WOW it has been a while since I was on here........ I thought it would be fun to post my New Years Resolutions and then look back at the end of 2011 to see how many I actually did. So here goes.......
Run a 5k (a step towards that marathon on my list)
Get sugar out of my diet. (attempt to eat only natural foods)
Get my class done.
Get most of my CPA examination out of the way.
Get out more (by this I mean outdoor activities) I REALLY miss this.
Hoping to be able to cross everything off the above list on 12/31/2011. Anyone else care to share their resolutions??? I think getting them out here will help me stick to them because I will be held a little more accountable.
On a side note, I have been reading this blog for quite some time now. Now miss Kayla Aimee is a new mom to a micro preemie little angel named Scarlette. She is VERY good about putting updates on her blog. Please get on there and read their story and pray for them every single day. If you are anything like me, once you start reading about Scarlette you will wait anxiously for her daily update to see what the improvements are.
On a lighter note........ I went out and watered my tomatoes and peppers yesterday to discover these two red ditties! I promptly picked them! They are my first two cherry tomatoes ever grown by me.... they are from the plants Wayne gave me for my birthday!!!!!
So today a co-worker brought in some plums she had bought at a market. They were smaller then your normal plum, about the size of a large plum tomato. They were really no bigger then the size of a half dollar. I tell you the size because it will be of some importance later. I bit into it and ate the first side, but the other side was hard to get, as it was small so I bit it, but the pit shot out and went down my throat!!! (You now see why I went on about the size of the plum)
Being the worry wort I am, I immediately Googled it! To my sheer horror I see that there is cyanide in these pits! So I tried to get it out on my own (I will spare you the details) but couldn't, so I panicked and called the poison control center.
My discussion went like this:
Me: "Hello, I just swallowed a plum pit.... (silence) should I be worried?!?!?"
Poison Control Lady: "Well did you do that on purpose?"
Me: "NOOOOOO, implying why in the world would anyone do that on purpose in my tone." (Now I am a little perturbed because I just want to know if I need to be worried)
PCL: "Well, did you look this up on the Internet or something?"
Me: "YES!!!! Should I be worried?!?!?"
PCL: "No, I mean yes there is cyanide in the pits, but you would have to bite it open and chew on the pits..... and you would have to eat several of them. I am more worried it will get stuck in your throat, but you sound fine."
Me: "Ok, thanks."
I am somewhat relieved now, however I now realize what went in must come out! So now the 4th of July weekend should be filled with tons more fun then I was even planning for.
Only me! This kind of thing only happens to me.... well obviously others have had this occur, but still these weird things seem to happen to me! Graham was not amused in the least when I told him what I had done. Anyway, hope you all have a great 4th of July weekend, say a prayer for those serving, their families, and those who have served so we can celebrate our freedom!
So, our grass has gotten a little long. Mainly because my poor husband has been working early and staying late, and we had family out from CA so mowing the lawn has not been our priority. I tell you this boring tid bit as a preface to yet another spastastic episode in my life.
So, we let Rufus outside to play and he comes back in the house with a friend (maybe more, but I only know of 1) unbeknownst to us. He comes in lays on the couch, lays on my lap, lays all over the house cuz that is what dogs do. Ahhhh to be a dog.... anyway back to the story at hand. I get up from said couch and go back to bed. Before turning in I read my Bible, and just as I go to turn in and I am pulling up the blankets I feel and see something crawling on me. I say, "ohhhhh something is on me, see it sprinting down my arm and immediately flick it off." Which I think is a natural reaction, but Graham is not amused. See he has just turned in for the night as well and needs to get up uber early. He says, ummmm honey that could have been a tick off Rufus.
I immediately hop up and turn on the light to check out the area next to my bed for any ticks. I throw back the covers, check myself, nothing. I now am refusing to turn off the lights and crawl back into a possibly tick infested bed, Graham is again not amused. He just wants to go to sleep. He does not even want to check the bed or anything around him. He perplexes me. See, I think there is anything remotely like that anywhere near me and full on panic sets in. He is just calm, cool, collected, and just peacefully tucked in his blankets. (Man I wish I could be like that) He begs me to turn off the lights and go to bed, but I just can't do that without finding the perpetrator to see if it is in fact a tick or just a cute little lady bug. I cannot find anything and Graham really needs the light out. So.... I convince myself it was a lady bug and crawl back in bed and turn out the light.
