This Week's Theme: ROWS

To read more about the photo hunt, go here!

Feeling muuuuuch better

I am soooooooo much better now! Thanks for the well-wishes! I think they worked. That, and of course, sleep, plus antibiotics. Thank GOD for them!

Today is my Dad's birthday! My stepmother is having a huge birthday bash for him tomorrow at their home. I am really looking forward to it because much of my family lives out of state and they will be here for this milestone birthday.

But until then, I just have to say

Happy Birthday Dad!

I love you!!

Blah

I've emerged from the couch briefly, only to use the bathroom, drug up (the legal ones), and update my blog. I have a sinus infection again. Who gets that in the summer?? I can't even believe I just typed that. A sinus infection. I get them, usually twice a year, but NOT in the summer time! It has stopped me dead in my tracks this week. I got home from the gym yesterday, and my throat was scratchy, I thought maybe it was because I increased my speed on the treadmill and worked out harder. Two hours later my throat was sandpaper and I went to the doctor for confirmation this morning that it was indeed the dreaded sinus infection. Kenny blames it on the weather change, getting so humid recently and then the rain the last couple of days. Whatever the case, it sucks. My extended family is in town this week and wanting to come see our new house, and since NO ONE has showed any interest in it except for my parents, I was excited to have them over. Not happening now! Maybe the end of the week. I am going back to my make-shift bed on the couch where Kenny keeps an eye on me and tells me how cute I am when I'm sick. I'll be back soon.

Another ME Meme!

Me and My Hubby (boyfriend) Meme

(in my case, my MAN-I hate saying boyfriend, it sounds so 7th grade)

La Bellina Mammina tagged me to write 8 things about Kenny & I.

1. I knew about Kenny before I met him. My friend Danielle was talking about her new boyfriend and how they went camping with his friends, and there was this crazy guy named Kenny who drove a big red truck and tipped over their canoes. And also, he was very loud and funny.

2. When I met him at a party (summer 2000) at my friend's place a few weeks later, I knew who he was the second I saw him based on my friend's description. He had on a Hawaiin shirt, some kind of pants/shorts, and cowboy boots. In the summer time. I know he's going to read this and deny those boots, but dammit, I know I'm right. That's just NOT the kind of thing you forget!

3. The first thing Kenny said to me was that because of our names (I'm not printing our last names on this blog but those of you who know us KNOW what I'm talking about) we were going to get married. And then he turned around and introduced me to the party (I already knew everyone because they were MY friends) as Lindsey ________ and that we were getting married. I was disgusted with forwardness and being so loud. Can you imagine?

4. We finally hooked up in the fall of 2002 when I moved over to this side of the state for my teaching job and the rest is history.

5. I used to be quiet, even tempered, and Kenny was the opposite. Now we both are loud and quick-tempered. Kenny gets over things MUCH faster than I do. I like to sulk and pout when I'm mad. He just gets mad and then gets over it. At least our disagreements are quick!

6. We both love camping and being at the lake. He loves to play hockey and I love to play softball, and we like watching the other one play their sport. We also just recently discovered that our decorating interests are much the same. Except for the bear rug. But we agree on the same colors, pictures, and decor, and I love that!! It has made painting and updating our home easy!

7. We both have the same kind of demanding job. When we go to work, we're ON all the time. There's always a need for us to be there, and we run the day from start to finish. There's little down time (except I get the summer off, but then I work with him) and no break time, and even when there is we are still "on call." That's why we savor our time at the lake, where the cell phones don't work and there is NO computer!

8. Kenny is generally messy and I am generally a neat freak, but I have to give him so much credit.....he has shaped up! He now picks up after himself and knows that things have their own place.

I tag anyone who wants to do this meme!

Scroll down and read about my lunch with Tasha!

Relaxed Weekend

This was a very laid back weekend. And it was just what the doctor ordered. Today was the best, though, because I got to have lunch again with Tasha and her daughter!

