More gardening and food

Today was another successful day despite the forecasted weather. Even though it was rather on the windy side, we were able to get done all that was on the agenda (except maybe Jer getting to any siding on the garage). Okay maybe I should say we completed what was on MY agenda. Saturday we got that wonderful flower bed in front done. And today we were able to dig out and get ready my vegetable garden. I'm going to grow VEGETABLES! Maybe...we'll see if they decide to grow or not :) Maybe if I go out there and talk to them. I could set up my lawn chair beside them and drink iced tea and tell them how wonderful I think they are...they call me the crazy lady around here for lots of reasons...

The morning started off with me deciding that as it was cloudy and windy I'd like to cook breakfast for 10 people (I'm nuts, I know). I called an impromptu brunch party with Tara and her family and Andrea, who was without family for the morning. They contributed and we had a roaring good time. By then the weather had cleared considerably and off we (Jer and I) went to pull up sod (I must add that I actually relaid sod in another area, quite meticulously, I might add. I know, I know, I'm a jack of all trades!). Then later in the afternoon Andrea comes sauntering over and asks if hotdogs are okay for supper. Sweet, another potluck - although we didn't end up having hotdogs, we had sausage burgers instead. Just as good, still not cooking! So out of 8 meals this weekend, we all shared 4 of them. That's a pretty good run. I figured we should set up a colony. I mean, we eat together, we garden together, we play together...it's pretty darn close to a colony. We decided a good name for our colony would be the Cortieben Colony (for those of you who don't know us, that's a combination of all three of our last names, brilliant, I know). (BTW, this picture of our supper is taken from Andrea's blog, I kinda stole it, hope that's okay, Andrea! Now nice bloggy people, go read hers and Tara's posts and comment)

Anyway, after supper I got my tomatoes, peppers (1 green, 2 yellow and 2 red), rhubarb, cilantro and 2 popcorn plants in the garden. My mom is supposed to be coming to help me tomorrow to plant all the seeds (carrots, chives, beans, peas, lettuce, spinach, cantaloupe and broccoli...for never having planted a garden I'm feeling rather ambitious and slightly nervous that I'm going to have a massive crop failure), but it's supposed to rain. Maybe there'll be some hours that it won't and we can get it all in before it does rain and it'll save me some watering!

Garden(ing) Party

Today we spent a lovely day outside creating our beautiful flower bed in the front of our deck. The day actually got nicer the longer we were outside. It was absolutely frigid when we started, but then the clouds cleared and the wind died down (or changed direction). It didn't matter how cold it was, we still had fun. Chris and Tara put their flower bed in as well and we had quite the time out there. The guys goofing off, the girls being bossy. Then my mom showed up and took control and everything went a lot better then (Drill Sergeant Granny!).

Jer and I had one little incident at the outset. I decided to go to the greenhouse and before I got in the car I told him not to put ANY stone in without me. I wanted to be there for the actual laying of stone. I had an idea in my head and I wanted to be sure it was done right (not that he wouldn't do a good job!). So I came back 1 1/2 hours later and what has dh done? You got it, started laying stone. I go and inspect and realize that he's put the stone much too close to the deck, not realizing that my shrubs would grow to be almost as big as the width he'd laid. I had a row of flowers I wanted to plant in front of the shrubs and he'd left no room for that. The first thing out of Chris's mouth is, "I told you man, you should have listened to me...I knew it would be too narrow and she'd say something!" Funny! Jer didn't think he should have to move it, out of pride or actual perception, I don't know, but I stuck to my guns and in the end got my way.

So, by supper time, both ours and Chris and Tara's beds were planted and watered and looking lovely. I even saw a couple of people who were driving by, slow down to take a second look. So here for your enjoyment are some pictures of the day! (I'm, of course, not in any of the pictures and I was the one taking them. Jer actually said to me at one point, "Stop thinking about your blog and get to work!" Hee, hee...)






I must add, after all gardening was said and done, Chris and Tara and Sergeant Granny came over to our house for a great meal. I have so much apple crisp left over, so if anyone wants some, here, dig in...

Die Hards!

You know you're a die hard Manitoban when you plan a fire/marshmallow roast and not even 60 km/hr winds and ice cold fingers will stop you. This here is me windblown eating a burnt marshmallow...

Ella roasting her own marshmallow...very important!

The whole crew, both sets of wonderful neighbors...that's Tara with the grey sweater and Andrea is taking the picture. What fun we all have together!

And this is my dh. Need I say anything? Didn't think so! Gotta love him...