Every 30 minutes or so I awake to the feeling of something crawling on my legs. I check to see if there is anything and nothing. So I go back to sleep, again I wake up to the same feeling so I check again.... nothing. Check one more time, go to turn the covers back over and low and behold, the same creature is back on the same arm crawling down it. I get ready to flick then pause..... I get a DO-OVER!!! So I brush it off my arm and onto the bed. I jump up, turn on my light, and check it out. IT IS A TICK!!!! Now I am totally disgusted. Disgusted isn't even the word. I got a chill, then a little convulsion throughout my body and I have this urge to just cling to myself and shriek, but..... I look at Graham. He is snoring and unaware I am freaking out and stuck up against my closet door. He needs to sleep so he can get up early. So I stealthily reach for a Kleenex and pick it up. I am gagging, but trying to silently do so for G's sake. I make a bolt, in the dark to the bathroom and plunge the Kleenex into the toilet.
But, I can't help but wonder, did I really get it? I mean, I didn't feel anything in the tissue. Another full on panic. Is it on me, in my hair, on the bed, or really in that tissue? So I get out the toilet brush and I am trying to unfold the tissue with it to verify the tick is really in there. A few terrifying seconds later..... THERE IT IS floating in the toilet. Not just floating, but swimming! I made sure to drown that sucker and then proceeded to wake Graham up anyway to prove to him that it was in fact a tick and I did have reason to be worried. I disguised that motive by telling him I just wanted him to check himself.... which I did, but I also wanted to prove I had a right to be eeked out earlier in the evening...... then I stop and think.... wait a minute I should have totally woke him up to pick up that nasty thing. Instead he got to quietly sleep through tick meltdown 2010!
Needless to day Graham is mowing the lawn, I am going to Lowe's to purchase stuff to put on said lawn, the dog has been washed and had his flea, tick, & mosquito treatment put on, I have checked every cushion on the couch, washed our sheets, and am currently looking for a steamer to go through the house with for precautionary measures!!! YEEEUCK!!!! I am also purchasing some sulfur, putting it in a sock, and dusting under my couch cushions (just a little) to keep those nasty things out of my couch in the future!!!
On a lighter note Matt went to Prom last weekend and I went with mom to take pictures. So here are a couple of my faves. He went with the Prom Queen and was also a nominee himself!!!! Shelby (his date) is just beautiful and I was happy to get to meet her. They all looked mighty fabulous!!!
For some time now I have been trying to make the buttercup bag. I finally finished it (after two tries and many seam rips later). Now that I know how to do it, I will probably be making many more. I have not sewn anything since 6th grade home economics, so this was a bit tricky for an extreme novice like me. But after many Google searches to find out what this or that meant, and trial and error I debut miss Julia's buttercup purse.
Yes, the last shot the bag is hanging from my ceiling fan. It is actually the first shot and I thought it would have better lighting. You cannot see it (a little in the first shot), but this bag has a lining with a magnetic snap and a pocket.
So a little over a year ago I had a blog friend die from cancer. I say blog friend because, while we knew each other in school, we did not know each other well. She was a grade older then I was so we did not hang out much. I had a locker next to her in junior high so we knew each other that way. Anyway I found her on myspace and on her page she had posted a link to her blog. It was a day to day account of her life with her wonderful husband, friends, & family. If you want to read her story here it is. She was incredible. In reading her blog posts I thought she was getting better and would make it. I was really pulling & praying for her. When she lost her battle it took me months to get over it. It just really hit home. It got me thinking about my life and all the things I want to do. I never really wrote any of it down, but this weekend I was listening to my ipod and some of the songs got me to thinking about it again..... so here is a written account of my bucket list (in no particular order):
See a real Broadway show, on Broadway.
Own a VW Convertible Bug - the old one NOT the new ones.
Go in a sharkcage and see a Great White in the wild.
I signed into Facebook yesterday and saw this video on my dad's page for his recent mission trip to Panama:
I sat there and cried like a baby.
The beginning Bible verse, Philippians 2:3-4 (I added verse 4):
"3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others," is just awesome.
After reading that and watching the video I just sat at my desk and cried. I cried for many reasons. One being that this is the heart of what my faith means to me. I have had conversations, and read many places, and heard many people on the radio; make fun of Christians for being people that are weak. They say we are weak because we are willing to just take it (turn the other cheek), we are weak because we are people pleasers willing to give anything to anyone; we are weak because we are "followers" instead of leaders.
