Picture fun at my parents' house

On Saturday I joined the rest of my family at my parents' house. When I arrived everyone was digging in the dirt for fresh potatoes. Katelyn found a potato that looked like Mickey Mouse.

I'm not one to get my hands dirty so I continued to take pictures of them digging potatoes but then decided that I wanted to get some cool pictures of the sunflowers growing just beyond the garden in the field plot for the wild animals. I was disappointed that most of the sunflowers had lost their petals but I was able to find a few pretty flowers to get some good pictures.

Later in the afternoon my niece and nephew and I went outside to take some pictures. My niece came up with the idea that I would take pictures and not show them what pictures I took on my camera that day but I would print off the pictures and mail them my favorites. I just got the pictures back from Walgreens and put together an envelop of pictures for each one of them. I can't share too many of our pictures here because they need to see what I captured first. Here is a preview of our fun together.

Yes I let them play with swords(sticks) on a rock in my parents yard. Luckily no one was hurt. They were actually playing really nice together and swing the sticks slowly.

Below is what my parents put together to get us all to come visit more often. I have been out to my parents' house 3 times now this summer. We have made yummy smores!

it has been too long

Wow it has been a number for weeks since I last wrote. I’m sorry to those of you who check out my blog and found no updates.

I have been busy since I last wrote. I went to CA for a week to visit Brian, Jenn, Zoe, and Josie who moved from WI last summer. It was nice to see how they are adjusting to life in CA. I thought it would be warmer in CA but I only got to enjoy 2 warm days when I was there and I packed for 2 cold days and 5 warm days. I was cold when I was there but it was nice to see the green grass and enjoy the sun on those few warm days. One day we took the girls to the zoo in Sacramento and another day we went to the park with a picnic lunch from In N Out burger.


When I go back from CA I quickly switched out my clothes in my suitcase to go to IA with Heather and Michele for a weekend of scrapbooking. I was almost about to complete my Trinidad scrapbook but I have a few more pages to do and I also need to print out all the journaling boxes for each page. I hope to get it done soon so I can share with everyone who went to Trinidad. I should plan a Trinidad party so I can get everyone together and I would also have a due date for finishing the book.


At the end of March/beginning or April it is time to schedule time with E & M to celebrate their birthdays. We made sure we had plenty of food going out one night for pie and the next day for ice cream but we also made sure to get a little activity by playing mini golf. M is expecting her first child (TLC) so we had to take it easy.


My brother thought I should spend the first weekend in April with family since they were going to my parent’s house. In exchange I told him I would visit him on Good Friday and Saturday since it had been a whole month that I went without seeing his family. My mom also went to his place on Saturday. We spent part of the day outside riding bikes but we also dyed Easter eggs and had an Easter egg hunt.

I don't wanna go through the motions

I was on my way to work this morning and I heard a great song that really caught my attention. Matthew West’s song ‘The Motions’ Check out his website and listen to his song.

"I don't wanna go through the motions

I don't wanna go one more day

without Your all consuming passion inside of me

I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,

"What if I had given everything,

instead of going through the motions?"

It is a challenge to live out a relationship with Christ and avoid going through the motions. I know what a Christian should say and do. I know how to act so people think I’m doing what I should. I know I have a responsibility but I only take my responsibility to the leave of doing what is required. I dedicate time to help with different things at church but I don’t focus on my own spiritual growth. I said I was going to get up early to read my Bible and pray each morning for lent but I only accomplished this for a week. I want to speak and seek God passionately!

I want to break away from just going through life and not giving my all to God. In addition to my lent commitment a few weeks ago I made a commitment to myself about attending church more regularly and actually reaching out to people around me. I’m not fully living up to what I know I could do so this song pushes me farther and makes me more aware of how I’m falling short.

Week Behind

I forgot to update my blog this week. I am almost a week behind. I’m starting my next weekend and you don’t know what I did this past weekend. Some may say that I’m a few months behind because today I finally took down my Christmas tree. I know that needs to be done in January but I just like the looks of it.

Last weekend was Valentine’s Day my least favorite holiday of the year. Some day I will fall in love and change my mind about the holiday but while I’m single it will remain a stupid holiday. I was invited to a scrapbooking event in McFarland. I was excited to spend the weekend working on a scrapbook because I have wanted to start my Trinidad book. Here is a preview of what is in my scrapbook.


I was also able to finish the scarf that I started a few weeks ago this past week. Check it out.

And since that scarf was done I started a new one and this second one went so much faster. I think it was the yarn that made the difference but I also used larger needles. Last night I started a scarf for my BFF. Sorry that I can’t show you a picture of the yarn but I’m trying to keep the color a secret from her. I think this scarf will take longer because the yarn is a little tricky. I have started it over 3 times.

My healthy lifestyle was my weakness again this week. I am not going to give up but I definitely need to get better about going to the gym after work and eating healthier foods. My goal for this next week is to be at the gym 3 times. I can do it!

Roadtrip with no pictures ~ What is wrong with me?

This past weekend I went to visit my BFF. She has been to visit me half a dozen times since I was at her place last so it was time for me to visit. We had a hard time coordinating weekends so we just ended up taking a weekend that I had free and I spent the weekend doing what she had planned. She had a baby shower to attend in Prairie Du Chien for a high school friend and conveniently I knew her friend so it was ok for me to attend with her. She was also invited to go out for supper on Saturday night with her co-workers for a birthday. Her co-workers have been wanting to meet me since my BFF talks about me all the time (I hope it is all good stuff and no complaining about me). We spent Saturday mostly in the car since we drove from Tomah to Soldier Grove (we had to stop at BFF’s grandparents house) to Prairie Du Chien to LaCrosse to Winona, MN.