Foto Friday

Even though I don't participate in Foto Friday, I'm going to call this post that. On Wednesday night I saw this tree in the back of my parents
yard. It's kind of hidden in a spot that we never go (they have a 10 acre yard, so it's not hard to miss things). The sun was shining on it through the trees and it was so beautiful. I was wishing at that moment that I had my camera and my girls were dressed in something other than dirty play clothes. I told my mom that if I could make it, I'd bring the girls back the next day to take some pictures of them. She then proceeded to inform me that there was going to be 60km an hour winds the next day and as the blossoms on the tree were in full bloom and starting to fall already, there probably wouldn't be any blossoms left on the tree by that time. I was very sad. I did offer up a little request to God that he save the tree for me, but oh, well, maybe next year.


I got to my parents yesterday evening and there, in the midst of the windy day, was this tree, standing perfectly still. It struck me how all the trees around it were dancing in the wind and this one was just standing there not moving. All the blossoms were still on it. It was positioned in just the right spot that the wind was not touching it. I was so excited I wanted to cry. I had
dressed the girls in their new outfits and brought my camera just in case. So here are the pictures that I took.

Funny little quirk

I have this slight oddity about me that I can predict rain. Let me explain...

When the humidity rises in the air, my hands, feet and ankles start dripping, literally! So this morning I was rather confused when I was all uncomfortable and sweating and the forecast on the internet said sunny for the next 5 days. My feet are never wrong! Well, it's been getting worse all day, I know it's hot, but it's a different kind of sweaty when it's humid.

So I went just now to check the forecast again. Sure enough, tonight 30% chance of rain, tomorrow 60% chance and risk of thunderstorms both tonight and tomorrow. HA!!! Now sometimes I feel like this and it doesn't rain where we live, but it does rains nearby. Sometimes, and by far the worst, is when it feels like this and the rain doesn't come; when it sits brewing in the heavens and it just won't rain. I'm the most miserable person (physically). I have to wear capris and not pants or else the hem of my pants are sopping wet and I can't touch anything because my hands are all wet. It's so gross and somewhat embarrassing. You can call me the human barometer. Someone even jokingly told me they were going to call me when they were planning to go golfing : )

So that's my strange little quirk. Well, one of them. Did I mention sausage makes me hiccup?

***UPDATE: Sweating let up a couple of hours ago, so chances are something by-passed us close, but the sweating will start up again once a system is close to us again. That's the joy of this sucky quirk!

An Answer To Prayer!

Can anyone guess what that is? THAT is my answer to my prayer! The fact that there was someone out there with extra stone, who didn't need it and offered it to us is a blessing. Even if it's not exactly enough to do everything I want to do, it's enough to do something. That, my friends, is more than nothing, which is where I was when I started this journey to stone. I don't believe this is coincidence! I believe that even as God cares for the big things in our lives, He also cares for the small things.

Even in the small things...

Ever since Jer and I had a major discussion about our finances, credit cards, and I cut myself off of pretty much all spending, I've had to give everything to God. Trust that he'll provide for EVERYTHING! I realized that I had been trusting for needs, but not wants (not even all the needs). That's a big one. We assume that just because we want something we shouldn't ask God to provide for it. I think that's a bunch of baloney!

Case in point...I wanted flowers, shrubs and a small vegetable garden. I have a yard now and I wanted to landscape. So I told that to my Heavenly Father. "We don't have extra money for this, but I trust that you know all our desires and can make a way for this!"

This weekend was our anniversary and Mother's Day. Low and behold, everyone got me flowers, shrubs and gift certificates for greenhouses. Need I say more? So now I have most of the things I WANTED for our yard. I still want some nice stones to build up a raised vegetable garden and a couple trees for the back, but I'm not too worried. I've offered it up to God and now I'm just waiting. He will provide.

The most blessed mom ever!

Yes, that most blessed of mom's is me. And these 2 little princesses are the reason. They fill my life with joy, laughter, tears, and prayers. It's true, there are often bad days, or days I wish I could do over, but usually it's because of ME that I want to do it over (don't get me wrong, sometimes it IS them). They stretch me and grow me, love me unconditionally no matter how horrible of a mom I was that day, they giggle with me and hug me, give me wet, shnotty kisses and make me very proud of these 2 beautiful creations that God has given me. I love when Ella gets this soft little look on her face and cups my face between her small hands and says "I love you, mommy". I love when Aidan trips over her feet trying to get to me as fast as she can when I've been gone. I love watching them sleep and watching play. I wish the years would slow down a bit, so that I can catch my breath and enjoy the moment.