I wept for those misguided individuals. To them I say, “Would a weak person be able to get over themselves and see that the true value of your possessions is being able to not let those possessions own you.” To be able to give your hard earned money away to help another person, to give up your comforts and go to another continent and work for free, and to do it in a hard time, as my father has, is not weak. It is a strength those misguided people will never know. It is a strength that can only come from being strong enough to surrender yourself to God and listen to His plan. One will never understand what that means fully until they have let themselves actually listen to God and not their own selfish motives.
Being able to turn the other cheek is not weakness either. It is something many people cannot do, therefore they cannot understand it. Being able to forgive is a true gift. Instead of spending your life harboring anger, you can truly let it go and live in peace, which is a bigger gift then winning the lottery if you ask me. Even though people wrong you, maybe they did not set out to do that one thing to you, but in their selfishness they harmed you.
For instance, I have been trying very hard to be the wife Graham deserves. I do not think I am a bad wife, but this year I feel I have been called to surrender my selfishness. I have been doing this in many ways. First, I have been praying. Second, despite calling myself a Christian for years I have never actually read the Bible from cover to cover... NEVER, so I am reading it this year using this Bible.
See, I struggled with what I believed and when I moved out of my parent’s house I just shelved it, putting school and daily life ahead of figuring out what I really believed. Graham has challenged me to figure that out. He has done that by asking questions I did not have answers to and sharing his opinion. In the discussions we would have I would do my best to explain Christianity, but always ended by challenging him to read the Bible for himself and determine what he thought. So he bought the 1 year Bible to read, which further challenged me, in a silent way, to actually read it...... so here I am, reading the Bible after 20 years of God in my life.
I had been feeling myself being very angry inside, so I had started praying that God would help take that away. I felt I had been being very snappy with Graham, and others, when it was not necessary. I mean, he would clean the house and put things away and I would get angry....... ummmmm hello ladies, would any of you get angry if your awesome husband helped clean?????? In praying that prayer I feel like that was the opening God needed for me to see that Bible that had been on the end table for a year, that I was conveniently overlooking.
I have been reading it and have seen so far that the Old Testament is not my favorite to read through, but I find it fascinating because of all the laws they had back then. I have also learned that for me, the key to stop being angry has been to follow God's directions right there on those pages. I have learned that I need to LISTEN to my husband. Not what he is saying verbally, but what he is means when he does things as well.
Now back to that turn the other cheek part of this. You'll remember above I was saying that maybe someone wronged you, but it was not intentionally done to you..... here is what I meant. Graham may have moved my pile of important documents somewhere else, but he was not doing that to me, he was trying to help me. Instead of viewing things people do as being done TO ME, but seeing it as a consequence of an action (positive or negative) is really helping my anger. When I am in traffic I do not assume the person who just cut me off was doing that to me, rather maybe he really had to get over and the consequence was cutting me off. It makes turning the other cheek a little easier. Does this make me a weak person or just an enlightened one?
If some one asks me for help and it is not a convenient time for me to do so, but I do it anyway does that make me a weak people pleaser, or just a good friend? If I say something that I see would have hurt my feelings, and try to smooth it over does that make me weak, or just some one who feels for others? I feel that you get what you give. We have had many instances where we had to rely on strangers to help us last year, and each time those people could have walked on by, but they did not. They had the strength to put themselves aside, stop and help a complete stranger. In the Bible Christians are called to help the lowest of the low when they are in need. I know I am not wording this right, but basically if some one asks for help give it as it is God asking you for help, because he is. He has put this person in front of you for a purpose and whether you can put your selfish desires behind you to help is your choice, but if you do what you receive is far greater then what you had before.
Like my dad, up and leaving for Panama to help others, when he is in a time of need at home as well. I bet it was not perfect timing for him, while in the middle of a job hunt himself, but he went. Now, I have not gotten to ask him about the trip yet, but I bet (after going on a few of these trips myself) that he feels he got more out of that trip then he gave. In my experience, you see that you do have a purpose other than 9-5, and that if you think you have it bad, you are blessed beyond compare. That purpose is to help others in their time of need because you are strong enough to give of yourself, not because you are a weak people pleaser. I only wish more people had these “weaknesses”. I feel these “weak” people are really the leaders, because they are willing to go against the selfish grain.
