2012 in Review

I've been thinking about this past year a lot lately.

The year started out pretty good. I set a couple of goals for the year- give up pop and get into shape. I didn't call them resolutions because I believe resolutions are meant to be broken! Giving up pop was tough but after a couple of weeks it wasn't bad. I had a set back with pop in September but I will get to that later. I didn't start getting back into shape until February. I didn't really have a workout plan until one cold Sunday in February. I caved to an infomercial. Bob said if I would stick with it he would buy me a new wardrobe. Challenge accepted!!! So my quest of working out began. I worked out before and after work. I was feeling good and was seeing changes in body immediately. I became bored with my workout in June so I decided that Bob should start working out too. I talked him into it and we did some research and found a program we though would fit us. We were doing pretty good until a few weeks into our workout...

...We had a really rough week starting with losing our electricity for an entire evening in the heat of the summer and not getting it back until 2am the next morning. A couple of days after that my car broke down. After we made it through that bad week we were faced with another bad week that changed the remainder of our summer. In one day Bob's grandfather was admitted to the hospital for complications with a pacemaker and one of my grandfather's was admitted to the hospital for a UTI. What were the odds of that happening?!?!?!?! By the end of that week my other grandfather checked into the hospital for prostate surgery. Three grandfathers in the hospital all in one week. Crazy!

Both of our grandfather's were released from the hospital around the same time and placed into assisted living homes. My other grandfather had a successful surgery and temporarily moved in with my parents. We tried to make our rounds visiting as much as we could. We also tried working out when we had the chance.

In September we took a trip out to visit Bob's folks and had a great relaxing weekend until we got home. I received a text from my mom saying that my grandpa Julius was in the hospital again with complications from the UTI. I made it a point to go see him over my lunch hour on Monday. When I got to the hospital he was sleeping and I didn't want to startle him. I later found out that he was quarantined due to a really bad infection. I enjoyed a pop that day as I left the hospital. That evening he took a turn for the worse and was placed in the CCU. Once again, I went to see him over my lunch hour. It was just me and grandpa. We didn't talk as he had tubes but he knew I was there and he was alert when I told him I loved him as I left. By Wednesday the family was told there was really nothing more that could be done. Grandpa Julius passed away 9/13/12. His death was somewhat unexpected but I am thankful that we had time to spend with him before his passing. Most of all I am grateful I had the chance to tell him I loved him.

By this time workouts were non-existent and I've had a few pops since then.

I have learned that life is too short to not say I love you to the ones who mean the most. We take our loved ones for granted too often to realize. I am trying my hardest to keep more in touch with my grandma. I try to tell my immediate family I love them more often. What you have today you may not have tomorrow.

With the year winding down to an end I think I will continue my no pop goal, working out and adding more 'I love yous' to those who mean the most.













BTW.... I didn't get a new wardrobe at once from Bob... it came here and there... and yes he had a say in what he bought! :)

Long time....

So, I've neglected my blog for well over a year now. A lot has changed since I was last on here. I started a new job, became a Pampered Chef consultant, paint the interior of my house, decorated the interior of my house, remodeled my kitchen, lost a dear grandfather in September, planted a garden, cut down numerous trees on our property, adopted a bloodhound, learned how to can food and decided to no longer be a Pampered Chef consultant.

I would like to start blogging again and this time on a regular basis. We shall see how this goes...

The last few months I have learned a lot about family. No matter what, we are stuck with them. I have learned that you can never say enough 'I love you' to those that you love. Family will always be there for you even in your darkest hours. Family will have your back when no one else does. Family is there to take care of you. Family will be your stronghold when you are weak. Family is there to laugh with you (and some times at you hahaha). God blessed us with our families and we shouldn't take them for granted.

On that note I am trying to decide what to do and what to make for Thanksgiving. Any ideas????

It's been a few days!

Sad to say, the weekend is pretty much over. :(

I've been dealing with some frustrations lately. I don't really want to express them on here though. I'm to the point where I'm about to break and may hurt some feelings along the way. I'm noramally a passive person that takes a lot before I get upset. Right now I am beyond upset. Luckily, Bob does a wonderful job of letting me vent. I won't go any further because, like I said, I may hurt some feelings along the way.

In other news, I am looking at taking a new leap of faith in my life. I will know Friday whether or not I'm ready to take on this new adventure! I will obviously be in prayer but this may already be an answer to earlier prayers!

We did not plant our garden this weekend. It rained enough on Friday to where we were unable to roto-till the garden. Hopefully this week brings better weather to work on the garden!

I hope everybody has a good week ahead of them and.... until next time........

geekin out!

To the most of you, this will seem pretty insignificant. To me, this is MAJOR!

We are on well water and it has it advantages- mainly the lack of water bill. Unfortunately in our case, there are way more disadvantages. We cannot drink water from our tap. We have high levels of minerals that leave a horrible taste to the water. Never fear, we have a reverse osmosis system that does a decent job of filtering the water. Our water also has a horrible smell to it. Our house smells close to a rotten egg after showers and a sink load of dishes. The smell doesn't last long, but it stinks!

Anyway, back to what I have to say....

Because of our terrible water the inside of the dishwasher became discolored. I tried a few ideas to clean it up but nothing seemed to work so I gave up. A couple of weeks ago we were out and about and I ran across this dishwasher cleaner. I thought 'what the heck! it's only 5 bucks.' If it didn't work I wasn't out much. I finally had the chance to use it yesterday. Much to my surprise, IT WORKED!!! I never thought I would see the true color of our dishwasher. Not that it mattered- it's just a dishwasher. But what we had before compared to what we have now.... it's like we have a new dishwasher! If I would have known just how good it would work I would have taken before and after pics!

I am so impressed I had to share with everybody.

There. Now I feel better. I've been able to share this exciting event in my life with others rather than with my husband and my dad.

I hope everybody is having a good evening. I promised I would help with some mowing so I better find my old shoes and jeans and get to work!

Hello!

I was inspired by my sister-in-law to start this blog. Of course, she has a theme... me... not so much. And if she can do than I can too!

As I was creating this I was trying to come up with something unique to me. Love for fast cars... yes. Love for the color red... sure. Love for cooking... why not! But I wasn't sold. Why? They all sounded too generic. I wanted something that was entirely, totally, completely me. As I was thinking about it I started to think about the garden we'll be planting this weekend. The garden will include... you guessed it.... ONIONS. I can't remember when my extreme dislike for onions started. But as fate would have it, I married an onion lover! I thought that since everybody makes fun of my hatred onions I will create a blog (just for fun) with the title 'Hold the Onions'.

I don't intend to dedicate this blog entirely to onions. I have way too many other things on my mind than smelly onions.

I hope you enjoy!