This morning they gathered in the bathroom with daddy, giggling. Then Ella came out to tell me they had a secret. Ella and Aidan were both holding one handle of a gift bag and they gave me the sweetest gift. It's a hanging ornament of a mother (an angel, but aren't we all?) holding her daughter on a swing. The emotions that came bubbling to the surface when I first saw it are hard to describe. It's so beautiful. I'm going to hang it in a place of honor on my front porch. Love lives here!

Introducing My Neighbors!

I have the great pleasure of introducing my two sweet neighbors to all of you (one on either side of us) who have become fellow bloggers. I take all the credit for this (just kidding). So without further ado, please join me in welcoming Andrea and Tara, two of the sweetest women I know and lucky me, I get them as my neighbors! Now go say hi, go!

This Is Why I'm Hot!

***I took the song off now, if you want to hear it go to my player up at the top and find it on the list to listen to it ("This is Why I'm Hot by MIMS")...I still maintain...this is why I'm hot...

Sorry for the obnoxious song playing, it's 1 a.m. and I just couldn't wait to put it on my blog! I heard it tonight when we were out for supper with Chris and Tara and it kind of grew on me. In fact, the joke is that this is now my new pre-walk song (I go for a walk/jog every night). I'm going to crank it up with wicked, pimpin' bass and then I'm going to come bustin' out of my house all cool in my gangsta outfit and do my stretches on the front porch while Cobblestone watches, envious of how hot I am hee, hee. I'm busting a gut just thinking of how ridiculous it all sounds. They dared me to do it. If I do, I promise I'll get some one to video tape so that I can post it on here!

Six years ago today...

I married my best friend. I absolutely love the pictures that our photographer Joel Ross took (and he took a lot!) so I thought I'd share some of them with you...(click on them to see them in a bigger size)

I'm Getting Dizzy!

I spent about an hour in the flooring department yesterday (with a very chatty, somewhat annoying flooring dude) trying to make heads or tails of the choices before me. I must say the selection is endless. Where do you start? Where do you stop? How should the house feel? What image am I trying to portray? Goodness! It's overwhelming. I must say, just like in fashion, there are so many designs that should never be let onto the market so that people can actually choose them. It's disturbing how awful some of the flooring choices are out there. Take the choice away and save people from horrid design!!

Not to mention the endless hours I've spent pouring over websites, magazines, more websites. I was up till 11:45 last night, laying in bed thinking, pondering, mulling...designing...I'm not getting paid enough for my lack of sleep. Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying this thoroughly! I'm in my element...Interior Elements...by Erin...hee, hee. I tend to do my best work in the middle of the night, in my dreams or in the hour(s) before I actually fall asleep, when I'm processing all I've thought about during the day.

I've also realized I have very expensive taste...well, I knew that, but it hit home again. If I can only have $3.49/sq ft in the budget, likely I'll pick something that is $7.00 just to make myself miserable. WHY??? At least my sleepless nights have helped me figure out where the money should be spent and where I can save it (kind of...more money would always be helpful!).

Well, it's that time again, time to sleep (or should I say design).

Showhome Project Update

Just thought I'd keep everyone posted with how the Showhome project is going. I've picked all the exterior selections and we just have to confirm the stone. It's going to look pretty hot!!!

The cabinetmaker just dropped off all these goodies...
so that I can pick the cabinets, hardware, and countertop. YIPEEE!!!! This exciting stuff. I'm going this week (with my cabinet samples) to pick out the hardwoods, carpet, linoleum and tile. Then later this week the contractor is taking me on a walk-through of the house so that I can see the lighting plan and then perhaps next week I can go to Robinson Lighting and get started on picking lighting.

I was very excited when the contractor called me this weekend to confirm something. This is really happening. I'm the one he's referring to when he has a question regarding what's going into the house, I'm being taken totally seriously. It's so fabulous that I can make decisions and someone's going to do it. Now I just need some awesome inspiration so that I can make this the best house ever!

4 Things Meme

Yes, I've been tagged for yet another meme, this time by sognatrice. And since I'm such a sucker for memes and talking about myself (hey, it's obviously the truth, I have a blog, don't I?) here it goes...