I realized when I was driving home on Sunday night that I didn’t take any pictures all weekend. I need to get better about taking pictures of things going around me. I may need to re-instate my picture a day project that I did last year. Then I would at least be thinking about taking pictures a have something fun for you to see.

A Little Behind

This has been rough week for me. I have been sick with the flu and I can't remember the last time I had it this bad. Well actually I can remember because a sickness like this is something you can't forget. The last time it was this bad was back in high school. I can report that I am down another 4 pounds without going to the gym. I don’t recommend the flu as a weight loss program… I will go back to eating healthy and hitting the gym.

My college friends and I decided to skip buy Christmas presents for each other this year and put the money towards a weekend away. We first talked about going to Door County but then we kept getting a snow storm back in December so we decided we should choose a location between Madison and Chicago. We settled on Lake Geneva. It was a cute little town to spend a weekend exploring. E and I had Friday off so we met up in the afternoon to get the shopping checked off the list… M doesn’t really enjoy shopping so it was fun to get in a little shopping done before she arrived.

We stayed at The Cove, which was a perfect location for us. We were a couple blocks from downtown and in walking distance to a couple good restaurants. Our room was really cute and we really enjoyed the pictures on the walls because it made us feel like we were at a tropical location until we looked out the window.


I realized a couple of my friends are not game fanatics like me. A “game” weekend to me means a weekend playing card games 24/7. I never get tired of playing cards. My family and I are at least the same in that we will stay up late when we are together to play games. Last time I went to visit my brother I stayed at his place until 11pm playing hand and foot. I’m going to visit my BFF soon and I’m sure her and J will stay up late playing games with me. There was one night where I was up all night with BFF, J, W, and K playing poker. Well at least my laundry basket full of games didn’t all go unplayed. We enjoyed a round or two of Yahtzee, Tri-bond, Apples to Apples, Sequence... and E and I played a hand of rummy anytime M went to the bathroom since I kept trying to beat E at it.

Quilting time

I started my first quilt at Christmas time. I wanted to start a craft that my mom knew how to do and would maybe enjoy doing with me. I may have started with too big of a quilt but I guess it is ok if it takes a long... and I mean a long time.


Here is a look at a few of the blocks. I need to sew together 90 blocks for my queen size quilt and I have about 30 of them complete. It has been a few weeks since I had time to sit down to the sewing machine.

When I was buying the white/pink fabric for the background at a quilting shop in Prairie du Chen that lady asked if I was keeping the quilt for myself. It is a definite yes that this first quilt will be for me.

I need to decide how I will quilt it together. I'm sort of leaning towards hand quilting it but I'm not sure. My mom doesn't have too much experience with hand quilting. I think she helped my grandma on a quilt once. I may need to see out some advice from people who have done some quilting to see how to best handle the quilting. I guess I could always take the easy route and just tie the quilt.

My Craftiness

I have been working on two projects right now. I started a quilt at Christmas time which is coming along slowly and a few weeks ago I started knitting a scarf. I have been working on the scarf more than the quilt because I can watch TV and knit at the same time. Last night when my scarf was about 8 inches along, I decided that I didn’t like how tight I was knitting it or the width. I pulled it all apart and restarted it. I was surprised how quickly it was going back together last night when I was making it narrower, with looser stitches. I want to get it done before winter is over because it goes with my coat.

Here is a picture of the yarn (this is my first picture on my blog)

On another note, I was went to the fitness center last night and worked out for 45 minutes. I’m so proud of myself. I didn’t let any of the excuses going thru my head stop me for getting to the gym. Now I just need to make it happen again on Thursday night. I can’t go on Tuesday or Wednesday nights because I have other things scheduled after work.

Starting to live a healthy lifestyle

My friend and I have decided to work on weight loss and healthy living. My thoughts is that even if you loose the weight it won't matter if you don't start living a healthy life and continue to eat right after you lose the desired amount of weight.

Today I'm trying to come up with things to do to stop my snacking while watching TV. I found that yesterday I ate healthy meals (small portions and right types of foods) but I blew the whole day but snacking on unhealthy things after 8pm while watching TV. I wasn't hungry but I just had cravings. I found a few suggestions on other websites but I'm looking for more ideas.

Here is what I found so far:
1. Keep your hand and mind busy but working on a hobby such as knitting. I sometime do this while watching TV but I have to look down too much so during some shows this is not a good idea for me. I end up just listening to the show instead of watching the show. I might as well just turn off the TV and leave on the surround sound. Last night I discovered with the way my tivo, surround sound, and TV are hooked together that I can have the TV turned off but still listen to a show.
2. Exercise while watching TV. Do a few situps, stretches, and lift weights when you are feel the need to snack. I like this idea because you can do some exercise and still watch TV. I should put my weights in the TV room.
3. Clean the room that the TV is in when you feel the need to snack or when you go to the kitchen during the commercial to find a snack, do some cleaning in the kitchen. This is something that would help two areas of my life. I would have a cleaner house and I wouldn't be eating junk food; a win-win situation.
4. Write in a journal or on a blog. I don't have a laptop so to write a blog would be hard for me while watching TV. I could however get a journal and take notes of my exercise and eating habits were for the day. This would keep my mind and hands busy. It would also make my mind focused on my healthy living so then maybe I would remember to stay away from the snacks in the kitchen.