Dad, if you made it to the end of this long winded post I want you to know that despite the fact that I am 27 (for a few more weeks) and married you are still teaching & inspiring me. You have a HUGE purpose and I am glad to see that you have been able to get out and show that purpose to many others and myself. Thanks for the lesson and reminder.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Okay well as you know I have decided to run a marathon in October (Lord Willing). Well I am very, very, very, very out of shape. So today is day 1 of my eating overhaul. I am not calling this a diet. Why you ask, because I LOATHE diets. I do not do well when I am restricted from good food. So...... I am keeping a food journal in hopes of catching the "bad stuff" I eat and when I tend to eat those things so I can curb those with other good foods. I will allow myself times to give in, but will NOT let those times be calorie fests either. So far today I have eaten the following:
1 egg (substitute because I am allergic to eggs)
1 Activia Light & 1/4 cup Almonds
1 Chicken Breast, some pop chips ("healthy" chip), 1 apple.
For dinner I believe I will have ribs, green beans, and 2 Hawaiian rolls. Tonight's dinner will be a little calorie heavy, but I still think with portion control it is a healthy dinner.
I am also doing the couch to 5k program to get started before training starts for this marathon training. The couch to 5k program I am doing is located at these 2 sites, this one & this one. I like them both so I downloaded them both. These are hip hop and probably not great for all, but I like hip hop when I am working out it keeps me going. It is nice enough I might get outside and do my run outside instead of on the treadmill. We shall see.
This weekend was crazy. We had a ridiculous snow storm on Saturday. Needless to say G & I stayed hunkered down. I made chili and cornbread and just watched TV. It was a nice and relaxing day. Sunday we both had cabin fever so we went out to Chili's for dinner and stopped by Karen & Wayne's to discuss camping and such. Pretty boring I know, but I am hoping with the weather warming up G & I will have some adventures around the corner to write about.
I was watching t.v. the other night and there was this sign that came up. It said, "To not decide is to decide." So, right there I decided to decide yes or no, instead of just decide to decide........ and I have decided to go for it! I really need the exercise people. So last night I spoke with G about it and he agreed that he would ride his bike while I ran so he could watch out for any boogie men lurking in the bushes. I haven't been able to find a running partner so I am grateful he is willing to do this for me.
This week has been a crazy one. G was sick. VERY SICK. He came down with what I had a couple of weeks ago, and let me tell ya, you do not want any of that! So, needless to say he was down for the count and snoring (and coughing). We also had daylight savings time! YAY..... I know many people dislike it being light so late, and maybe I will once I have children, but for me it means I no longer have to wake up in the dark and go home in the dark. I can actually go outside and enjoy some playtime! I get excited about it..... all but the whole springing forward part. I tell you all of this because I am not so happy when I have a lack of sleep. So this week has been particularly hard with G up, which means I am also up, and the getting up an hour earlier! This has had me hitting the caffeine a lot more then I would like, but what can you do?
We (The Shertz fam and I) went to see the Jimmi Hendrix tribute tour on Tuesday evening. It was pretty awesome. Brandy has the pictures from that. I will share, after I ask her for a copy of them.
We celebrated 8 years of togetherness the following day (St. Patty's Day is our dating anniversary)! Yes we still celebrate the dating anniversary, because we were together for so long before getting married so it is still a milestone for us. We both took the day off and celebrated in our PJ's because Graham was still in bed sick. We did get Chilis and eat it at home on the couch. That was a treat, as we have been trying to not eat out.
We are now all preparing for when Missy, Julia, & Tyler come out. I am giddy with excitement even though it is still a couple weeks out. We will be going camping, celebrating Easter, Mr. Tyler's bday, Karen & Wayne's anniversary, and Andrew's bday while they are out here! We are all praying it stays warm and dry for our camping trip so any additional prayers sent up would be greatly appreciated.
Well, that is all for today. Since we spent Tuesday at a tribute to Jimmi Hendrix I will sign off with a quote from him that goes with a lot of the Proverbs I have been reading in my Bible, "Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens." Hopefully one day I will be wise.
Okay, for a long time I have talked about running a 5k, half marathon, or marathon. The goal is to run one marathon in my life. My friend Amber ran a marathon recently for this excellent cause. I checked on their site and they happen to have an event here in KC in October! This would give me some time to train. I would really like to do this. I have no excuse now, I am finally done with school so I should be able to find the time. So, I think I am going to go for it. What I would like is to find a training partner who wants to give this a whirl with me. This team sets you up with a trainer and running coaches. I cannot think of a better way to try to get this chunky booty in shape. So, anyone out there in KC land want to help out an excellent cause and get into good shape? I will even take some one in Indiana. You could sign up there, or I can send you the training logs we get and you could train there and we can support each other (cough Viki cough).
