Year in Review

Last year I made a list of 13 things that I wanted to get accomplished in 2007. I thought it would be fun to review them and see how I did.

1. Go to Greece! Due to the passport fiasco I did not get to go to Greece. Heather and Kelci went to Greece. After Darby and I finally got our passports the two of us went to Mexico. It was wonderful!!!
2. Take piano lessons I went to one piano lesson and haven't been back since. I just don't have time right now. Hopefully someday I'll be able to do this.
3. Keep my diabetes in check Wow this one so did not happen. In fact my diabetes is worse now than it has ever been. But I'm doing injections now and starting to feel better. I think this is just going to have to be a life long goal!
4. Pay off the last of my credit card debt I DID THIS!!!! It feels wonderful!
5. Complete my first practicum for grad school I DID THIS TOO!!!! I hated every minute of it but it's finally over. I only have three classes and one practicum left to be finished!
6. Spoil my niece Mattie like crazy. I think that this is going very well. I love that little girl more everyday. And now that she lives close by it makes it easier to do!
7. Get my homestudy done so I can move forward with the Ethiopian adoption process. Wow the adoption journey has really taken up most of my year. My homestudy is done, I'm approved through immigration, I'm also approved to adopt domestically. I've had a failed adoption after the birth of a wonderful little boy and now I'm just waiting!
8. Work out consistently. Ugh if I had done this maybe I'd be in better shape with my diabetes. This didn't happen. I don't know why I don't force myself to make time for working out but I'm very bad about it.
9. Raise $1000 for the Relay for Life. I didn't raise $1000 but I did raise a little over $800 which makes me very happy!
10. Organize my shop building. Heather and I got the shop building organized but it's now unorganized again. It's ridiculous. That building is one huge mess!
11. Go see the chalk pyramids. I haven't done this. I still really want to go. Maybe some day soon.
12. Meet all my work objectives. I did this and then some. I took a promotion and I'm now a supervisor. I've never worked so hard in my life. It's crazy. I don't know what I was thinking!
13. Get my yard fenced. The yard is now fenced. Lena and I are both loving it!!!

So that's the review. In the next couple of days I'll post a list of some things I'd like to do in 2008. I have a feeling it's going to be a great year.

Jessie

Shrinking Sally

I used to work with a gal years ago that was pretty heavy. She probably had about 150 pounds to lose. I hadn't seen her in a long time when I ran into her this week. She has lost a ton of weight! She had a lap band procedure done to help her and looks amazing! She told me a little about her surgery and it's interesting but scary to me.

Any surgery scares me. I won't lie I'm a baby when it comes to things like that. But the idea of having that big of a surgery really scares me! However, there is now a laproscopic lapband procedure that is less invasive. That isn't as scary to me.

If you go to journeylite.com you can learn a lot more about the procedure. Journeylite performs laproscopic lapband procedures at several different locations. So if you want you can go to central florida lapband and enjoy some time at the beach before or after your procedure. They have a ton of information on their website about it. It's pretty amazing what doctors can do now. I never would have guessed that type of procedure could be done so easily. Pretty amazing!

Jessie

Busy Weekend

What a busy weekend! We had Mattie's first birthday party yesterday. Man I love that kid. She tore her cake up. It was pretty dang funny. She may not understand the present piece but she totally gets the cake smushing piece. Makes for great pictures.

After that we headed to our third and final Christmas celebration with my mom's side of the family. We had a great time! Our aunts are so funny. They do so many things that remind me of my mom. Heather and I laughed a lot. They got us some wonderful gifts as usual. Those gals have us figured out.

This year Heather and I sorted through all of my mom's Christmas decorations. Keep in mind between my mom and I there are 2 trees, 13 rubbermaid containers, and 2 large garbage sacks of decorations. Yes that's a lot! So we went through everything and decided what Heather and I wanted, what we thought the aunts might like and what just needed to be retired due to wear and tear. We ended up with a good size tub for the aunts. So we took it yesterday for them to look through. They were pretty dang funny about it! It was hilarious watching them pick through, barter with one another, trade it up, make deals. Funny gals.

I love my family.

Jessie

Paintball Knowledge

As you know my identity was stolen a couple weeks ago. As I've been sifting through all of the reports, transactions, and drama surrounding that I'm learning all kinds of things. I noticed some transactions related to paintball and I honestly don't know much about paintball so I've done some investigating. I wasn't sure what a couple of the things were that I alledgedly bought so I surfed the web until I figured out what each item was. Heck if I'm paying for it I want to know what it is right!

One thing I have figured out for sure is that there are a ton of paintball supplies out there! I had no idea how many different paintball guns there were, that there were so many different kinds of paintballs and that you could spend so much money on it. I actually am kind of interested in playing some paintball now.

I came across one huge online paintball store that is pretty impressive. Luckily for me there person that stole my identity didn't find this site. They could have had a hayday on here. This store sells everything from the spyder vs2 gun to paintball pants, gloves and neck protectors. They have Tippmann guns and extra parts. They even have reuseable paintballs! Who knew you could go green with paintball!!!

So if you need to shop for any paintball supplies they are the folks to visit. And if you have questions about paintball it's shocking but I might be the girl to ask.

Jessie

Christmas Number Two

Tonight we had Christmas number 2! Lots of fun! Shawn, Amanda, Mattie, Amanda's parents, her brother and sister, Monte, Kathy, and Heather all came to our house for dinner and gifts. I think everyone had a really great time. Mattie was of course her adorable entertaining self. She wore a little Santa dress that was just too cute! She wasn't to into the presents but she did like pulling the bows of my packages and eating them. Good times.

I got some wonderful gifts. Heather got me a blue tooth for my phones. Since I spend so much time on my work cell phone I thought it would be nice to have. She also got me a beautiful ring. Shawn and Amanda got me a new family picture of them and the game mad gab! It is so much fun. I can't wait to play it on New Years Eve. Amanda's family got me some earrings and a couple of great adoption books. Gotta love that! And Monte and Kathy got me two beautiful nativity sets. One is actually an angel with a nativity in the middle of it. Very stunning.

So Happy Christmas for me! Tommorow is Mattie's 1st birthday party. That's exciting stuff. Then in the afternoon Heather and I are heading to Topeka to do Christmas with my Aunts. I think Christmas Number 3 is our final Christmas celebration. After all that I think I'm going to spend Sunday sleeping. :-)

Jessie

Mattie Moo

Tonight I went out to Shawn and Amanda's house to visit after work. Amanda's family is in town for the next week or so and I haven't seen them in a year! So it was nice to visit with them and catch up a little bit. It was also wonderful to see my niece Mattie Moo. I missed her while I was in Texas. It's weird how spoiled you get so quickly. I've really adjusted to seeing her every few days so it seemed like a long time to go without.

She is quite the trouble maker lately. She is really into exploring everything and finding whatever she can get into. Tonight she figured out how to open the drawers and get things out. Luckily it was the drawer that all the dish towels were in. She had quite a fun time throwing them all out! Everyone but her parents thought it was pretty cute and funny. Needless to say they weren't as amused. We made her stop after I snapped a few pictures. Fun stuff!