Four jobs I've had

1. shipper in a book warehouse
2. receptionist/office assistant
3. mommy
4. interior decorator

Four movies I can watch over and over

1. Two Weeks Notice
2. The Holiday
3. Serendipity
4. Just Like Heaven

Four places I have lived

1. 2nd Street North, small town in Canada
2. Prefontaine Rd, northeast of same small town
3. Ashgrove Crescent, back in the small town
4. 3rd Avenue South, same town once again

Four television shows I love to watch

1. C.S.I.
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. America's Next Top Model
4. C.S.I.: New York

Four places I have been on vacation

1. Mazatlan, Mexico
2. London, England
3. Italy
4. Jamaica

Four of my favorite dishes

1. French Fries
2. Bruschetta
3. Almost anything Italian (give me a good Italian restaurant and I'm happy!!)
4. Mexican food (chimichanga's, burritos, nachos, refried beans...mmm)

Four websites I visit daily

1. Winnipeg weather
2. my email (not linking to that, not really a website technically)
3. do blogs count? then any of the ones on the side of my blog...
4. don't really check any other websites daily

Four places I would rather be right now

1. travelling
2. scrapbooking
3. outside (waiting for it warm up a couple degrees and then the girls and I are going for a walk)
4. at the beach (soon...)

Four bloggers I am tagging

1. Heather
2. Dedee
3. Jenene
4. Ruth

Scrapbooking Fever!

Oh what a great day I had! A scrapbooking day with good friends at "John Henry's" (what a dorky name...). Design Alli put it on and it was fabulous. Door prizes, games, contests, great food, dessert, more snacks, shopping, and of course...scrapbooking. Louise, Lisa (one of my neighbors) and I sat together and had tons of fun. In fact, we had so much fun that Lisa called about 45 minutes ago to see if I was "scrapbooked out" and if I'd want to spend the evening scrapbooking with her! Umm, yeah, I do! Louise wanted me to post pictures of my scrapbook page and cards (both which, might I add, were the runner's up in the 2 contests...Always the bridesmaid, never the bride....sigh...she's all bragging about me because she won the contest, she can, LOL! J/K...her page was great and totally deserved to win and if I
have to lose to anyone, she's the one I want to lose to, she's really good (go check out her beautiful work here)! Besides, my runner-up page was actually a knock-off of one of hers, shh, don't tell anyone...). So here they are...

*Runner-up in cardmaking contest

*Runner-up in Scrapbooking contest...(double layout shown in 2 pictures 'cause it's too big to show as one)

Adrenaline Rush!!!

I'm flying high...We are going to JOSH GROBAN...and we got tickets on the floor!!!!!! Yay!!!!!! Oh if you could see me, my palms are all sweaty, so excited. I think Charmaign and I even did a happy dance. Okay, can't even think straight enough to type coherently. Hopefully my heart slows down soon or I may go into cardiac arrest...LOL : )

***Okay, I've calmed down a little now, so the details. Jer and I are going with 6 other people to this wonderful event. You could only get blocks of 4 tickets per household on the presale day (today) and there were 8 of us who wanted to go together. So Charmaign came over this morning and we waited for 10:00 to arrive. My hands were all sweaty and the anticipation was almost too much. I thought for sure just because I wanted it so badly we wouldn't get any. We sat side by side on our two computers and searched for tickets until we, by pure luck, were able to get 8 seats in the same row. The sense of relief that hit me when we hit the submit button to confirm our order was intense! Ya, I know I'm a dork, but I LOVE seeing my favorite artists perform live. It's so awesome!!!

What a mess!!

This is the mess that awaited me in Ella's hair this morning before school! Let's just say there wasn't enough time and so we still have to deal with it when she gets home. Up in a ponytail and that'll have to do. Her little sweaty head at night makes for a nightmare. Plus, daddy gave her a bath last night and even though they used conditioner, he didn't comb it before bed and she went to bed with wet hair. Yuck!!!

More great contests from 5 Minutes for Mom!

If you want to win some cool stuff (like and IPod Nano!!!) go here and enter the Mother's Day contests. Some of them are even open to Canadians this time. Yay!!!

Mr. Buble's in my house!

Okay, well he's not really in my house, but his new cd is!!!! It just arrived on the shelves this morning. So yay for me, I'm enjoying it right now. I know one person who is not very excited about this event...my dear husband. But mostly I think it's because in my excitement over the cd I forgot to buy him a shirt that he requested and now he's not happy with moi! Maybe I'll have to run back into the city and get it for him to repair the damage.

pssst...The song that's playing is off the new cd...it's so beautiful!!!

To Move or Not To Move

It has been a freakin' rollercoaster ride these last couple weeks. In my head that is. We have this grand plan to build and flip houses until we are mortgage free. It's also a grand pain in the neck. Most days I'm starting to think that maybe God's trying to get our attention and tell us just sit back and relax and wait a bit longer. Why else is there all this turmoil surrounding the decision?