I still would like a training partner to do this with out here as well. I think it would be easier to stick to it with some one hanging in with me by my side. I have not ran in a few years (never ran this far EVER) so do not be affraid you are in worse shape then me, in fact, you are probably in better shape then I am at this point ha ha ha. Send me an email, call me, or contact me on FB. I would like to get started A.S.A.P. so let me know. L.A., this would be good for the wedding dress...... just saying!!!!! I think you, B, and I should rock this out! Maybe we can drag G into this as well!!! Get a team going?!?!
Graham's Saturn has served us well through the years but with 161,000 miles on it (and leaking every fluid imaginable, as well as the engine light being on for a year or so) we decided it was time to retire her. So, Graham being a researcher, was on Carmax's website for a few days and then on consumer reports cross referencing cars. We stumbled upon this baby and loved it.
We knew this was coming (having to buy a new car) so we had been saving a while. We went to Carmax and test drove it and loved it. Len was our salesperson and he was the sweetest "salesman" I have ever dealt with. The car only had a little over 15,000 miles and still has new car smell! It has 4 wheel drive, a sunroof (a neccessity if you ask me) enough room for kiddos (SOMEDAY) and lots of fun little features. The price was right and Carmax offers a sweet maintenance package. Their finance department was also wonderful. We got a great rate, but wanted a better payment so the finance guy told us to check out our bank's online site and apply for a car loan directly through them. You have 3 days with Carmax to do this interest free and they will let you bring in your loan and exchange it for your first loan. We ended up saving a little over $80.00 a month on our payment! We now pay less for this car then my little Hyundai Accent! We couldn't believe it. So if you are in the market for a slightly used car go to the folks at Carmax. I have never had such a great experience. They assign a salesman to you, let you walk their lot without being hassled, and the salesman finds you when he is done with his previous client! LOVED THAT! If you are in the KC area PLEASE go in and request LEN at the Merriam store. He is fantastic. Needless to say we are feeling pretty blessed driving around in our new car.
On a different note, I cannot find the spell check on blogger anymore. If anyone reading this knows where it is please enlighten me. I hate posting stuff with spelling errors, but sometimes do not catch everything.
So, around 1:30 this morning I am woken from a deep sleep by Graham. It is pitch black in our room, yet I can see the whites of his eyes. He asks, while punching me in the leg, "HEATHER WHAT IS THAT?" I listen for a minute and hear a very load banging noise! Now, those of you that know me know I watch ALL of those Forensic Files shows, and any crime scene or crime shows. So, my immediate thought, "GRRRREAT, just great, some one is breaking in our house."
So I quickly spring into action. See, because I watch said crime show(s), I have a knife in my bedside nightstand. I have this knife, despite constant teasing from my husband, for reasons such as these. I might not make it, but neither will the guy trying to hurt me, or at least he/she will have a mark left on them.
So, I flick open my nightstand and whip out my knife, thank you Karen. I flick the blade open with lightening speed. I am secretly proud with the speed I have opened this thing, and not cut myself in the process. I then hand it off to Graham, who reluctantly climes out of bed.
He thrusts open the bedroom door, for the element of surprise over the would be caper/murderer. He then proceeds down the hall, and for some reason I follow with one of my dress shoes. I guess I thought Graham could stab him/her and I could club them with my shoe. I honestly cannot believe I got out of bed, but I had to back up my husband. I mean, I was wishing for a bat, or that gun I have been requesting, but the shoe would do....... right?
We check every door, and they are all locked. No one is outside. We check the garage, because maybe some one was trying to break in there...... nothing. I have opened every room door with great speed, in case there was some one in there..... nothing. The whole time we are looking around my mind goes straight to that horror movie where the couple goes to the cabin for the weekend and those people mess with them by knocking on the door, and then later come back and stab them. I know I know can you say paranoid?
Shaking, I go back to the bedroom. Graham decides he must know what that was..... so he does a little more investigating. It only takes him seconds after walking into the office to figure out what/who it was........ it was my graduation balloon. It had drifted over to the ceiling fan and the blades were hitting the balloon and making a noise that sounded like some one banging against the front door or thrashing around in a closet! Anticlimactic????? I think so, but I will take it.