Jessie

Honey I'm Home

Heather and I made it home from Texas safe and sound tonight! Christmas Day is the day to fly! Our flights were on time, there wasn't a crowd and people were in great moods. On our last flight there was maybe 15 people so we all got to spread out and have a section of seats to ourselves. Very nice!

It was really beautiful flying into Wichita. There was a bunch of snow on the ground and it made for great sightseeing. I love the view from the plane! I thought the cold would be a real shocker when we got home but it wasn't bad at all. It was about 45 when we landed but no breeze so it was all good.

It was wonderful to walk in the door and have Lena girl all excited to see me! I really missed her while I was gone. She and I both had a bunch of Christmas stuff here at the house from Monte and his friend Cathy. I got great healthy stocking stuffers like graham crackers, crystal light, a splenda cookbook, some sugar free gum, lotion, and a calculator. Lena had a new toy cell phone and a new sweater!

Now that I have unpacked a little I'm gonna go to sleep in my own bed! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Jessie

Warm Christmas

Wow it's Christmas Eve and it's mighty warm here in Corpus! I can't believe that we spent the day at the day at the beach. We had a good time. We collected shells, walked a lot, played in the water a little bit, and took some fun pictures. It's been between 60-80 every day since we have been here and no RAIN this year!!! Good times.

Heather and I head back to Kansas tomorrow. We are missing a huge snow storm there. I guess they got 8 inches of snow back home while we were enjoying the sun. Go figure. I love big snows like that. Hopefully we will another big snow after I get home. The time at the beach was worth missing the snow though.

We opened gifts a couple days ago and I got some great things. I got a jump drive for my computer which I really really wanted! I needed that very badly. I also got a crockpot and a cook book. Is someone trying to give me a hint about my not so great cooking skills? I got some candles, the Mania perfume that I love (that stuff is liquid sex), and a couple cool ornaments. I was very pleased. My dad got a digital picture frame that my Brother-In-Law has all loaded up with pictures for him. It's really awesome. Now that I've seen that I really want one of those. Maybe for my birthday right...

Okay hope you all have a great Christmas Eve!

Jessie

Quirks

We all have quirks. And I'm starting to realize that I have a lot of my mom's quirks. When I was a kid I thought she was really weird for doing this thing before we would travel. She would always empty all the trash cans. She would do it if we were leaving for an overnight trip or a week long vacation. Whenever I asked her why she would say, "well if I died on the trip I would hate for someone to have to worry about my trash". I always thought that was so stupid. We would be worry about other things rather than the trash.

Well I caught myself tonight being quirky like her but even worse! I'm leaving to go to Texas on Thursday night for Christmas with my Dad and Cricket. You should see my list of to do before we leave. It's ridiculous. So I started thinking about it and I do this with every trip. I pay all my bills a month in advance before a trip. I clean the entire house, wash my bedding, empty the dishwasher, do all the laundry, stock up on dog food and household supplies. It's ridiculous! And you know why I do it. Because if something would happen to me while I'm gone I'd hate for Darby and Heather to have to worry about all those things while they are trying to straighten out my dying or injuring myself. My God I'm my MOM!!!!

It makes no sense. If I die in a plane crash Darby really isn't gonna care if she has to buy my dog food or empty the dishwasher. She will just do it and take care of everything because that is what she does. But I would hate to make it more work for her so I do it. And I'm stressing out trying to get it all done. It really is a dumb thing to do to myself. But I have a feeling I always will.

And while I type this up I'm wasting time I could be mopping or scrubbing the toilets! Gotta run!!!

Jessie

The Pantry

Well as promised I ended up cleaning out my pantry. It really needed it. I actually ended up doing it last night because I was on a roll and thought I ought to just get it done. What's crazy is it only took me 15 minutes to do! Why did I let it get so bad in the first place. 15 minutes is nothing. I went ahead and took pictures of the nightmare pantry to show you. I am embarrassed that I let it get like this but maybe the embarrassment of showing it to the world will prevent me from doing it again. So here are the pics.... Ridiculous!



Notice the bulging doors. Yes you should be frightened. That is never a good sign!!!




It's dangerous to open. You never know what will fall out. Luckily the box of Cheerios isn't that heavy. I could have ended up with a broken toe if the canned items had fallen out. Hazardous I say!




And here is the pretty pantry after I got done. How nice and neat. Amazing what you find when you clean it out. I have four cans of Bush's Chili Magic so I guess I'm making Chili this week. I also have a bunch of tuna. Good stuff. Several boxes of cereal and a total of 30 boxes of jello. Yes 30! What's crazy is the stuff I threw away. A can of Enchilada sauce that expired in 1997 and a jar of pizza sauce that expired in 2002. Let's not forget the huge jar of cherries that was 2 years old. SCARY!!!

Jessie

The Great Purge

Since it snowed like crazy today and I didn't have anything else productive to do I decided to purge the house. I try to do this every year before Christmas. I figure that more stuff will come in due to excess gifting so I better get rid of things to make room for it. So this year I went crazy and really did some serious purging.

I ended up taking out 5 garbage bags of clothes, 2 bags of books and magazines, 2 garbage bag of random what the heck is this and why do I have it stuff and a bag of shoes, flip flops, purses, and hair stuff. Wahoo! There is room in my closets, my coffee table is clear and nothing falls out of the bathroom cabinet when I open it now! That's success!

Tommorow I'm going to purge the pantry and kitchen cabinets. Then I'm going to give the whole house a good cleaning. A little above and beyond the regular cleaning I do. I think there are some dust bunnies living on fans and behind furniture. So I need to evict them and freshen the place up a bit.

Good times!
Jessie

Sports Injury

I have my first sports related injury. Tonight I was playing a rousing game of tennis with Darby and she whacked me in the arm with her Wii Remote! Talk about pain. But there is no gain without it. The adrenaline rush from the injury forced me to kick her ass! She had no chance of winning after that.

So tomorrow I'm going shopping for a helmet and body pads so I can be protected when I play with her. She is vicious! I may beat her at tennis but she gets even when it's time to golf. I can't golf at all so it's gauranteed that she will beat me everytime! I actually set a personal record at golf tonight with a +8!!! How pathetic is that!!! So sad.

All the ice melted here today. So no more wiping out in the parking lot at work or my driveway like I did earlier this week. That's good. But tomorrow we are supposed to get snow so I'm guessing by Saturday it will be yucky again. Gotta love winter weather.

Jess

Bad Boys Bad Boys

I feel like I'm living in an episode of Cops. I spent half my day meeting with police officers about the identity theft crap. And I spent the other half of the day dealing with my bank and all the credit card companies. Fun times around here! While it's been a total pain in the ass I do feel like I'm making progress. Charges have been filed and it seems there is some really good evidence so hopefully they will be able to make the charges stick and really hold him accountable for all this.

I'm really impressed with how serious law enforcement takes identity theft. They have been so helpful in trying to correct this. They are getting me free copies of my credit reports, they have helped contact banks and credit card companies when I was hitting road blocks. They have just been very helpful and supportive. Impressive for small town cops!

So I'm off to sleep and hopefully in the morning I'll wake up to an uneventful day!!!

Jess

Identity Theft

Well my identity has been stolen. And with my identity it appears that about $3200.00 has been stolen too. Luckily my credit card companies and my bank are good about fraud detection and noticed so I won't be charged for any of it. I guess they questioned me spending $300 at the apple store in the middle of the night. I don't seem like an apple store midnight shopper. They also questioned all the other crazy charges.