One day I'm all excited to move to a quieter street where there is only 10 houses instead of 60 and the next I'm enjoying a great day with my awesome neighbors and I'm sad that I'd have to leave them behind. One day I'm thinking how great it would be to have no mortgage, the next I'm thinking how much it will cost to build again (lawyer fees, higher property tax, penalties, etc). One day I'm thinking it would be great to design and decorate a new house, the next I'm wishing we could just settle and landscape, get a deck, put in a flowerbed. One day it's all going smoothly, the next it feels like the world is falling down around our ears. It gives me a headache thinking about all the decisions. It feels like the perfect time for US because I'm not pregnant and our kids are a great age, but maybe it's not the time God wants us to move. The whole Our timing vs. His timing is just so hard to figure out!!!! If it weren't for this and if it weren't for that we could just move and be done with it. Why does it seem so easy for some people to just up and move and not for others?

Charmaign said something to me on Friday that has been sitting in my head like a squatter that won't move..."Plans can be changed". I'm not a big fan of changing plans, but I guess it's another area God is working on in me. I have to learn to be more flexible and more content. I have to remember that it's not all about me, but rather look at the big picture. Sometimes when things don't go my way or my speed, it may not be me that's not ready for the change. It could be someone else that will be impacted by my decision. Only God sees the whole picture. If we learn to trust in His perfect plan and timing, if we don't just leap into the first thing that sounds GRAND, if we wait on Him and listen to that small voice inside us, maybe we wouldn't get so anxious and confused. Maybe we wouldn't get ourselves into messes (Yeah, Erin, using the money in savings set aside for income tax for new carpet and now having to find another way to pay income tax and pay interest on it!!! Talk about jumping the gun!). I hate learning the hard way, trial by fire.

Funny, funny...

So I thought I'd seen some pretty funny things in my short time, but today would have pretty much topped it. I say "would have" because it all became clear as to what was actually happening while I watched.

I was sitting on my steps of my porch and I heard what sounded like a vacuum. Thinking nothing I looked up to where the sound was coming from. It was a house just down the street on the corner, but it faces away from us. Through the gap between their house and garage I saw the owner vacuuming...his driveway!!!! At least that's what it looked like. I watched for a few moments shaking my head in bewilderment because I know there are people who are really picky about the cleanliness of their driveways (neighbor 2 doors down from us), but this went above and beyond picky...this is just plain neurotic!!!! I even called my neighbor Tara to come check it out because I couldn't believe what I was seeing (maybe not one of my most shiny moments).

As we watched for a few moments, the guy suddenly picks up a mat and gives it a shake. Ahhhh!!! It's all much clearer, he was vacuuming the mat which was lying on the driveway.

It's interesting how we can see something from a distance and make a judgment or jump to a conclusion. We talk about it with other people and shake our head at the way people look, act or do things, but if we take a closer look and actually find out what's really going on behind the scenes, we wouldn't be so quick to laugh or judge. If we'd look at them through the eyes that God views us all in, we'd have more patience, more compassion. Not all things are as they appear on the surface. God has called us to "Love one another", "Love our neighbor", "Love our enemies". Do you see a pattern? Yet what comes out of our mouths is usually anything but love. I know I'm guilty of it.

Learning to jog

During my last 2 evening walks I've added in some jogging. I've never jogged. Ever. At least not very far anyway. It hurt my knees too much. But then I was informed that this is because I don't have very much arch on my foot and my new shoes with arch support would help. So I'm going to test this theory. I found a "learn to jog" plan and I'm going to give it a shot. By the end of 8 weeks I should supposedly be able to jog 2 miles without stopping. So for my first week I'm supposed to do 4-5 intervals of walk 5 minutes, jog 30 seconds. This may sound like jack diddly squat to some of you, but let me tell you how hard 30 seconds is!!!

I also realized yesterday that I have this HUGE pride issue. I started one of my jogging intervals just after I'd turned onto a side street and I saw 2 people walking toward me. They were more than 30 seconds from passing me, so rather than stopping when my 30 seconds were up and look like a wimp...you got it, I kept going. I had to go for 1 minute and 11 seconds before they were out of sight. I was very, very tired and breathing like I'd just run a marathon. So maybe I'll just put the pride aside and stick to the plan. Eventually I won't be stopping. Just got to get there first. Slowly.

An Evening at the Park

(click on collage to see larger image - if you want.)

9 Layers...A meme to peel away the layers of you!

LAYER ONE:
– Name: Erin
– Birth date: October 11, 1980
– Birthplace: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
– Current Location: Small town near Winnipeg
– Eye Color: Brown
– Hair Color: Dark Brown
-Height: 5′ 7
– Righty or Lefty: Righty
– Zodiac Sign: Libra, but who really cares!

