Long time no see

Look who just moved in with me last night! They were really squished where they were and we have plenty of room here. I know Brittany will miss her family, but she is looking forward to being able to spread out. We moved Marks office into the master bedroom to make room for them. I have missed baby Mark so much! Actually I haven't even seen him in a month. He sure has grown up a lot. Last night he didn't even remember me, but this morning he is in a better mood and we are having a great time together while Brek and Brittany set up beds and stuff. We set up new ground rules this time so living together won't so stressful. I think they will like the new ward out here since it's FULL of young families just like theirs. I'm OLD in this ward...seriously! That will take some getting use to. My next blog post will be my scrapbook room photos. :o)

Happy mail

Do you know how happy I was this morning to discover that happy mail does indeed come clear out to the little town of Maricopa. I got a little teary eyed to find 3 packages sitting on my front porch. All 3 were sent to me for different reasons. Heather made me this adorable Americana altered paint can just because she knew I've been going through a lot and could use some cheering up. I love it and will display it proudly.Then I opened the box from Missy. She sent me a motorcycle chick Jolee's that I have never seen before, a cute little calendar, and some chocolate just to celebrate spring. How sweet is that?!

Then I opened a box from Amy. Inside was thin mint cookies (which I have already started eating...I couldn't help myself), and a beautifully wrapped package you would have thought a professional had wrapped. I of course had to take a picture before I tore into it. To my surprise she sent me that amazing chipboard pack she had talked about on her blog (that I did not win), a making memories letter "J" to alter, all nestled around my most favorite candy cane kisses! This package was for my birthday. All 3 of these sweet girls gave me cards with thoughtful messages inside. Now who could possibly have a bad day after all that? Not me! My day is going to be great. Getting ready to clean the kitchen with a smile on my face. Tonight I'm feeding dinner to our good friend Nick and his 3 boys, then I'm taking pictures of all of them with their dog so they can have some pictures before all his boys are off to college and missions. Wish me luck!

Thank you so much sweet friends. Happy mail really does make you happy. Love you girls!

I really do plan to catch up with everyone. My site meter count has dropped since I've been so busy and I totally understand why. I know I've been a bad blogging buddy and promise to do better once I have essential things done to make everyday living around here a little easier. There is still so much to unpack. I will be posting pictures of my scraproom as soon as Mark mounts my TV on the wall. I really love this room.

mess, pinewood derby and rain

Sneak peak of my mess of boxes. I've unpacked about 16 of the 41 in my scrapbook room. I got the walls in here finished. It's really hard to see the color in this picture because it's night time. If you look closely through the boxes you can see the little bookcase. I built that all by myself and it had parts I have never seen before. I had a couple little parts left over and I know that's not a good thing, but it seems to be holding together pretty well so I feel good about it. I put 4 baskets in it and I plan to organize my wood mount stamps into those....like holidays, alphabets, words, flowers etc. I just hope they all fit. I'm hoping I will be able to use them more this way since it should be able to find the ones I want to use a little easier. I've got my big bookcases almost completely loaded up. It's looking good so far.
Cole had his pinewood derby Tuesday night at our old ward. We wanted him to participate there since it's his last one. Mark's brother Spencer helped him make it this year since I was out of town and couldn't do it. I so appreciate all his help. Cole won 3rd place out of 18. He was so excited to get a plaque. I know he's not wearing his scout uniform. It's in a box...somewhere.This is the one me and him made last year and won 4th place with. It was a "Go Army bobsled" We still has Spencer's help getting the wheels just right with it. He's just really good at that.
While I was painting my scrapbook room yesterday we got a pretty good rain storm. I love it when it rains...as long as I don't have to drive in it. This is from my porch. Mark calls our neighborhood the "sea of sameness" because everything looks the same here. He is not adjusted to living in a track home neighborhood yet.The houses are really close together too. I'm pretty sure that if I was the kind of girl who spit I could open my window and hit the house next door....good thing I don't do those sorts of things.