(photo taken by Hannah!)

And we even got in a little shopping too. I plan on relaxing on the couch for the rest of the evening with Kenny. To him, that means tickling me until I yell at him and then I get so irritated with him for picking on me that I have to leave the room. So, I am going to be prepared before I get all comfy...I have my squirt gun fully loaded and hiding under the coffee table. He has no clue. It's going to be quite a night!

Week Review!

This has been a busy week....but it's the kind of week that I love to have in the summer. I finally wrapped up summer tutoring! Yay! Now I have about 3 weeks left until school starts. And I'm not ready to think about that just yet so...on with the details of the week.

Tuesday was my softball team's last league game. It's been a long season....4 months. It's been lots of fun, but just about every game since June has been super hot, so I think all of us were glad it's almost over. We do play again this Tuesday, but it's the playoffs, and we will play 1, 2, or 3 games all in one night, and then be done. I'm glad we'll be done, but also a little sad because I love playing and my co-workers are a fun group to be around. Here's our team last week, minus a couple of people:

On Wednesday, my mom and my aunt and I went to Indiana to the Amish country where there is this great little town to shop in. It has lots of dry good good stores, crafts, and a flea market, which is my favorite spot there!! We used to go every summer when I was younger, and I just LOVED looking through the endless aisles of "stuff" to buy. This flea market includes antiques and TONS of new stuff, as well as veges and fruit and plants. I love to stock up on cheap but cute t-shirts and this year I got 400 count sheets for $22!!!! Can't beat that! Here's a pic of my mom and my aunt looking at some floral arrangements and then my mom and I in the middle of an herb garden.

The "in" thing with the t-shirts at the flea market this year was John Deere, so I got one for Kenny. I wasn't sure if he would like it, but it was cheap and if he didn't like it, I thought I would just keep it for myself. Here he is, wearing the t-shirt.

He already wore it all day yesterday and then washed it last night so he could wear it again today. Guess he liked it!! Good thing I got one for me too...a pink one!

Thursday I finished up summer tutoring and visited with my grandparents....no pictures, I forgot my camera. But my grandma said the funniest thing. She's 89, and starting to lose her memory, and we were talking about race tracks and racing horses. I asked my grandpa (91) if he had ever been to a race track and watched a race and he said, "Oh, yes," like OF COURSE he had. Then he and my grandma looked at each other and he said to her, "You've been to one too." My grandma said, "Well, just because you have doesn't mean I have. I really feel like I should argue with you about that, but since I can't remember right now whether I have or not, I won't. But I think I should argue with you about it." And then we laughed. It makes me sad that she's having such a rough time with her memory, but she is in good spirits about it. What else can you be?

Today I had a lay-in-the-sun date with Niki but it was too blasted hot outside so we went shopping instead. I got some AWESOME deals as always. We started at a resale shop that someone had recommended to us. I'm not much of a resale shopper, but I thought we'd go and check it out. It was a huge store (I think it was formerly KMART so you can imagine how large it was!) and organized by color, which made it easy to look at the clothes. I was looking at the pants and capris and I needed to try some on so I asked the sales lady where the room was. She said that she wished they had a try-on room, but no suck luck. She said that people just do what they need to do.....I asked her what that meant, and she said that sometimes they will push the clothes back on the racks and scrunch down in between the clothes and then pull their shopping cart in front of them so they are covered and then try on the clothes like that. I'm thinking, hmmmm, can I pull that off?? Why the hell not! So I did it. Yes, I took my pants OFF completely while my ass was buried in between the rows of pants. Here's the proof!

You'll notice that my pants ARE IN MY HANDS! and not on my body. Nice eh?? At least Niki did slide the cart right in front of me so that I was a LITTLE covered. And I do mean A LITTLE! I guess there's a first for everything!

After our all-day shopping excursion, we stopped at another friend's house to visit with her and her new baby.

He's just so darn cute so I'll give you with one more picture of him!