LAYER TWO:
– Your heritage: I believe my ancestors came from Russia and Holland.
– The shoes you wore today: Barefoot, all day!
– Your weakness: tortilla chips and ice cream/frozen yogurt/gelato
– Your fears: Any harm coming to my family, snakes (which we don't even have here), heights
– Your perfect pizza: Hawaiian
– Goal you’d like to achieve: Learning to run

LAYER THREE:
-Your most overused phrase on AIM: Not on AIM
-Your first waking thoughts: Why is she crying/talking/singing? Can't she just go back to sleep?
-Your most missed memory: certain friendships that have become distant
-Your best physical feature: eyes

LAYER FOUR:
– Pepsi or Coke: Pepsi
– McDonald’s or Burger King: McDonald’s, used to be Burger King until their fries got sucky!
– Adidas or Nike: Neither
– Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Either
-Chocolate or vanilla: Both, mmm...
-Cappuccino or coffee: Neither, don't like the flavor

LAYER FIVE:
– Smoke: No
– Cuss: on occasion (but only mild words)
– Sing: Love to, wish I wasn't afraid of anyone hearing me!
– Take a shower everyday: Mostly every other day
-Do you think you’ve been in love: Yes
– Want to go to college: Done, would like to do some more training in Design work though
– Liked high school: the social part of it : )
– Want to get married: Already married
– Believe in yourself: No, not nearly enough
– Get motion sickness: nope
– Think you’re attractive: sometimes, I was yesterday, LOL!
– Think you’re a health freak: kinda, not the kind who is worried about everything, just have some health issues that need taking care of and I'm trying my best to find the balance in life with that!
– Get along with your parent(s): Dad - yes, Mom - we have our good and bad days.
– Like thunderstorms: Love them (as long as I'm safe inside)
– Play an instrument: not one. Short fingers kept me from all pursuits (flute, guitar, piano...)

LAYER SIX: In the past month…
– Drank alcohol: yes, a long island iced tea
– Smoked: No
– Done a drug: No
– Made Out: No
– Gone on a date: No
– Gone to the mall?: Yes
– Eaten an entire box of Oreos?: No, just one Oreo yesterday
– Eaten sushi: No
– Been on stage: No
– Been dumped: No
– Gone skating: No
– Made homemade cookies: Yes
– Gone skinny dipping: No
– Dyed your hair: Yes
– Stolen Anything: No

LAYER SEVEN: Ever…
– Played a game that required removal of clothing: No
– Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: No
– Been caught “doing something”: um, I don't think so...
– Been called a tease: No
– Gotten beaten up: Not physically, emotionally all the time, same with spiritually
– Shoplifted: No
– Changed who you were to fit in: Not necessarily changed who I was, maybe just hid it a little.

LAYER EIGHT:
– Age you hope to be married: Wanted to be married by 20, was, and still am to the same wonderful man.
– Numbers and Names of Children: 2 daughters, Ella and Aidan
– Describe your Dream Wedding: At the time ours was my dream, maybe now it would be different, smaller perhaps, more elegant.
– How do you want to die: when I'm old, in my sleep.
– Where you want to go to college: already did
– What do you want to be when you grow up: I don't think I'll ever grow up! If I do, that may be a sad day. Actually that's not totally true, I tried to grow up and be more serious and that got really boring, so I went back to being my old self.
– What country would you most like to visit: I'd like to go back to Italy and England, I've always wanted to go to New Zealand and Australia, France, Spain, Scotland, etc., etc., can't name one!

LAYER NINE:
– Number of drugs taken illegally: None
– Number of people I could trust with my life: There's got to be at least 20
– Number of CDs that I own: too many to count.
– Number of piercings: had 6, but 2 are closed now due to infections.
– Number of tattoos: none
– Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper?: 4 times, my birth announcement, my wedding announcement and our 2 daughters birth announcements.
– Number of scars on my body: 4 that I can see.
– Number of things in my past that I regret: a couple

I'm not tagging anyone for this one. I found it on Jen's blog and decided to do it because I'm always up for a good meme. If you do decide to do it, let me know so I can come check it out!

Wonderful Weekend Moments

Friday
~ having the afternoon all to myself to do whatever I want!
~ having a spur of the moment manicure/pedicure (I better not hear any snickering about my short fat toes!!)
~ buying myself a design book that has been on my wishlist for months
~ buying a new shirt that makes me feel hot
~ having supper with 9 of my closest friends


Saturday
~ spending the day cardmaking with good friends
~ eating lunch outside
~ cheesecake!
~ finding out that my neighbors take good care of my husband while I'm gone (feeding him...steak on Friday night and lunch on Saturday)

Sunday
~ feeling really great in the outfit I was wearing (I felt better than I've felt in months)
~ getting invited out for lunch after church
~ walking 4 miles (around my parents block - they live in the country and a block is 4 miles)
~ finally getting my wiener roast (I was sick last Sunday when we had planned to have one)
~ reading my new design book (Oh so good!!!!!)