Ok. So I took a "brief" hiatus on this blog. I was finishing up school. The last half of 2009 was crazy. It started off with my last semester of school beginning. Then a few weeks after school started, we went to Indiana for a visit with the fam (Someday there will be pictures of this I promise). Then we went to Vegas to celebrate Dustin's birthday. (I will also be posting these pics hopefully tonight, but cannot post them here because Dustin is still waiting on them)
Then it was crazy get caught up for school time (for like 4 months cuz once you are behind you are behind for good). Then before we knew it, it was graduation for me and the holidays. I am going to get back at this so everyone can see what we do out here in KC, and so you all can keep me accountable for this crazy list below.
New Years Resolutions: 1. Learn Photography 2. Learn Spanish 3. Learn Photoshop 4. Work on our house. 5. Learn to play the guitar. 6. Learn to sew. 7. Plant a raised bed garden and eat the fruit of our labor! 8. Relax and enjoy life (looks like an impossible task looking at my list of things I want to do!!) 9. Run a 5k. (for awesome couch to 5k, with hip hop and 80's songs go here and here.) 10. Get good enough at tennis to cream my husband. 11. Finally lose some weight. (put it last because that is where is should be)
I have 2.5 more weeks of summer vacation left until the semester from hell begins. I have thought about all the stuff I want to do now and all the stuff I should do in the future. I have decided from now on I will do the following:
I WILL take my camera with me EVERYWHERE.... there are so many awesome things to take pictures of and I keep missing them all.
I WILL work out. I was doing well until a visit from some family and got side tracked. I also got off the eating healthy habit I had formed.
I WILL eat healthier. I am sick of feeling sick and fat. I am not obsessed with my weight, but I do not wish to be uncomfortable anymore.
I WILL sew that cute purse pattern I found on the internet. LOVE it. Well.... I will sew it correctly this time.... I sewed it wrong side together instead of right side together.... still cute, but not correct.
I WILL call Missy, Julia, & Tyler once a week to say hello. Man do I miss them.
I WILL get G to pick out paint for our hallway and living room.
I WILL use said paint to paint the hallway and living room, and then paint our bedroom the color our hallway is now.
I WILL get through this last semester with Grace and Dignity and with A's. (I have only gotten 2 grades that weren't A's since I started trying for my degree.)
With all those on the list I should probably get started now. It will be funny to look back at this post and see if I held to ANY of these. If any of you know me well, you know I WILL do a lot of things, but fail to recognize that I have overloaded myself into failure.
Yesterday was a great day. I got a lot of stuff done at work, which is good because my boss is off for the next couple days so I can get REALLY caught up for when he returns. I hung out with some friends, and came home and did ear candles. I LOVE those things. You light the ends on fire, stick them in your ears, and bam nastiness is sucked right out. My favorite part is cutting them open and looking at all the nasty that came out. While I was using my ear candles my dad called. Let me back up a little bit. My little brother Chase got in a little trouble with the law last year and got put on probation. I believe he would have been done with said probation at the beginning of October. Well on July 2nd, he violated his probation. So, yesterday he had a hearing to learn his fate. He went in without a lawyer and told the judge he knew he deserved to be punished and did not wish to have a lawyer. They gave him his full punishment of a year in jail. My little brother is spending a year in jail! The thought of that makes me cry. Everytime a sit down to watch tv, eat anything, or enjoy anything all I can think is, Chase doesn't get to do any of this where he is. I am hoping it will teach him a lesson, so he will not continue in the path he was on, but I can't help but be affraid for him as well. Some times when people go to prison they do not come out better, they learn from the others how to be worse. I hope me posting this doesn't offend anyone in my family, but I had to put it out there so I can request prayer for him. Prayer that he learns what he needs to learn, and that he can get out and enjoy the life he has with his son. Really enjoy it, and not just waste it away doing petty stuff. They DEA and judge were very impressed with how my brother owned up to what he did. The DEA told him if he takes their recommended class and sends him a letter, he would consider letting him out earlier and putting him back on probation. Also, if he is good he could get out of jail in 6 months and be out on January 2nd, 