Now I'm home and Kenny will soon be complaining that I "neglected" him today. He started whining about that last night, in fact. Here's the conversation:

KENNY: You are neglecting me. I get no "Lindsey" time.

ME: You get plenty of "Lindsey" time. When you're home, I'm home.

KENNY: You are always out playing.

ME: (rolling my eyes) Yes, during the day, though! And what are you doing during the day Kenny? Working! So you can't accuse me of neglecting you when you are working!!

KENNY: Oh yeah.

I guess he forgot that he works during the day. This is typical for us. Whenever I'm home on summer vacation he gets like this. I secretly think he's praying for the next 3 weeks to fly by so I can be back at work like him!!

8 Things

I was tagged by MaryKathryn and I am supposed to give 8 random facts about myself and then send this little game on to eight blogger buddies. I think I've done this before, so I'm going to have to come up with eight NEW facts! That could be hard!

Rules: 1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts. 2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves. 3. People who are tagged write their own blog post about their eight things and include these rules. 4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and that they should read your blog.

1. I am a neat freak....except for basements and closets. But everything that I see all the time that's out in the open is C L E A N and organized. I am thinking that when we have kids that will all change, right Mommas?

2. My favorite color is now green. It has been for a couple of years now. When I was younger it was purple, and then I think I just grew out of it. It's still a close second, but my heart is all GREEN!!

3. Not quite sure I should admit this one, but I enjoy watching episodes of Gene Simmons Family Jewels. But I assure you I don't think he's cute. I promise!!

4. If I'm not upstairs in my house, you can find me in the basement.....sewing or scrapbooking any spare moment I have. Big surprise, right?

5. I ALWAYS wear my seat belt, even to the gas station or just around the block. It's ALWAYS on!

6. I blowdry my hair every single day, even when it's hot out.

7. I snore louder than Kenny does. Anyone who stays here comments on it....I used to be embarrased, now I could care less! I can't help it!

8. I LOVE the DETROIT TIGERS!!!

I'm only passing this onto 6 ladies....

A Day In The Life Of
My Splatter Painted Life
Double Duty
Life, The Universe, And Everything
An Inside Look
As The World Turns

Have fun!

Sunday at the Lake

Ahhhh Monday morning. This summer is going by way too fast. I think they all do. This weekend was a busy one. Yesterday we decided to go to the lake and go fishing. I don't usually fish myself, I just hang out on the boat with Kenny and enjoy the peacefulness and watch the sunset....just like this.....

But I still call it fishing. It's so nice to drive out there, it's not too long of a drive, only about 40 minutes, but by the time we get there it's like we're in a different world. And I love that. Kenny actually caught a fish, but it was teeny, so I hesitated whether to put the picture on here, and I think he would probably get upset if I did because it would "say something about him being a man" so I won't. But just know that I really wanted to!

This is my last week of summer tutoring-yay! Finally free. Not that it was a lot of time, it just means that I will really have no committments now other than fun ones. I'm sure Kenny will fill up my time...he always finds a way:)

You can take a girl out of the country....