(I just realized after reading over my post that I didn't cook one meal this weekend...that's definitely a highlight)

3 Things Meme

I was tagged a few days by Val to do this meme. So here it goes.

Three Things That Scare Me:
1. heights
2. snakes/worms and anything that resembles them
3. being the center of attention in a big crowd (speaking, singing, being put on the spot, etc.)

Three People Who Make Me Laugh:
1. Louise
2. My Uncle Doug
3. Aidan

Three Things I Love:
Aside from God/friends/family
1. books (reading them, having them, giving them...
2. being outside
3. doing a decorating project

Three Things I Hate:
1. the flu (I second Val on this one)
2. people mocking or belittling me
3. onions

Three Things I Don’t Understand:
1. why my house always feels like a hurricane went through it.
2. friendships that just end abruptly
3. why my birthday isn't a national holiday

Three Things On My Desk:
1. computer
2. printer
3. paper

Three Things I’m Doing Right Now:
1. doing this mem
2. waiting for Janice to call so we can go for a walk
3. listening to the annoying ticking sound coming from my dishwasher as it's drying the dishes.

Three Things I Want To Do Before I Die:
1. travel the world
2. be featured in a decorating magazine
3. see my great grandchildren

Three Things I Can Do:
1. pick things up with my feet and toes (Val and I have lots in common)
2. curl my tongue (I even took a picture to prove it)
3. sing along to just about every song I've ever heard

Three Things I Can’t Do:
1. push ups (not even one!)
2. drive standard (stick shift)
3. sing in front of anyone but Jer

Three Things I Think You Should Listen To:
1. God
2. William Joseph
3. when someone tells you are beautiful

Three Things You Should Never Listen To:
1. country music (sorry to all you country music lovers!)
2. someone else's conversation when you know you shouldn't
3. people who are always negative

Three Things I’d Like To Learn:
1. how to play guitar (but alas my fingers are so small)
2. how to run (planning to start soon)
3. another language (Spanish or Italian perhaps)

Three Favorite Foods:
1. My Grandma's homemade perogies
2. tortillas and pitas with any kind of hot dip
3. manicotti

Three Shows I Watched As A Kid:
1. Sesame Street
2. Mr. Dressup (with Casey and Finnigan)
3. Full House

Three Things I Regret:
1. letting go of friendships too easily
2. getting a credit card!!!!
3. not spending more time with my brothers in the last few years

Okay I'm tagging Louise, and Cherrye and Dedee. Your turn!

What's In a Name?

Okay, you guys, I need a name. Apparently I'm supposed to have business cards for myself to have displayed in the showhome I'm working on and I don't even have a name for my "business". I'm not really too thrilled about using my full name (mennonite last names are so very prestigious sounding after all!). So I'm looking for suggestions. ERINteriors? Hee, hee!! No seriously...I've never had to do this, so it has to sound professional and say what service I'm providing. Let me know if anyone has any brilliant ideas...PLEASE!!!

No Words...

...to put as a title that would do justice to yesterday's concert! I have plenty of words in my head regarding everything.

For starters, when you pay for a ticket, you are paying to see the headliners, the main act, but yesterday's opening act held his own. William Joseph was phenomenal!!!! I was absolutely blown away. You can click on that link and check him out (he's also playing on my blog right now, yay!), but you actually have to see him play to know what I mean. He feels his music and it just pours out of the piano. I mean for goodness sake, he even laid down on his seat and crossed his arms over and played backwards! Hard to picture? Yeah, hard to believe in real, too! You can just see the music consumes him and it's easy to get lost in it. And the combination of a grand piano and a drum kit was unbelievable. I was wishing over and over that Jer was there to witness it. I'll definitely be watching for any tours he does on his own.

That's when I leaned over to Elin and said, "You know Il Divo is amazing when this guy is the opener and they have to follow. He's going to be a hard act to follow!"

But they stayed true to form and belted out their music. Who knew that amount of sound could come out of a person for real! Wow!!! It's one thing to enjoy a great cd when you can tell that they are really that good, but I love watching live music. There is something so powerful about watching someone use their God-given gift to sing and play an instrument and do it superbly. It moves me in a way that almost nothing else does. It's cool to see 4 men from a few different backgrounds all sing together and sound like they were always meant to sing together, but knowing that they could all in fact sing by themselves and still be truly incredible! What a talent.
And just when we despaired of ever seeing their faces because we were quite high up, they turned on the big screen and yes, they are in fact quite good looking.