What's funny is that the person that stole my identity is my ex boyfriend. I guess there is always a reason they are the ex. He wasn't even sneaky about it. I ended up getting an email from one of the businesses that he was using my info at that had his email included in it. So it wasn't hard to figure out. What I can't figure out is how he got all my info. The real kicker is that he maxed out one card at $1300 so he paid it off with money from my checking account! Then he put another $1300 on the card before it got stopped. So the money will be returning to my account and the other charges are being credited also. The only way the credit card company will do that though is if I file a police report.

Due to the horrible weather here the police department won't take the report till morning which is fine by me. I'd like to go to bed soon. But after that they will just have to arrest him. I'm really not even mad. I'm really disappointed that he made these choices that are going to land him in jail. Stealing is just wrong. While I'm not mad yet I may be mad when the credit report I just ordered shows up. If he has done other things that aren't so easy to fix I'm going to be very upset. I work hard to maintain good credit so he better not jack that up.

Good times here!

Jessie

Ice Storm

There is a big old ice storm a coming through. It's been raining and freezing like crazy. Not pretty. There are a lot of people already without power so I'm preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. I've got my flashlights and candles ready. I've got food and water and a good book. It's gonna be fine.

I've been watching the news too see if SRS will be closed tommorow. I'm crossing my fingers and toes. If SRS is closed then we can close our office which would make me a happy girl. I hate getting out in crummy weather. While I was watching all the closings roll across the screen I noticed that the Topeka Driving School is canceling there classes tomorrow. SHOCKING! Why would they even list that. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that if there is an inch of ice on the roads they aren't going to try and teach people how to drive. Fools!

Jessie

Pictures

Today I tried to take Caden's Christmas pictures. Caden usually is one of the easiest kids to photograph. But today he wanted NONE of it. He just wanted to play and goof off. Which makes perfect sense because he is three and fun and who wants to mess with silly Christmas pictures when you can run really fast and chase cats and pretend you are superman...

So we ended up with a few cute pictures and quite a few Christmas card rejects. You can see the end results below. But most of all we had fun. Caden is turning into such a big boy. He was hilarious at lunch after the picture attempt. He talks so clearly now and he adores me which just makes my heart happy. If all else fails at least I have an adorable three year old as one of my biggest fans. It doesn't get much better than that.

So here are the pics... Enjoy!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Jessie

Hospital Horrors

Today I woke up not feeling so great. I had a bad headache and just felt funny. I went to work and felt a little better briefly and then I felt pretty rotten. I guess I wasn't making much sense so my co-workers took me to the hospital. My blood sugar was really high so that explains it. They gave me a shot of insulin and I felt better almost immediately.

They had to run lab work which was good because they figured out I had an infection which is why my sugars are high. The bad part is that I think they sent the oldest lab tech in the world to do it. He was a pretty old guy and I think he must have failed the course several times. He ended up blowing out the vein in my left arm.

So now I have this huge red purple lump on my arm. It looks like a blood blister the size of a golf ball. It's throbbing like crazy. I ended up calling back up to the hospital and asking what to do about it because it keeps getting bigger. They said to just put ice on it and try not to bump it. Great advice. Try not to bump it. Like I wasn't trying to do that already!

I have to go back to my regular doctor tomorrow and have more lab work done and possibly get another insulin shot. Hopefully my antibiotics will kick in and my blood sugar will go down on it's own in the next couple days....

I'm sure this is going to cost me a small fortune. ER visits are never cheap. When I called back up there tonight about my arm I asked the nurse if you get the visit for free when you leave with an injury.... she didn't think that was so funny. I wasn't joking though. I think if they don't get the blood on the first try you should get the visit for free... Maybe when I'm boss of the world I'll start that program.

Jess

Wii Wonderful

I'm loving my Nintendo Wii! I've been playing it a lot and it's so much fun. Tonight Heather and Darby came over and played it too. We laughed so hard. Heather is quite the tennis player and Darby kicked my butt at bowling. Unfortunately we all suck at baseball. And the really sad part is that we all will be hurting tomorrow. For a video game it sure takes it out of ya! I'm anxious to see how much weight I lose this week from playing that thing.

Tomorrow Shawn and Amanda move home. Good times. We have to unload everything of the moving truck tomorrow. YUCK! I love that they are moving home. I'm dreading the unloading. Hopefully it won't be raining the whole time.

Off to bed!

Jessie

Christmas Parade

Tonight was the annual Christmas Parade here in town. I was really looking forward to going. I came home after work to change into warmer clothes and eat something before I went. Lena wanted to play so I stopped to play fetch with her and then we were playing on the couch. The next thing I knew I was waking up and it was 10:00. I fell asleep and slept through the parade!!!! I guess work wore me out today!

So now that it's time for me to go to bed I am wide awake. That's a bad deal. I guess I'll surf the net for awhile and do some house work and maybe I'll be able to fall asleep again later....

Jessie

Addictions

I have to admit that I have a few addictions. Darby calls me on it from time to time so I guess I'll just admit it to the world.

My first big addiction is playing tetris on my phone. I seriously play all the time! I play so much I have to charge my cell phone two to three times a day. I also play so much that two of the keys on my RAZR are coming off because they are the ones I use the most. That fast drop key is almost gone completely. Pretty bad that I will have to get a new phone because of it.

I think now the tetris thing has become a comfort thing. I used to tear up paper during meetings as a way to keep my hands busy. Now I put my phone on silent and play. I also play when I'm watching tv which really drives Darby nuts. So tetris is a bad deal for me.

My other addiction is all Darby's fault. She is the one that told me about bidz.com and got me hooked. If you haven't gone to bidz yet you should proceed with caution. Once you start it's very hard to stop. But I've gotten a ton of jewlery cheap because of it. In fact I have enough jewlery being shipped to me I could probably open my own jewlery store. Pathetic but oh so true...

Jess

Thanksgiving

Wow Thanksgiving was great this year. On Thursday, Heather and I went to have Thanksgiving with my Dad's side of the family and we had a wonderful time. We played a game called Fact or Crap and we laughed like crazy. Fun game but lots of crap! :-) The family time was fun and I was ready for some laughing so that made me very thankful!

Friday I headed to Tulsa for Thanksgiving with my Mom's side of the family. Again I had a wonderful time. The food was amazing the family was great and I did lots more laughing. I already posted about the fun with Parker. Well there was fun to be had with lots of people, not just the Amazing PMan. My cousin Todd and his wife Sara were able to come in from Chicago. Their little boy Elliot is just adorable and his sister Evelyn so "pretty". She has great self esteem for a 2 year old. This was the first time I've seen Elliot in person and he is 10 months now. He looks just like his Daddy.

I really had a great time with my family. It's very hard for me to leave them. I cried when I left today and I cried when they called to check on me as I was driving home. I just love them so much. What is really great is that when I am with them I feel like my mom is around a little bit. It's funny how much I crave being with them because I feel her but then leaving them makes me miss her more. It's just hard to love so much because then the leaving is hard. But it won't be long till I'll see them again.