2009. I am hoping he takes the course and gets out of there. I am currently waiting to get the mailing address, so I can write him, but when I do I will write him everyday and send them once a week so he can open them everyday and read them. With that said, also pray for my parents. They tried so hard to keep him from going to jail, and my mom is pretty upset about it. My dad sounded pretty upset yesterday to. No parent ever wants to let their child go into the justice system. It is like they get sucked in for life at that point. Since he got in trouble, the police have hasseled and hasseled him. My parents are struggling to pay their bills, and he has an OLD car. You know, one of those cars that the seatbelt pulls across the top of the car to you and almost chokes you. Well that broke, so he can't get the top part of the seatbelt on. His tail light went out, and he couldn't afford to buy a new one, because he had to choose between that and tires so he could go to work. Well the police, knowing he was on probation, waited in his work parking lot for him to get off, so he would start his car and not be wearing a seatbelt and his tail light would not be working. This is a violation of probation. How in the world do the police think he can afford to pay that ticket and then go fix the problems they are ticketing him for. I understand it is breaking the law, but they ticketed him at least twice for the seat belt, knowing full well it was not operating properly. It just seems like they had nothing better to do. So they decided my brother was a criminal and they were going to treat him like dirt. I know it is not right, but I would like to see those policemen lose their jobs, their wives lose their jobs, and then have to figure out how to fix a car on a waitress salary (who by the way busts her butt, but because of the economy people tip less now then ever before and makes $2.65 an hour.) I am in no way justifying what Chase did, but I am frustrated. I am frustrated, because I know now how the justice system works. You mess up, they keep kicking you, you end up worse then you were when you started. You can't reform because they make it rather difficult to do so. Of course our prisons are over crowded. No one gets freed from the grips of the police once they are in the system. No with out significant changes, and possibly moving from your small IN town, with small town cops at the helm. I know if you do something wrong you should pay for that, but sitting in a parking lot and harassing some one is against the law for most people. Shouldn't law enforcement have the same consequenes? Chase's initial arrest was upsetting, but even when the cop pulled him over he owned up to the issue. The cop never read him is miranda rights, and initally pulled him over for speeding. I do not remember what else my mom told me the police officer did incorrectly, but even with that Chase still told the officer everything he asked and cooperated fully. The following week, they pulled him over for his seatbelt and his tail light and then wanted to search his vehicle, with absolutely no probable cause. This to me is also harrassment. They even pulled him over in my parents driveway and wanted to search his vehicle. That reaks of harrassment. Each time there was no probable cause and each time they came up with nothing. It was like they were gunning for him, so they could see him in jail. How about this, how about they start arresting the guys who drive drunk, beat their wives, sell drugs, neglect their children, and molest little kids. No, they would rather harrass some one with less then a joint of marijuana and a pipe. Yes haivng any marijuana is wrong, and I am not condoning that in the least, but to harrass them after they have already admitted guilt and cooperated (which is less then most people do) is a bit much. I am a little upset. No one told me of the violation, so I did not get to say an I love you to my bro over the phone before he was sentenced to a year away from all of us. I am REALLY close to him so this really hurts. I talk to him about 1 a week. Sometimes a little less because we play phone tag, but usually 1 a week. I know no one did that malicously, but I wish I could have told him I loved him, I was proud for his ownership of what he did wrong, and to keep his head up. I will stop my rant now. Yes violating the law should be punished. No to harrassment after the guilty party has been charged and admitted guilt and is performing his sentence. For those of you that already know, I myself had a problem with an IN cop. He pulled me over for speeding, on a Tuesday, in a silver car, and said I was a male. I was driving on a Thursday, my car was tan, and I AM NOT A MAN. To this I ask, "What was this cop on while 'policing' the streets?" The judge still wouldn't throw it out. I guess IN is still hurting for money 8 years later.
