't remember.

Over all, I feel very guilty about 9/11.  I feel guilty because I was not directly affected by anyone that I loved losing their life or having their lives dramatically altered by the attacks.  Of course, like all Americans, my life was indirectly affected.  I also feel guilty because while my family has military ties from Nam and previous wars, we don't have anyone who is serving right now.  Brandon and I do have some friends who are serving and we recently welcomed him home from Iraq for the last time, hopefully. We also don't have any family/friends who are firefighters or police officers. Geeze!

Anyway, this whole post is jumbled and doesn't make a ton of sense... but I'm just reflecting so please forgive me.

I want to give my biggest, most sincere thanks to all of our service men and women who fight for our lives while risking their own every.single.day.  Without you and the sacrifices that your family has to make -- I don't even want to think of what our country would be without you!  Thank you!!!!!!

Swagger Wagon

The first time I saw this video I was cracking up!!! My sister-in-law and I always joke about how we're going to be mini-van moms soon! Ha! She only has one baby now, so she's definitely waiting to get a van for a while but once we have more than one apiece and then gain all of their little buddies that need rides, vans will be in order!  I'm not afraid of vans though! Dang, some of the vans are really nice now days!!! They're not like the killer 1989 Dodge Caravan that had fake wood paneling that my mom won free for being a top Tupperware manager! Haha! I was the only young kid in the house at the time too! My mom used to roll up with just me sitting in the back all by myself, how cool were we? Haha!

Anyway, check this video out, love it!

My Black Thumb

Yard work is not my thing. It never has been. When I was a kid (I feel old saying that...) my mom knew that I would not argue with her when she asked me to clean the inside of the house. Dishes, laundry, vacuuming, even deep cleaning was no problem... but yard work was NOT my bag. It doesn't make sense to me to go bend over, sweat, get itchy from dirt sticking to your sweat, ruin your nails, get nasty feet, get thorns in your butt... and get a backache too! Oh, and don't forget about the dirt in your eye because inevitably your eyeball will itch and you'll forget you have dirty hands! GAH! This goes for berry picking too.  My mom & her side of the family love to berry pick! What the heck!? Who LOVES that?! No way.  I'll pay the local berry farmers to do it for me thank.you.very.much.

Anyway, like any one else, I enjoy the look of a well maintained yard and of beautiful flowers too. So, every year I try to have a hanging plant or two to give the front of our house some color. Oh, and I hire someone for the yearly cleanup duties too so we don't look COMPLETELY Whiskey Tango.

This year, we built an outdoor patio or "smoking area" as we sometimes call it at the family Biz. Four years ago, or so... Washington State passed the "no smoking in bars/restaurants" law (thank God, if you ask me.) We put in a patio so people can take their beverages outside to enjoy their 'grittes. Fortunately, it is a big enough area that non-smokers can enjoy it as well without getting smoked out. :)

My dear husband was at a local nursery in early July once the outdoor patio was finished and spotted some beautiful hanging baskets that were HUGE and marked 50% off. He nabbed one for the family biz and one for us too! How sweet he is! :)

Well, we have a resident Green Thumb which happens to be our day bartender/server. He is always bringing in amazing bouquets from his own garden to freshen up the place. So, naturally, the basket that is hanging in the outdoor patio is flourishing!

Mine, however, looks like it spent the summer in the Mojave for the love of God! 

I have a good explanation.  When I leave the house in the morning, I am always rushed.  I pull out of the garage and can see the plant and try to make a mental note to water it that evening when I get home.  But, I sure as heck don't have time to stop the car, get out and water the danged thing then! So then, that evening, I usually get home after dark.  So, I pull into the garage once again and don't see the damned plant! It's not unless I have to get the dogs from the front porch that I see the plant.  I should have written myself a reminder or set a reminder in my cell phone.  Something.  Geeze. Poor plant!

In other news, Friday was a beautiful day! I'm sure it was one of our last nice days but it was a perfect summer day of 83 degrees! That is a beautiful thing in the PNW! So, I was home most of the day and let the Libster outside a bit.  She doesn't go outside unless she is supervised so she's mighty thankful when I let her out to roll and bask in the sunshine!

Then, later... in order to pay me back for being so nice and letting her outside, she got her head stuck in the trailmix I was snacking on.  Way to be sneaky...

Finally, while I was home Friday, watching too much tv and wasting a gorgeous day doing chores before work, this GIANT spider flew out of my sock pile!

SICK! Holy COW! I mean, I know its no tarantula... but that sucker is LARGE! I promptly left the sock pile and returned fifteen minutes later to kill the spider with a hanger.  I had to wait that long to build up the courage to do so! :)

Happy Labor Day weekend everyone!!! I hope you all will be enjoying all things BBQ, sunshine and good company! :)

Who Ya Rootin' For?

I was raised a Husky. Brandon has just literally always rooted for the Dawgs since he was a tot.  I suppose a lot of it has to do with coming from generations of Western Washingtonians.  Typically the Eastern side of the state roots for our rival, Washington State University. With the exception of ONE cousin on my mom's side who went to our rival school, my family are all Dawg fans.  The University of Washington is all Brandon and I know.  Neither of us have attended UW, yet. I will attend there in a few years if I actually decide to become a teacher. 