Here are some pics I got over the weekend. Too many cute kids. I'm so hoping that next year I'll have a little one to have pictures of too. I can't wait for my baby to meet all my family. Whatever baby I get will be so loved.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Parker's Post

Parker has to be one of the most amazing young men I have ever met. And luckily he happens to be my relative! I'm a lucky girl. His birthday was on Thanksgiving this year and what is really strange is that ever year I get more and more thankful for him!

Last night Parker really wanted me to stay the night at his house. He wanted me to be his "guest"! He is absolutely the best host in the world. Parker informed me as soon as I got to his house that I could do anything I wanted and have anything I wanted. I think I'm going back to his house often. It's pretty rare when I get everything I want! So since I got to do anything I wanted I became addicted to his Nintendo Wii and played that for hours! I also got to have as many kool-aid jammers as I wanted. Needless to say I barely had one finished when Parker would bring my next one. I had a lot to drink!

Parker not only kept me fed and watered but he also provided hours of entertainment and he let me be a part of his movie making ventures. If he ever gets on the big screen I hope he remembers me and sends me some money or some kool-aid jammers.

I promised Parker that he would end up on the blog. So here is some video of his crazy robot dancing. I love you Parker boy!!!!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Catch Up

Wow it's been a week since I've blogged. I'm bad! Yes I've gotten your phone calls and emails. I'm not dead, I'm just really busy and blogging has gone to the bottom of the to do list. But I promise I will get caught up this weekend. I took lots of fun pictures at Thanksgiving and have some stories to tell so I will get caught up!

I haven't posted the Blogging Biggest Loser results and I get a big BOO for that. But the most important thing to know is that Natalie is the Biggest Loser of the whole sheebang and the biggest loser of the week with another pound lost. That puts her at 15 pounds lost so far! GO MISS NATALIE!!!! Please give her visit and a big congrats on all her hard work!

Okay I've got pictures to sort through and edit and then I'll get more up!

Jessie

Wacky Week

What a wacked out week. It has flown by and I feel like I've gotten nothing accomplished. It's been pure chaos at the office and I'm working all weekend so no break until Turkey Day. That sucks but it will make Thursday feel wonderful!

I honestly feel like my brain is fried and I can't even think of anything to blog about.....

8 Random Things

Good old Natalie tagged me for this meme.

Now….here’s the rules. When tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list eight random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to eight other people. It’s fun. Give it a shot. It's also a great way to get to know other bloggers.

1. I didn't learn to ride my bike without training wheels till I was like 12 years old. Lame I know. I hate bikes! Mainly I hate falling off the bikes, hence the training wheels.

2. I can't whistle. When I was a child I used to make the "whoot whoot" sound to mimick a whistle. Again lame but at least I was creative.

3. For some reason any plant that I put in my office at work dies. Right now I have a pot of dirt with sticks poking out of it as all the leaves have died.

4. I want to live in Alaska for a brief period of time before I die. Not a long time just awhile.

5. There is only one brand of underwear that I like. I'm not telling you what kind but I'm picking about panties.

6. I don't like staying the night at other people's houses. I'll do it but I would much rather be at my own house or a hotel. I just feel funny about being in people's space.

7. I haven't been on a date in so long! I was thinking about this the other day and it's really depressing! So if you know any single, employed, non alcoholic, kind, christian men that don't have a criminal record send them my way.

8. This is crazy but on my list of 100 things to do before I die I have run a marathon written on it. What's so funny about that is that I'm a fat kid that hates running. For some reason I think I want to run the marathon but not have to train or move from my couch.... is that possible.

So that's my 8 random things. I'm not gonna pick 8 people to do this. If you read this and want to do it leave me a comment and I'll link to ya.

Jessie

Vacation Over

My time off work has come to an end! It was hard to go back to the office today but I survived. I have so much to get caught up on. I love getting time off but hate the going back. My desk gets scary when I'm away!

Tonight I worked late, Shocking I know. Then I came home and watched a weeks worth of Days of Our Lives that I had on the DVR. I don't ever watch the whole episodes. I probably watch about 20 minutes of an hour show. I fast forward through the people I don't like. I know that's bad but why waste time on folks and stories you don't like. I just stick with the good parts and skip the rest.

While I was watching my soap I guess Lena got bored. She chewed all the way through my cell phone charger cable. Not a good deal! That dog kills me. She is almost 2 years old yet she still acts like a puppy. I just don't understand it!

Google That

Tonight I was checking my visit stats. I always like to look to see how people find my blog. Today someone found my blog by googling "Darby's Boobs". That's hilarious to me!!!! Darby is my best friend and I actually did a post about some guy staring at her boobs and that led someone to my blog. Too funny! So Darby your boobs may make us famous some day or at least it will bring more visits to my blog! I knew I loved you for a lot of reasons. Had no idea your boobs were one of them. :-)

Jess

GARTH GARTH GARTH

This week is Garth Fest in my little world. Went to the show on Wednesday night with Aunt Betty and we were so close to the stage! I've never been that close in my life. We were in the third row and could see EVERYTHING! I loved the concert. He played for 2 hours and 15 minutes and was amazing the entire time. I can't believe he can play that long and be so high energy but he pulls it off. We didn't sit down or stop screaming the entire show. My ears and throat still hurt and it's time to do it again tonight! I'm so psyched. Betty, Donna, Darby and I are going to tonights show. I have a feeling it will be just as good.

Jessie

Mom's Birthday

My Mom's Birthday was on Wednesday. The picture above was from her birthday three years ago. It's the last birthday she had here on earth. Last year to celebrate Heather and I took balloons to the Cancer Center and handed them out the to patients receiving chemo that day. This year Heather and I couldn't be together so I just went to the cancer center alone. There were only 9 people there this time but I gave them all balloons and they really got a kick out of it. I had fun doing it too. It's such a nice way to be able to do something in memory of mom and also make others feel a little better. So happy second birthday in heaven mom!

Jessie

African Footprint

On Tuesday night my friend Molly and I drove 2 hours to see African Footprint perform. It was totally worth the drive! I was so impressed. African footprint is a group from South African and they are so talented and entertaining. You really need to visit their website and see where they are touring. If there is a show anywhere close to where you live you just must go! I LOVED IT!!!!

If anyone in my family is reading this and still hasn't gotten me a Christmas present I would love to have the African Footprint CD! The show was a great mix of singing and dancing and I loved the music. I'd like to be able to listen to it whenever I want. The thing I love about African music is that it's so fast paced and it just makes ya happy inside. I don't know if it's the drums or what but I love it.

Jessie

Blogging Biggest Loser Week Eight

Wow time is flying by! We are already to week eight of the blogging biggest loser competition! Miss Natalie is our biggest loser again this week. Natalie is rocking it out! She lost another 2 pounds. I'm impressed!

We also added another member this week. So welcome to Darby. She started off with a 1 1/2 pound loss so that rocks too!

Hope you all have another great week!

Jessie

Today

Today is weigh in day so don't forget to let me know your gains or losses for the blogging biggest loser competition. I for sure won't get the totals up tonight. I have a busy day at work and then tonight I am going out with a friend and won't get home till late. We are going to an African dance show so it should be fun but it's a couple hours away so it will be a late night. But starting tomorrow I"m on vacation so that rocks!