Hey all! I have fallen behind. We had a week of absolute fun with Missy, Julia, and Tyler. I should have been smart and taken the day off today to recoup like Mamma Karen did. I still have to post our pictures from the 4th. The reason I am waiting is because I took pictures with our camera and Wayne's, so I am waiting for all the pictures so I can make one post, but I may just have to post my "creative" shots and then post the other pics later. Brandy was out photographer for the kids' trip. She documented EVERYTHING and did a fantastic job. She even made each kid a "What I did on my Summer Vacation Book." They are AWESOME!!! There are pictures, captions included, of everything they did. I am getting our pics from her and will do a series of posts, as we did A LOT of stuff last week. Everyone say some prayers for my Mom as she is receiving treatments for Lyme in Nevada, and is there for 5 more weeks. Man do we miss her. My dad, brothers, and sis-in-law are in IN visiting with the family and Grandpa Rich. Grandpa's cancer came back with, so they are visiting him while he is well enough to enjoy the company. Graham and I are planning a trip at the end of summer. Well, I had promised my mom a post a day so she would have something to read while she is out of town. I seriously fell behind last week, but plan on catching her up this week. LOVE YOU MOM and cannot wait for you to get home!!!! 974
I posted a while ago about how I was going to start doing Weight Watchers. Well I started, quit, started, quit and then decided to start again. I am eating low carb, but mainly watching portions, eating lots of veggies, and the low carb part is to stop myself from eating that crappy foods like processed yuck!!! I am happy to report I decided this morning would be the day I would try on my jeans (I haven't been able to wear them since the holidays of 08). Today I pulled them on, zipped them, AND could breathe. I am currently wearing them as you read!!!! I cannot tell you how wonderful that is. I have been running and doing a turbo jam dvd my mom let me borrow. I run one day and do turbo jam the other day. I also allow myself a cheat day were I do the 20 minute cardio workout on the Turbo Jam dvd. By the way if you haven't tried Turbo Jam do. IT IS INCREDIBLE. You see the difference in two of the weightlifting sessions. It is hard, but it is AWESOME. It isn't so hard you cannot stick with it, but she encourages you to challenge yourself and keep going. I am not sore after doing it like I think I will be because you feel the burn while doing the workout for sure. I have pretty much had those fake eggs (egg beaters, but the cheap version) with sour cream on them for breakfast. For my snack I have been having a lowfat cheese stick. For lunch I have chicken salad or tuna salad (chicken breasts from a can, I purchase at Sam's on the cheap, red onion and tons of celery, sometimes green pepper as well, and REAL MAYO. 1 can and all the added veggies and it lasts me all week.) I throw that all in a 3 net carb tortilla and YUMMY SUMMER LUNCH. I also have those sugar free mint patties from Russell Stover. I eat one of those after lunch as a lil treat. For my pm snack I will have either a cheese stick, or lately I have had jalapeno/jack cream cheese on the low card tortilla, or whole cucumer with some fresh salsa on it, or celery with cream cheese. For dinner I have had BLT's with one piece of bread, stuffed peppers, steak and broccoli, chicken and veggies, and SALAD!!!! If I am still hungry at night I eat more cucumbers or celery or peppers. I am going to start adding in my almonds again for snacks and cutting back on the cheese. I do not want to get a cholesterol problem, but I was trying to follow induction on Atkins as much as possible (without making it unhealthy). Anyway, this has turned into quite the long post so I am going to get back to work now, but I felt I HAD to share some of my success!!!!
I just wanted to say congrats to Brad & Alyssa. Their wedding was beautiful. I will be posting more pics as soon as I get through them all and fine tune some of them. It was great getting to see all the family. Aunt Debbie and Uncle Jerry came to see us on Saturday. They got the "grand tour" of our tiny house and we got to sit and chat. That was wonderful. I wish we lived closer and got to see everyone more often, but I LOVE when we get times like this to spend together. Graham and I are getting excited about the upcoming visit of Missy and the kiddos! We are taking a couple of MUCH NEEDED days off of work to play with everyone. We are going to go to Schlitterbaun and get a tan and play in all the new slides and I am sure the other day will be spent at World's of Fun. Can't wait to see you guys. Other than that, I am taking two summer classes and we are finishing up details on the house so we can get it on the market after graduation in December.
We went camping for my birthday at Wallace State Park in Cameron, MO. This is our usual campground and spot. We have gone there several times for some rest and relaxation. We always have HUGE fires and lots of great food. This time Wayne made a birthday candle for me by drawing on the log with non-toxic puff paint. Then Karen put her leftover wax from our favorite candles on the top. Then we lit the thing on fire. It was quite a site. Especially since we also through citronella on it. We were in a competition with our neighbors to see who could have the largest fire, we won. It was a great trip and I cannot wait to go again in the fall when the leaves are changing and it is not so hot.
This weekend will be full of all kinds of get togethers. We are going over to my sis and bro in-law's house to watch UFC Saturday night. Since they have kindly opened up their home, and I do not have to clean to have everyone over at our place, I find it only fair that I make this:
Now that I have posted this, let's see if any of you are reading this blog ha haha. If you do not see this on Saturday evening it means I slept in..... Graham has accused me of trying to tip the scales in my favor, as one of his favorite things is peanut butter cups tee hee. Really all I was trying to do was find a sinfully awesome desert to thank Brandy and Andrew for their hospitality and the burgers and wedges they are making. If anyone wants the receipe leave a comment and I will get it to you or feel free to email me. Mom, if you are reading this I can make two. It isn't to late to put in an order for your birthday cake!!!!
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