Ahhh, Saturday morning. We slept in this morning. And it felt good. Too good. We both fell asleep on the couch after I spent the day working with Kenny. It was an awesome day, and he LOVES it when I work with him. I'm on summer vacation, so the idea of work isn't great, but if it means I get to spend the day with him versus alone, it's all good once a week or so. So anyway, we slept on the couch, which is one of the reasons we bought the overstuffed thing, because it holds 2 (rather large) people to sleep! Kenny had to go back to work this morning and he was about to get ready to leave and I was happily sipping coffee and just starting in on reading blogs at the computer when he announces that I better get dressed because one of his buddies was here. Too late. There I was in blue PJ pants and a ratty red T-shirt, my favorite jammies. And wild hair too. Can't forget about that. I went to sleep with wet hair and HELLO when you wake up!!! So I'm not looking good at all. Kenny's buddy walks up to the door and only has to talk to Kenny for 2 seconds (so he says) and asks if I can watch his kiddos in the car. I look down at myself, and promptly say NO WAY because I'm not walking out of this house into suburbia looking like this. NO WAY. His buddy asks me again, assuring me that I look fine, and I tell him that I am NOT going outside in my PJs, hair all crazy, and no bra. He finally talks me into it after a small argument, plus the kiddos are super cute. And I know why he didn't want to get them out of their carseats either....they are twins, they are two, and one just had a major surgery a month ago and they still have to be very careful with him, therefore, having them run around the yard while their dad was talking to Kenny was out of the question. So that's why I gave in. I looked both ways down my street to make sure no one was watching, and bolted for the car. I jumped in the front seat and entertained the cuties for about 5 minutes. They started asking for their dad and that was my cue to get back into the house. I got back in as fast as I could just as their dad was walking out the door. Perfect timing and NO ONE saw me. Just as Kenny's buddy is leaving, he stops and yells out "Lindsey the boys want to say bye to you!" OMG! I have to go outside AGAIN looking like this?? What is this? So, because I can't resist their sweet little faces, I go out to say goodbye to them. Just about this time the neighbor across from us yells out "Hi Lindsey and Kenny!" and then because he hears that neighbor say hi to us, the man in the house next to us (whose wife is dressed TO THE NINES EVERY DAY AND SHE'S RETIRED) says hi to us, and you can just imagine the horror on my face. When I was kid, we played in our PJs outside, because we lived on a dirt road where MAYBE 1 car a day drove by. We ran around half naked for that matter, peed in the backyard, you get the picture. In college, it was the thing to go to Meijers in the middle of the night in your PJs to get groceries, beer, what have you, so I was totally comfortable then doing that. But now, living in a suburb, where neighbors are constantly watching and judging, I'm NOT comfortable doing that. Let me rephrase...I'm totally comfortable IN THOSE CLOTHES. I'm not comfortable with other people SEEING me in those clothes. Especially not our neighbors. Because they still like us, and I want to keep it that way. So the moral of this long, drawn out story (which Kenny will read and tell me I babbles too much) is that you can take a girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of her, except if she lives in town. Then maybe you can, just a little.

This Week's Theme:

Creative

Let me explain: The top of this dresser (it was my great grandma's) is hit. And until I decide to spend the lute to get it refinished, this is what I came up with! The fabric blends nicely with the dresser and hides the bad parts, but it's still functioning!

Belated Birthday!

I missed someone's birthday. I hate it when that happens!! She kept it a secret, so I'm letting the cat out of the bag........

Happy Birthday Tasha!!

Her day was yesterday, but since we missed it, today will work!

Send her some birthday love!

Camping Trip

Before I even get into our trip, I first will say OMG I was surprised to come home and see the blog makeover!! I had no idea Lindsay was going to do it that quickly! Thanks Linds! You rock! Click here to see just how talented this woman is!!

Thank you Lindsay!!!

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We came home a day early, but WOW what an awesome trip!! I came home from teaching on Thursday and we were mostly packed, but then it started to DOWNPOUR, which Michigan desperately needs the rain, but come on!! Right when we’re packing up the truck to leave?? Sheesh. It didn’t last long though. We waited it out and packed up the truck and were off.

We stopped and picked up our friend Drew and after about 2 hours of driving he remembered this awesome lighthouse on Lake Michigan to stop and take pictures of the sunset. It was a little bit out of the way but sooooooo worth it.

Then a few hours later we found a great 2-track to find a spot to camp on. I think it was midnight when we set up our tent! Drew slept out on the ground. He really ruffs it. I’m all about that at times, but when you have a nice comfy tent and an even more comfy air mattress to sleep on, why ruff it?? This wasn’t one of those pack-the-bare-minimum trips for me. I love those too, but not this time!