Jess

Confession

I have a confession to make. I can't believe I'm going to admit this to the world. It's been my dirty little secret for quite awhile now. But I'm obsessed with Dog The Bounty Hunter. I've been watching his show for years. I DVR every episode. It's not so much Dog that I love but his oldest son Duane Lee. I have a secret wish that Duane Lee will fall in love with me through the screen and come and sweep me away from the plains of Kansas and love me Hawaiian style for the rest of my life. So I watch and I wait and I love that they kick ass and take names. And I dream of having my own sand bag shooting gun and pepper spray foam. It's sick and lame but it's the truth.

And now Dog has ruined my dream. He went and made all those racist comments to his stupid son Tucker and now the show is canceled. And too top it off he is a racist and that is never cool. So now I'm sad and my dream is ruined. Who will I love on TV now. Who will sweep me away. Who will pepper spray people and catch the bad guys? Dang it Dog what were you thinking. Didn't he know I needed Duane Lee. Didn't he know that the whole world is watching and now he looks like a total jack ass! Hasn't he heard of Imus????

So that's my sick confession. I'll keep watching the repeats and praying that Duane Lee will come find me...

Jessie

Halloween Fun

Halloween is my favorite holiday and last night proved to be fun so I was a very happy girl. While this house is not in a high trick or treat area I did get some wonderful little ghosts and goblins stopping by. Mainly my friends kids but I love them and gave them tons of candy! So here are some pics of the cutest trick or treaters I know! There are also a few pictures proving that I'm a fool for kids and that I may come back as a dragon in my next life....

Adoption Month

November is Adoption Month! It's an exciting time to celebrate all types of adoption. At work we are trying to finalize as many adoptions this month as possible. And we are going to have a big adoption party for all the kids that have been adopted this year. That should be fun stuff!

At the adoption support group here in town they have asked me to share my story of meeting my birth family. I've never really done that in front of a group before but I'm excited to do it. I think we have a pretty cool story.

When I was 15 I decided that I wanted to meet my birth family. I mainly wanted to know who they were, what they looked like, and if they were okay. I talked to my mom about it and she was cool with it so we went and met with the lawyer that arranged my adoption. We met with him from about 3:45 to 4:15. I told him what I wanted and explained that I understood it could take a long time to find them but that I wanted to try. He agreed to make some calls and get back to us.

After we left his office we went and ran some errands and got home about 5:45. There was a message on our answering machine from the lawyer saying that he talked to my biological grandmother and that she and my birth mom would be calling me at 9:00 that night! WHAT????!!!! That was fast. Talk about shocked!

That first phone call with them was pretty awkward. I tried to explain to my birthmom Karla that I really loved my parents and they were great. I didn't need her to be my mom but I needed some answers and I needed her to be my friend. She was really understanding and open to that. I think she was more nervous about talking to me then I was to her. She has since told me that she was afraid I wouldn't like her. That first conversation was on a Monday and that next Friday they came to meet me in person.

That was Valentine's Day in 1996! Seems like forever ago now. The day of the meeting I was so nervous my stomach was upset. So my mom picked me up from school early and we hung out together. We went and got a balloon bouquet for her hotel room that said "It's a Girl" and then sat around waiting for them to show up.

It was so weird the first time I saw Karla. She and I looked a lot alike. It was really strange to look like someone, be related to someone and not know them. We had a good first visit and we have stayed in touch since then. She and my mom had a good relationship with one another and were pretty close. That made the whole process so much easier.

Getting to know my biological family has not been easy but it's been worth it. It's an evolving relationship that changes over time. Sometimes it's easier than others but it does take work on everyone's parts. It so odd to be with people that are your "family" but they don't know you. Everything is different when I'm with them. They celebrate differently, they interact differently, and they are just really different from my regular family. It's always wonderful to see them but at the same time it also wears me out. I have to try harder when I'm with them. When I'm with my real family it's just comfortable. They have known me my whole life and there is no explaining. It just is.

So even though it is weird, it's good. And even though it takes work, it's worth it. Now I have answers to my questions and I've had the opportunity to have a relationship with all the people that care about me. So it's worked out and it's evolving and I'm enjoying the ride.

Jessie

Blogging Biggest Loser Week 7

Well this week there is no blogging biggest loser. No one in the competition lost any weight! At least we all stayed the same. Maybe next week will bring some big weight loss. Good luck!

Jessie

It Could Be Worse

Well Miss N delivered a very healthy baby boy yesterday. She and the baby are doing very well. The paternity tests show that the baby is her husbands and they will be parenting him. So no baby for me right now but I'm really okay. I'm not just a little okay, I'm not just saying I'm okay. I really am okay! I knew going into this situation that there were many unknowns and a big risk and that helped. I really feel like this has been a great experience. Meeting her was wonderful and a fun time. And meeting the folks at a new agency is a good thing. Now that they know me I know they will keep me in mind for other situations so that is always good!

So no crying this time! That's a good thing. It could always be worse.

Jessie

Manic Monday

If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be and why?

My parents wouldn't have gotten a divorce.

Do you think that the world will be a better or a worse place 100 years from now?

I think it will be a better place.

At the beginning of a relationship, do you trust your new partner unless there is something specific to make you do otherwise, or do you withhold your trust until he/she has earned it?

I trust them until they do something to make me not trust them.

Picture Fun

Since I didn't post for so long I feel a little bad about it. So to make up for it I thought I'd post some pictures from last weekend. So here is the proof that my crazy aunts are way fun and that Fall is fabulous!

Time To Blog

Wow I haven't posted in a long time.... Sorry about that. Darbis called tonight and wanted to know why I wasn't posting. I don't really have a good excuse. One evening I was running late and just wanted to go to bed. Another night I was in a foul mood and didn't want to be negative. And then before you know it you are out of the routine and you forget... I'm a blogging bum this week I suppose.

Let's see what can I tell you about.... I met with the expectant mom on Friday. That was a good time. She is a really fun gal. WONDERFUL sense of humor! I like that a lot. And smart. Very smart and concerned about her baby. I was just really impressed by her and like her a lot. While she was very nice she also was in labor while we met. Well at least we thought she was. Her contractions were about 4 minutes apart. That was exciting. But after a trip to the hospital they stopped. So she is back to waiting and being uncomfortable and I'm waiting and nervous. If she doesn't have the baby before Tuesday they are inducing her Tuesday morning. So at least we will know something by Friday. We are planning on the paternity test taking 2-3 business days so hopefully by Friday...

Lena decided to be rotten today and drag all of her toys into the hallway while I was sleeping in. So when I got out of bed and tried to go down the hall in my just awake daze I totally tripped over a squeaky toy and wiped out. That dog is gonna be the death of me! She also thought it was funny to shred the toilet paper in the hall bathroom while I was sleeping. Is she preparing me for a toddler or does God just hate me....

I prepped all my food for the coming week. I am making this awesome crockpot southern rice dish for tomorrow night. YUMMY! While I was doing the prep stuff tonight so I could just throw it together this morning I about made it for dinner tonight. I think it's going to be really good. I've never made it before but the recipe is from my Diabetic Fix It and Forget It cookbook and everything from that one has been good so far.

Okay that's all I know. Have a great week folks!

Jessie

Nervous

I've got butterflies in my tummy as I type. I'm so so nervous to even blog about this because I'm afraid I will jinx it. But I blog about everything and I'm not gonna let my nerves stop me now.