Well I better get...have to unpack more of the kitchen. I'm making food for 50ish people on Sunday for our friends son who just got home from his church mission and there are important cooking things I need still in boxes in the garage. Saturday will be spent making food, then going to the old ward on Sunday for his homecoming, then to their house for the luncheon, then back to Maricopa by 3:00 so that we can go to our new ward. I don't think I've ever been in a ward that started that late....feels weird! I sure hope it's a nice one.

North Carolina---Chad

Sandy at the Fayetteville airport on the night we arrived.Outside our hotel...so pretty! There are trees everywhere! Can you see the pretty white boxwood trees on the left? Love them! Sandy applying lipstick in Dillard's to kiss Chad with.Chad did not want lips on his face. He fought a good fight, but lost.

At my birthday dinner at Olive garden.

Sandy sister Brittany, her mom and Sandy

Birthday cake complete with the embarrassing song. Brittany has a tradition of putting cake in Sandy's face....so sad!

At Joe's Crab shack. Cute shirt and even has Chad's name on it. I don't eat seafood, but everyone else loved it.

Sandy showing off her new coach purse that Chad bought her as we were walking to the mall. She loves it! Cute purse, but I won't spend more than $35 bucks for one. That money could better be used on scrapbook supplies. :o)

Our last dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Sandy's family went home so Chad's friend Billy ate with us. I love to eat here...so good! Chad snapped a picture of us on our last night while we were in the lobby arranging for a 3:30 wake up call (which we did NOT get) We woke up at 4:07 and the cab driver was waiting. Brushed my teeth and got dressed speedy quick, threw everything in my luggage, then we were off to the airport. Had to say goodbye to my sweet boy again. I hated that part. I miss him so much. He should be deploying to Afghanistan on March 25th. (his birthday) After 2 1/2 hours of sleep and a long flight home I had to register the boys for school and go to town to buy uniforms all while having a huge migraine. Why do schools make you fill out thick packets of paperwork? I could barely stand to read them. Things have been so busy these past few days since I got home. I found out my Aunt Dion passed away on my birthday. So sad! She will be dearly missed by all of her family and friends.

Unpacking continues...I did unpack most of the pantry. Boy do I love that room! I'm halfway done painting my scrapbook room a real pretty green called song of summer. I have to cut in the trim today. I'll share pictures as soon as I get it put together. Between the moving, painting and the traveling, my body is sure feeling the pain. I can't wait until this house comes together the way I want it so that it feels like home. By the way...someone put in an offer on my old house yesterday. :o)

Happy Birthday to me!

Coming to you from a cold and rainy Fayetteville North Carolina. Sure is pretty and green here. There are the most amazing trees here that are totally full of white blossoms. I love them! Today is my 39th birthday for the first and only time. Next year I will take on the 40's with a smile on my face. Being with Chad is the best present a mom can ask for....although he isn't my only present. We all went shopping at the mall and he bought me and Sandy some cute clothes. We had dinner at Olive Garden and they sang happy birthday to me with cake and everything. Sandy's mom and sister drove over from Tennessee so it's been the 5 of us tooling around town. This morning Sandy flat ironed my hair and she did a great job. I can never get it as flat and smooth at she did. I took pictures today, but since I'm using the hotels computer I have no way to share them until I get back home. We got all moved in except for the horrid garage, but since I'm here I don't have to deal with that mess. I unpacked as much of the kitchen as I could so Mark could feed the boys, then I flew here at 1:35 on Wednesday and didn't get here until almost 11:00 that night. The cable company came out and hooked up the Internet, but I don't know how to hook up the computer, so I'm hoping my computer dude is going to my house while I'm gone. I don't know what we are doing for the rest of our time here, but I just plan to enjoy what time I have with my sweet boy. I will have his mailing address in Afghanistan soon and will share that when I do. Also...for those of you that want or need my new home address, email me and I will send it when I get back home.
Heading back up to my hotel room to get some sleep. My body has not adjusted to the 3 hour time change.