Hubbs is pretty hardcore.  For his birthday last month, I got him a set of highly sought after tickets and so did his parents.  He's so excited to enjoy a couple of games from Husky Stadium because last year we worked too much on Saturdays and he didn't get to go at all! 

In true Seattle style, the stadium is right by the shores of Lake Washington! Beautiful!

While I like sports and I like football... I certainly don't get all worked up about it.  I do understand Brandon's viewpoint that college is so much more exciting to him than the NFL.  I enjoy that the game isn't about million dollar contracts and brand new stadiums and is more about the game and the kids playing. But to let the outcome of a football game ruin my day... or even my week? Not going to happen! ;)

Brandon says he's nervous for the game today.  We'll see how it turns out!  As for us and our home? We will serve the DAWGS! Purple & Gold baby!

Who are YOU Rootin' for and why?

Giva-who? Giva-what? GiveAWAYS!

I have yet to win one of Jens giveaways from A Daily Dose of Davis... but im hoping for this time! She's giving away a fitness ball thingie-ma-bob! You know, the one I roll off of because I'm really sweaty while working out? Ha! You should try to win too! Go check it out at: http://littlebabyaddison.blogspot.com

Jen's SIL Diana, who is hilarious, is offering a giveaway too! What was this, family blog giveaway week??? ;o) kidding, you two! Go check her blog out too. She's the ultimate 'Do-it-yourself' in the kitchen, garden, chicken coop (ha!) lady! Http://theapplepiegal.blogspot.com

By the way... posting from my trusty phone's browser... so if there are misspellings or other whacky things, give me a pass... kay? :0) I know the blog addy's aren't going to pop up as links, you'll have to copy & paste! Remember how? I kid.

Not Much to Say

I don't have much to say tonight... but it's been a while since I posted.  I am on my last week of vacation from school for the summer (I got a whopping 3 weeks.)  I return to classes on the 30th and will have no breaks until I am done.done.done.... in DECEMBER!  Of course, I will have a break for Thanksgiving but other than that I have a crazy schedule!  My last classes are Theories of Personalities (not really looking forward to it...), Research Project I & II (Senior req), and another elective of my choice. I really am not looking forward to all of the writing that the next 16 weeks is going to have in store for me... icka!

I am so looking forward to being done with school.  I am looking forward to being less stressed and having more time to focus on myself and Brandon and living healthier lifestyles.  I have recently been thinking/realizing how much stress has an impact on our health.  Not only my mental health but my physical health too. Ugh!  I am looking forward to actually having time to do fun activities every week or even just be lazy on weekday evenings after cooking dinner MYSELF before ten o'clock.

Anyway, I'm being a bit negative I think.  I have just felt a bit more somber lately so I guess this is why... I'm just tired.  :)

On a brighter note... I opened another savings account with our credit union about six or seven months ago and I have been stashing money here and there throughout the months.  I have been *trying* not to remember the amounts I've been putting in and have only asked for the balence a couple of times. : !!!!!!!!!!!!!  (that's my excited face!)  We have enough stashed to use my mom's timeshare here in December after I graduate and we also have enough for airfare/car/hotel in Arizona (probably Scottsdale) for a long weekend this fall!!!!  Hubbs hasn't been on a vacation that was extra relaxing for two years... So, I think the long weekend in AZ will be great for him to golf and for us to visit old friends.  Even if its only for two nights, it will be awesome!!! I sure hope we can go... Running a family business tends to ruin our plans sometimes... *crossing fingers!*  I am super excited about going to Cabo.  My parent's bought into the RCI/Pueblo Bonito timeshares over ten years ago and the resorts are seriously amazing.  We stayed at this one for our honeymoon (thanks Mom & Don!) and we never wanted to leave the resort... dreamland.  Anyway, so I'm glad I decided to write about our possible upcoming vacations because that put positive thoughts in my head!!!

I'm off to look up flights... :)

Oh, and to TAPG.... I still have more Jackson Tales! I will get to them.  For goodness sakes, I haven't even told you about how he broke out of the same house window TWICE or ate our car! Gosh! So much to share!

Random Pictures From My Phone...

I suppose I could have titled this ' A Day in the Life..." HA! Is it just me that finds totally random things on my phone that I thought were cool enough to snap a quick picture of?  Mostly mine are of the babies or my animals... Here are a few!

I woke up from a lazy Sunday afternoon nap to this.  If she had been ANY closer to my face she would have been sitting on it. :)

I finally think that baby E is ready for the park.  Before, there wasn't a whole lot she could do but eat wood chips! HA!  So, we've ventured out a bit... She is so independent so I supervise closely but she just does her own thing.  The slide backwards is a popular choice.

I have a set of about five of this same picture... except she has her head turned LEFT or RIGHT in every one of them!!! No, E! Look HERE!!!

Then, there's baby Nickolai.  He is NOT a fan of sleeping... EVER.  So, we have a process... I swear the entire 20 minute process negates his 25 minute nap, but whatever.  Stage #1

Stage #2 occurs about... ten minutes later?

Oh, shhhhh! Finally! Now, to transport him to the crib... that's tricky!

It is a sad day when poor Pink Floyd gets spit on... :(

I could never forget about Sasha, the niece dog. Silly girl, she thinks she's a cat!!!

Ok, well that's about all of the clear ones I have for now! These animals and kids move fast!