I've been talking with the adoption agency for the past week and there is an expectant mother that has decided she would like for me to possibly adopt her baby. It's a strange situation actually. The baby is due on Friday and after the baby is born there needs to be a paternity test done. The paternity test will determine if we can move forward with an adoption plan. So while my last adoption was 50/50 this one is even more risky. But I feel good and hopeful and open to whatever this situation holds. I actually feel pretty calm about it. I have faith that God knows the plan and is in control and I'm just along for the ride...

What I'm most nervous about is the let down if it doesn't work out. Not the let down for me but for the people that care about me. I hate disappointing them so I'm hoping that things work out so I don't have to call them and say oh never mind... I hate that part!

So anyways that's the deal. We will see what the future holds. If you are a praying person I wouldn't mind if you said a little one for me...

Jessie

Blogging Biggest Loser Week 6

Once again Miss Natalie is the biggest loser of the week. YOU GO NATALIE!!!! She lost a 1/2 a pound this week. I stayed the same. UGH! Maybe one of these weeks I'll have some huge weight loss and get caught up! I think all the eating I did over the weekend caused the scale to stay put.

So now as a group we have lost 33.6 pounds. I'm hoping we can hit 40 pounds next week! I think we can do it. Lots of water, lots of walking, lots of losing!!!

Jessie

My Aunts

My Aunts rock! They showed up this morning at 8:30 and just left a few minutes ago. We crammed a lot of crazy fun into one day. Heather and I met them for breakfast at a little diner in town and enjoyed some delicious biscuits and gravy! Goodbye diet today! Then we headed out to the cemetary to visit mom. They brought some sunflower stuff to decorate with and we got it all prettied up.

The wind was crazy today! My Aunt Shirley weighs about 12 pounds and I really thought she might blow away. We were so wind blown after going to the cemetary but we braved the pumpkin patch. It was a blast even though dust was flying everywhere most of the time we were there.

We went through the corn maze and I was really beginning to think that Heather, Donna, and Betty were lost in there. It took them a good 35 minutes to make it out! But while they were in the maze they ran into four little boys that Heather used to babysit for. It was so nice to see their family and share some fall fun with them.

My aunts even tried out the sling shots at the patch. You can fire gourds out of the sling shots and they fly pretty dang far. We had a nice gourd firing contest among us. Heather ended up breaking the sling and landing on the ground in the process of trying to beat us. But I think Aunt Adair ended up winning.

After all that fun I didn't think we could do much more. But we ended up going to the Oktoberfest where I won some awesome decorations. I got a couple adorable outside benches that I LOVE! I've been wanting some for awhile so it worked out great. Then we came home and played some Mexican Train dominos, ate more food we didn't need, and now they are on their way home.

Heather and I have now cleaned up the house, let Lena out of puppy prison and are thinking out heading to bed. Those crazy gals wore us out!!!!

Jessie

Where I Live

Gene from Turning The Pages Of Life came up with a great idea to help bloggers get to know one another better. His idea was for bloggers to post 10 pictures about the area they live so others can get to know them and what their daily lives are like. I love taking pictures so I just had to participate.

So here are ten things I see on a regular basis...



This is my lovely little house. I've been living here for about a year now and I'm starting to get used to it. I finally feel like it is a home.


I live very close to the railroad tracks and I get stopped by the trains several times a day. Usually a train goes by about every 30 minutes.


You can't live in this part of Kansas and go a day without seeing a cow. In fact we have a large meat processing plant here that kills quite a few cows a day. Not nice to think about but nice to eat. So I'm guessing this cow didn't live long after I took this picture...



I love old barns. In this area there are quite a few awesome old barns. I drive by this one several times a week.



This picture is of my sister and I at my mom's headstone. I spend a great deal of time at the cemetary. For some reason I find it very peaceful and calming. I probably visit 3-4 times a week.


I love going to our local zoo. I really enjoy sitting by this little pond and waterfall area. For being a small town we have a very nice zoo area. Many fun times have happened at the local zoo.



I see lots of flowers everyday! I love that about where I live. Lots of beautiful and unique flowers throughout town.



Every Thursday I meet my two best friends Darby and Tammy for lunch at this restaurant. LaHacienda! It has the best Mexican food in town. It also has a creepy waiter guy that wears a hairnet (Caden, Darby's son says the hairnet is spider webs) and he stares at Darby's boobs. Minus the creepy waiter it's some of the best food in town!



William Allen White is a renowned newspaper editor and he happens to be from my home town. This is his house that is now a historical location. I went to an elementary school that is located across the street from his home. The school is named in his honor.




Veterans Day was first celebrated in my home town. We take great pride in our Veterans and this is our local All Veterans Memorial. It's a very nice location complete with a tank, helicopter, and plaques honoring the veterans of Emporia.

So that's a little view of things I see every day. I love where I live. I can't imagine living anywhere else...

Jessie

Fun Friday

Today was a really fun day. We had Libby's baby shower at work today. It was a really good time. We all needed a nice break to just enjoy the afternoon without the drama! It feels like it's been forever since we've had a fun work day. And the best part is that she got some really awesome gifts. She has another baby shower Sunday and then another one next weekend. I think by the end of her showers she will be all set!

Heather and I are hanging out together this evening. We went to dinner and now we are just chilling around the house. Tomorrow my aunts are coming for a Fall Fabulous Day! We are hitting the pumpkin patch and the Oktoberfest at church. Good times ahead!!!

Jessie

Favorite People

Tonight I got to hang out with my two favorite people. Miss Heather and Darby! Darby comes over on Thursday nights so we can watch Grey's together and chill out without children distracting us from the greatness of Grey's. And Heather got to come home tonight because of fall break. She will get to stay home until Sunday! I'm so excited. I get four days with her. We have a fun weekend planned so hopefully tomorrow work will be great and it will lead into a super weekend!

Jessie

Blogging Biggest Loser Week 5

Wow I am actually the biggest loser this week. I lost 1.5 pounds. I'm good with that. I think the meal planning helped me. Natalie and Acire both lost 1 pound this week which rocks. We are moving in the right direction. This week we lost 3.5 pounds as a group which means we have lost 32.9 pounds so far. That rocks!

Let's keep the weight loss going team!

Jessie

Monday Madness

Work was good today. Shocking for a Monday. But I went to the office and worked for about 4 hours yesterday when no one else was there. That helped a ton! I was able to get caught up on quite a few things and really felt good about the start of the week because of it. I even got to spend four hours today training with our new employee. She is gonna be really good I think and it was nice to actually have the uninterupted time to train with her.

However, since I've been home it's been a nightmare. My cable was again not working when I got home and I've been on the phone with the internet folks half the evening. So annoying! I thought my internet problems would be over when I got away from dial up but I guess not. It drives me crazy. Now that I'm online I need to be in bed....

Don't forget tomorrow is weigh day for those participating in the Blogging Biggest Loser Challenge. I'm looking forward to weighing this week. I did good over the weekend and today so hopefully it helped!