21st wedding anniversary

Today Mark and I celebrate 21 years of marriage. I wanted to share a picture from when we were first married, but all my pictures are at the new house. I wanted to show you what babies we were all those years ago. This one is from Brek and Brittany's wedding last year. It's not the best, but it's us. I would love to write a gushing story of our history and the love we have for each other, but I'm so tired. Just know that I do love and appreciate him. We don't have time to really celebrate, so we went to the bean dinner at the church. It was fun to see all of our friends that we adore.
The packing and moving is still in progress. We continue to pack during the day and take a load over every night. My dad is right....we do have too much stuff. It's never ending. So far we've moved the living room, family room, formal dining room, most of my scraproom (everything but my computer desk, computer and printers), most of the little boys room and some of the kitchen and some of the laundry room. I'm ashamed to admit that I packed a whopping 40 boxes from my scrapbook room alone and still had to carry a bunch out by hand. There is so much still to pack and move in this house and it seems to multiply over night. I don't know how that happens, but it does. Saturday is coming soon...I'm not ready!!!
I caught the end of American Idol tonight...what a bunch of crap! Sheesh! Their voting system is retarded....sorry! They need to vote for the WORST singer. That would be a more true vote.

Still alive

Blog posts without pictures are so boring to me, but I just don't have time to upload photos. I thought I better give an update since it's been several days. For the past 3 nights we have taken loads to the new house. Usually I pack stuff up during the day, then Mark and the boys load the suburban, truck and both trailers at night. It takes several hours to load them up. I've never driven with a trailer before and I think I've been doing pretty good since I haven't hit anything yet. :o) We've been so busy that we haven't had time to cook or eat dinner so the ladies from church are going to bring us dinners several nights this week. That in itself will be a huge blessing. I'm feeling much better now....tired from all the work, but overall doing really well under the circumstances.

Once I'm done with this move and seeing Chad I will be a better blogging buddy. I hope you're all doing well and I can't wait to catch up with all of you. (((HUGS)))

Happy Birthday to my sweet Cody boy who turned 14 on Saturday. We took him to eat and he opened presents.,.but no time for a party. He still loves us and he had a good day. Love you Cody!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful sister Julie who just turned 40 today. Love you girl!

Whiner update

• First off, I'm not looking for sympathy... honest! I just need to vent and update. My pity party is a party for one.
• Still having tummy troubles.
• Was awake from 2 a.m-5 a.m with tooth pain.
• Called endodontist this morning-$945.00...I just really don't think so!!! If I had that kind of money sitting around, I'd have AC in my suburban by now.
• Can't have it pulled because it's not the last tooth and I need it to chew...however I haven't been able to chew much for several days now.
• DId you know that throwing up can make you throw your back out?...it totally can!..can't go to the chiropractor till I can be away from a potty for longer amounts of time.
• A kind dentist in my ward called me in a prescription for penicillin tonight and plans to help me with my tooth on Monday. Not sure what exactly that means, but I'm beyond grateful.
• My good friend Paula brought me yummy treats, a sweet and much needed message and took me to get the meds.
• Been thinking about my time with Chad coming up and how hard it will be to say good-bye to him before he leaves for Afghanistan. My heart hurts just to think about it.
• My parents and my sister Julie came over today to help pack. They all say I have way too much stuff. My dad said he started writing on the boxes "more crap from the living room" 18 boxes just from the bookcase in my scrapbook room. We have not even made a dent, but we're working hard. The house looks so strange.
• I've never had a move be so painful. I feel such a great sense of loss.
• My emotions through all of this are a huge mess. It's honestly been the hardest time of my whole life. SO surprised I don't have a ulcer.
• On the plus side...I just may lose weight between it hurting to eat and going to the potty all the time.
• Good things will come from this...I have to believe that. If I didn't I think I would have lost my marbles long ago. Gotta have faith...and lots of it!