A highlight of the evening was realizing that the age of majority there was like 55+. I've never seen so many excited white/grey haired people in my life. It was truly amazing. The last song during the encore, Il Divo sat on the edge of the stage and all the women in the front rows crowded around to shake hands with them and get autographs. Yes, you heard me, autographs...while they were singing! Too funny! And when the camera zoomed in on the people surrounding them, they were all older. Oh what fun!

All in all it was well worth Clint's hard earned money! Thank you, Clint for buying Elin tickets for her birthday, and thank you Elin for picking me to come with you! I couldn't have enjoyed myself more! And I got the William Joseph cd so now I can enjoy myself over and over again, I'm so excited it makes me want to flap my hands. (you should have seen my when I first got it, I was clutching it to my chest like a new found treasure...which it is...grinning from ear to ear! I love finding new music!). Sigh...

Vote for Val!!!!

Okay everyone, it's time to rally our support. Val over at Purple Valley also has a blog called Grandma's Diary where she shares pages from her grandmothers actual diary from the 1940's. It's being nominated for a blogging award (Best Blog of All Time none the less!), but she needs our help to vote her up, up, up!!! So go here and register and put your vote in for Grandma and most importantly, go read this great blog. It's so cool! She's already at the top of page 2 of 53 pages of blogs being nominated. Very neat.

Il Divo and Il Flu Bug!

So according to the calendar and my ticker up above TODAY is Il Divo!!!! This is the day I've been looking forward to for 3 months! And the night before last I had to get the flu! What great timing. I'm feeling a ton better this morning, just really weak. I was flat on my back yesterday, trying not to lift a finger so as to get better faster for today.

Last night was kind of scary. I got home from my parent's around 6:45 p.m. and I was shivering with chills. I took off my shoes and jacket and by the time I got upstairs to the bathroom I could hardly turn the water on. Here's my most brilliant moment...I didn't even think about fever...nope. So I ran a nice hot bath. We're talking slow roasted to perfection! Well, I get into my nice hot bath, hoping to stop the shaking and it only gets worse! I'm shaking so bad now I don't think I can even get out. I'm wanting to call Jer, but he's in the basement bathing the girls. So I grit my teeth (careful not to bite my tongue with all the chattering) and haul out of the tub (and we have a large tub, it's like doing hurdles). I run (more like stumble) still wet into my bed and get under the thickest, heaviest blanket I can find and curl up in the fetal position trying to stop the shaking. This whole episode lasted for half an hour. Jer finally comes upstairs and I tell him to go Google the recipe for an electrolyte drink (I'm thinking I'm getting dehydrated). I sip a little of that and then call Healthlinks and the nurses says I sound like I should be okay, but if the fever gets worse or my mouth gets really dry or I'm feeling dizzy I should go to emergency.

So I'm lying in bed taking my temperature like every 20 minutes and it's going up, and up and up. That's when I really started getting worried. My temperature was past the dangerous levels, but my skin wasn't really hot and I wasn't hallucinating or out of it. So Jer sponged me and I laid there and prayed. I took Tylenol and sat in a lukewarm bath. And prayed. Slowly...way too slowly my temperature went back down .1 degree at a time. I think I just got my internal temperature so hot in my bath that it took a really long time for it to go down. It wasn't even a fever. I'm naturally a hotter person to begin with, so that doesn't help. I finally went to bed at 10:15 and I slept really well. This morning I'm feeling a lot better, very weak, but way better than yesterday.

So Mommy's going to come over and make me homemade chicken noodle soup and help me with the girls so that I can rest up for this evening's outing. At least I can walk upright now for short periods of time and I don't feel nauseated anymore. All steps in the right direction!

***UPDATE: I'm feeling way better!!!! We're leaving for Il Divo in an hour and a quarter. Yay!!! Thanks for any prayers you may have sent!

Oh Happy Day!

(sung to the tune of the Christmas song "Do You See What I See")
Do you see what I see?
A roofer, a roofer
Up on my garage
Oh what a happy daaaayyyyyy
Oh what a happy day!

Yes, folks, that is indeed my lovely brother bringing shingles that have been sitting on my driveway for 6 months up onto the roof!!! That is a sight to behold. Praise the Lord!!!

Heavenly...

We interrupt the regular programming to make an announcement...

They have KitKat Blizzards at Dairy Queen...

'nuf said!!!!