Jessie

Odd Find

Today I was checking out my stat counter information for my blog. I can find out locations of where people visit. What pages on my blog they look at, etc. One of my favorite things is to see how they find my blog. It seems that someone from Canada used google to search for "celebrities that circumcised their boy" and it led them to me! How funny is that. It actually led them to this old post that I made about the great circumcision debate that Darby and I have. Can't believe it's still coming up. The argument that will never die!

Jessie

Buzz

I need some buzz, you may need some buzz, well at www.investorblogger.com we can get some buzz for our blogs. This is a really fun idea in my opinion. It is a great way to have someone look at your blog and give you some feedback about things you can do to improve. We are all looking for ways to improve right. So if you are interested in participating in the buzz your blogfest I hope you will visit.

While you are visiting you should check out some of Kenneth's other posts. You can find out about all kinds of things on his blog. Information about
typhoons and cameras and lots in between can be found on Kenneth's blog. Good stuff!

Jessie

Bro-Mother-In-Law

This is a crazy little genogram post so you may have to struggle to follow along. But let's all work together and see if I can walk you through it. My brother Shawn married Amanda. Amanda has a mom named Debbie. Debbie is my brother's mother-in-law so I call her my bro-mother-in-law. That's a confusing little conundrum isn't it.

Well anyways Debbie my bro-mother-in-law is a pretty cool gal. I first met her the week prior to Shawn and Amanda's wedding several years ago. Since they got married the weekend after Thanksgiving we got to enjoy the holiday and the wedding together. Debbie and my mom hit it off and had a great time together. Debbie thought my jokes about my fat foot not fitting in the bridesmaid shoes was funny and I thought she was a good cook. We partied like crazy after the wedding and had a great time! We all even cried when we had to leave after a week together. It was just one of those connections we all made quickly but strongly.

After the wedding we all continued to stay in touch. Debbie reads my blog religiously (Hi Debbie) and even joined my blogging biggest loser challenge. When my mom got cancer Debbie visited her caringbridge website daily and left so many encouraging messages for my mom.

After my mom died last year we knew the holidays would be hard. That's when Heather and I scheduled the Tour De Turkey Thanksgiving Travel Fest. We went to Shawn and Amanda's first and had dinner on Thanksgiving day with them and Debbie and the rest of their family. Debbie knew it would be a hard day for us and was ready to pass out mom hugs, share a cry, and feed us some awesome Thanksgiving food! We appreciated having a family meal with someone that knew and loved our mom and understood that the crying didn't mean the food was bad.

Well now Debbie needs my hugs and my prayers. And she needs your prayers too. That's why I'm posting. Debbie has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She will be meeting with a surgeon on Monday. Debbie is one feisty amazing gal and I have a feeling she is going to fight this with gusto. But she needs our prayers to help give her some additional strength. My prayer today is that Debbie find comfort and strength in God and that the surgeons be skilled and follow the will of God in treating this cancer! So my Debbie, my bro-mother-in-law, keep your head up, your hands folded, and remember your not alone. You've got God, you've got me, and you've got my mom as your special angel! Let the battle towards better begin!!!

Jessie

Blogging Biggest Loser Week Four

Due to my internet problems this post is several days late but I'm so happy to report such great progress! Debbie is our biggest loser of the week losing an amazing 4 pounds! Good work Debbie!

As a group we lost a total of 5.8 pounds this week! That brings us to a total of 29.6 pounds lost so far. We are making progress! I hope that this week brings even more weight loss!

For this week the challenge is to add some strength training to your workouts. That could simply be doing some squats, arm curls with soup cans, or lifting some weights. Whatever works best for you. Muscle burns more calories than fat so we need more muscle!

Keep up the good work team!
Jessie

Back In Business

I got home from work tonight and my internet is working! Praise God!!! I haven't been able to get on since Tuesday and I was seriously having withdrawels. Not pretty around here people! I have so many blogs to visit, emails to read, and posts to post. I better get too it!

Jessie

Cable Guy

Well my cable at home has been down the past couple days so no internet for me! The cable guy is coming today while I'm at work so hopefully I will be able to get online tonight to post the Biggest Loser results. Sorry for the delay!

Jessie

Ten On Tuesday

10 Things That Worry Me

1. If my sister is okay (she really is okay I just worry about all the things that could happen to her)

2. My Pending Adoption

3. Finances

4. The children I'm responsible for at work

5. The employees I'm responsible for at work

6. My diabetes

7. The war in Iraq

8. Grad school

9. Britney Spears losing her kids and going off the deep end (Just Kidding)

10. Global Warming

Tattoo Torture

The new tattoo is driving me nuts. None of my other tattoos have hurt after the fact. But this one sure does. I guess it is the location of it. Everytime I put my arm down it just throbs. So I have to keep my arm up which means I walk around in pagent wave mode looking like a fool. Then to make it even more idiotic looking I have to keep the triple antibiotic stuff on it so when I have my arm up and close to me so I won't bump it on anything the antibiotic stuff rubs off on my shirt, well actually it rubs off on my boob. That's super cool. UGH!

Then at night I have to wrap my arm in seran wrap so the goo won't get all over. And I have to try and lay in a way that won't crunch it and make it hurt but will also protect it so the dog won't hit it. And then to make it real fun the dog will try and pull the seran wrap off in the middle of the night which is not just annoying but also painful! UGH!!!

What was I thinking. I love the tattoo. I like the location. But I can't wait for the healing phase to pass. I really had no idea it would be so painful or such an inconvience. Again I've never had this problem. In the future if I get another tattoo I'm going for my back again. That may be the easy way out....

Jessie

Manic Monday

Which month of the year do you think best describes your personality?

October


If you could have had the starring role in an existing movie, which movie would you pick?

The Butterfly Effect

Are you attracted to people whose personalities are very similar to your personaltiy or very different?

Both, some of my friends are very similar and others are way different.

Some Carnival Fun

Well there is more carnival fun this week. The Carnival of Family Life is being hosted at My Wealth Builder. This week you can vote for your favorite submission to the carnival so that's fun times. The All Women Blogging Carnival is being hosted at Woman Start Your Business Now. This carnival is full of posts written by women about all sorts of topics. Good times. Go visit and have some fun!

Jessie

Sunday Prep

With this new position at work I've realized that I have zero free time during the week. In fact just getting normal things like meal preparations and house cleaning done are next to impossible. So since I'm sick of feeling so out of control I decided to try something new this week. I'm calling it Sunday prep.

What I did was go through my planner for the week and figure out what I have coming up at work. I also checked the 7 day forecast and then arranged outfits for me to wear for the next week. Since I do all my laundry on Saturday this was pretty easy. I just put everything I would need for each day on one hanger, sat the shoes below it and even included jewlery and hair items. That should save some time.

Then I decided to tackle the food problem. When I'm rushed I tend to eat junk. Which means I'm probably going to gain this week instead of lose in the blogging biggest loser competition. It also means that my blood sugar isn't good and I feel like crap! So I did my weekly meal plan went shopping and then premade as much as I could today.

I have tuna salad and chicken salad made for lunch. I even diced up my veggies and shreeded the lettuce so I just have to throw it together. I bagged up my grapes in individual serving bags, as well as some pickles, raisins, and nuts. I have my fruit in individual bags for smoothies in the morning so no need to measure just add them to my choclate soy milk and blend. Then for dinners I have the meat in individual bags that I will just have to remeber to dethaw and I have my veggies already bagged up so I just have to warm them. Hopefully this will help. I even have a bag ready to take to work for this week of healthy snacks.