Friday morning we found a little hole-in-the-wall diner for breakfast, you know those always have THE BEST breakfasts in the world. Kenny and Drew wanted to explore and I wanted the beach, so they dropped me off at the beach and I had a blast doing NOTHING. I laid in the sun, read, slept, went swimming, slept, walked on the beach. It was totally peaceful.

Then about 4 hours later they came back and played football on the beach while I pretended to be a photographer!

When we got back to our campsite my mom was there! She said she might come up, so when we got there I called her with directions and there she was.
We cooked our dinner on the fire and went back to the beach to watch the sunset at another light house. Again, it was beautiful!

Saturday morning we packed up and started driving around the coast of Michigan, stopping at any lookouts on Lake Michigan that we could.

We found a place to camp at an actual campground for our second spot, right along a river. We didn’t even try to find a place to see the sunset that night because we were so comfortable at our campsite. It was down from the circle that we drive in on and parked, but nestled right above the river. A slice of heaven!

I never slept so well camping. EVER! It was the most peaceful sound you ever heard. And this is what I saw when we woke up.

My mom took off for her next destination that morning, and Kenny and Drew and I started towards home a day earlier than we thought. Monday morning meant back to work for the boys and also a day of laundry and cleaning for me before I had to teach and play softball on Tuesday, so it was fine that we came home early.

I felt so relaxed and stress-free on this camping trip. And so did Kenny, and we both needed it so much.

What is it with this goofy guy and his pouts?? Like he's trying to get sympathy or something! He really is happy here...maybe I just need to tickle him more!

You can see all our camping pictures on Flickr over in the sidebar.

You got Splatted!

Hey Everyone...
This is Lindsay from My Splatter Painted Life & Splat Template Designs...
Lindsey whose blog this is ordered a new template from me and then went out of town...
I thought it wold be FUN to upload it for her and surprise her with the new template when she gets home!
If you see this before she does, send her a little love in her comments!
Hugs to all
~Lindsay

Gift

I've been working in the basement recently trying to unclutter and organize, two of my favorite pastimes. I found my camera last week (OMG I'm still in shock) and various other items that I didn't even realize I missed since we moved. Little things, you know the ones, a small picture, a piece of jewelry, a knick-knack that so-and-so gave you that makes you think happy thoughts. And then I came across one of the most meaningful gifts I've ever received. When I graduated from college in 2002, my mom, aunt, and grandma made me this wall hanging quilt.

I had no idea they had taken the time (and it takes a while!!) to do this for me. I'm usually the one who makes people's gifts, so receiving something like this was a big thing. These three wonderful women helped me learn to sew and have been huge creative (along with other ways) inspirations to me as long as I can remember. All their beautiful craftmanship shows in this quilt. It's made up of pictures and little messages to me as a graduate. My mom cut up small pieces of fabric and sent them along with fabric markers to several family members and friends, who wrote messages on the fabric and sent them back to my mom, and that's how this quilt was made.

The colorful pieces in it are actually crayola crayon fabric, because (duh) I was going to be a teacher. I can't even begin to tell you how much this quilt means to me. Every time I look at it, which now can be often because it finally has a place in our bedroom, I get teary-eyed. Just putting it up on the wall forced me to get the kleenex. Seriously. There are several people in the quilt who are not living anymore, so that adds to the importance of it. I think this is the reason I enjoy making gifts for people. I'm not sure if everyone appreciates the gifts as I appreciate this one, but at least they know how much they mean to me to receive a gift from the heart, like this quilt.

And as for the area in the basement that I've been working on, it's lookin' all spiffy now. Check it out!

I covered the shelving unit full of teaching stuff with fabric that was laying around.

And the peg board?? There's a ton of it in this basement. This is the section that is on the wall above the built-in workbench. Looks like I've taken it over, and it's not with tools! Kenny thinks it's cute. I think I'm lucky cause most guys probably wouldn't like that too much. Hehehe....