So we will see what next week brings. I hope it will help keep me on track and reduce some of my stress! Let's cross our fingers....

Jessie

Knocked Up

I just got done watching the movie Knocked Up. I seriously laughed out loud so much watching this movie. A couple times the dog looked at me like I was crazy but it was just cracking me up. I love the character Ben! I totally need to find a guy like him. So dorky but still really cute. Love that. If you don't mind the cursing this is a really great movie. Too funny!

Breakfast

Tomorrow morning I'm going to a brunch and I made this really yummy Blueberry Brunch Cake! Now that it's all done it looks and smells so good. I want to eat it now but I'm going to hold out. Here is the recipe so you all can try it.

Blueberry Brunch Cake

Cake:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons poppy seed
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 large egg
1/2 cup sour cream

Filling:
2 cups fresh blueberries
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Glaze:
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon milk

Preheat oven to 350*F (175*C). Grease a 9-inch springform pan; set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, poppy seed, baking powder and salt; set aside.
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy; add eggs and lemon peel, mixing well.
Add flour mixture to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream.
Spread batter in prepared pan, spreading batter 1-inch up sides of pan to hold filling.
Combine filling ingredients and spread over batter
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Combine glaze ingredients and drizzle over warm cake.

I left out the poppy seed just because I'm not a big fan of that. And I also added a small amount of flax seed just because I like to add it to things for additional fiber. But you could mix it up and do what you prefer. All I know for sure is that it looks delicious!

Jessie

Halloween Fun

It's no big secret that Halloween is my favorite holiday. I think it is a really fun day for adults and kids alike. But now there is a great way to extend the fun and enjoy Halloween for a little longer.

There is a new trend called Booing your neighbors. No that doesn't mean you scare them to death! What you do is you assemble a treat bag and place it on their doorstep as a Boo. With the treat bag you also include a Boo poem and a sign for their window saying they have been boo'd. Then they boo someone else and it goes on and on until the whole neighborhood gets a fun treat.

A friend of mine in Chicago says they have been doing this for years but it hadn't hit Kansas till this season. So I guess I was out of the loop. To make it easy for you Hallmark has a cute little Boo kit that you can use or you can make your own kit. Whatever works best for you. I bought the kit at Hallmark because I don't have the time to make the cute little cards myself. But I'm ready to spread the Boo!

Jessie

Christmas Shopping

Yes you read that title right. I did actually type Christmas Shopping! Don't shoot me for mentioning it. My Dad and Cricket actually did all their Christmas shopping yesterday. Crazy I know! But they won't be back at their house until Christmas so they wanted to get it all done and have it all wrapped up before we all descend on their home in December. It makes sense actually and they don't have to fight the crowds.

For those of us that don't show months ahead of time but still want great deals CouponChief.com is the way to go. Since I'm on a budget this year I'm going to make a list of the people I need to buy for and what I want to get them. Then I'm heading over to Coupon Chief to see if I can find coupons for any of it. They have good coupons for both Gap and Old Navy which is good since I usually do a lot of my shopping at those two stores.

So I may not be ahead of the game and have all my shopping done like Dad and Cricket but at least I have a way to save a little money...

Jessie

Garth

Garth Brooks is coming to Kansas City! All week we have been getting obsessed about attempting to get Garth tickets around here. Everyone had a plan on how they were going to do it. Well my aunt Betty got a wristband and waited in line for several hours, my plan was to attempt by phone and internet and my aunt Donna was going with just the phones.

Two minutes in on the internet and the show was sold out. But lucky for us Garth is nice and kept opening shows. He opened up eight additional shows! So we ended up with a lot of tickets! I had success online and Betty had success in the regular line so now we have tickets to two shows! I thought we might get rid of some but now I think we are just gonna go to every show we have tickets for. Who knows what we will do I'm just glad we got tickets!!!

Jessie

Friday Feast

Appetizer

On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you look forward to your birthday?

8.5

Soup

What is one word you don’t like the sound, spelling, or meaning of?

Phlem YUCK

Salad

Do you wear sunglasses when you’re outside? If so, what does your current pair look like?

No

Main Course

If you were to write a book, to whom would you dedicate it?

To my sister, my parents, my funny aunts, and my amazing friend Darbis!

Dessert

Name a beverage that you enjoy

Mudslides

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things That Make Me Uncomfortable 1. Spiders- Anytime I see them I get the creeps. 2. Talking to my ex-boyfriend's new girl friend. For some reason she calls and texts me every once in awhile and it makes me very uncomfortable. 3. When I see people being rude to their mom I get uncomfortable. 4. The waiter at my favorite restaurant makes me uncomfortable. He is a creepy hair net wearing weirdo that always stares at Darby's boobs. 5. Walking up to testify at court. Testifying doesn't bother me the walk to the stand does! I hate knowing that everyone is watching me and it's all quiet and I just know I'm gonna trip or wipe out.... 6. When people ask me about the adoption I get uncomfortable because I'm embarrassed it's taking so long. 7. When telemarketers call the house and ask for my mom. 8. Riding in the car with someone I don't know very well and I don't have much to say. 9. Bra fitting... Enouch said! 10. Singing in church when their aren't many people and my voice is crappy and everyone can hear it. 11. Asking my dad for money. Thank God I haven't had to do that in awhile. 12. First dates! 13. Going to the gynocologist!

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New Tattoo

Well I got my newest tattoo tonight! It's great now but earlier it wasn't so pretty. I've never had a real problem getting tattoo's but for some reason this one hurt some and I got way lightheaded. I think maybe I was hungry and then the tattoo just pushed me over the edge. But all is well now. I toughed it out and I love it. I got it for my mom. It's a beautiful sunflower and then it has her actual signature below it. It's on my wrist. Here is a pic!




Jessie

Wordless Wednesday- Sunset in Mexico

Free Raleigh North Carolina Getaway

I love to travel. I've been fortunate enough to travel to a lot of wonderful places. As much as I love to travel I hate the expense of it! If I ever win the lottery all I'm gonna do is travel but until then I'm a girl on a budget. A small budget. But luckily there are some ways to win great trips! And the only thing I like more than traveling is traveling for free!!!

Right now you can enter to win a wonderful Free Raleigh Giveaway! There are a lot of fun things to do in Raleigh. You can shop, dine in some great restaurants, visit the museums or play some golf. And if you plan it right you can even go to the Diwali Festival!

I would love to go to North Carolina in the Fall. I've heard it is beautiful then with all the colors changing and the nice crisp weather. So I'm registering it win a trip and I'm gonna pray that I get to enjoy a nice fall getaway! This girl needs a trip!!!!

Jessie

Water Warriors

Last week I issued a challenge to the folks in the Blogging Biggest Loser Competition. The challenge was to drink 8 8oz glasses of water each day. Natalie and I both got our water in each day. It must have really helped Natalie since she lost so much weight this week. It didn't help me weight wise but I always feel a little better when I get lots of water in. I have less headaches and more energy. That's always a good thing!

So Get to Drinking!

Jessie

There Is Hope For Me Yet

I was talking to my Aunt Betty tonight and she was filling me in on the happenings in her life. One of the gals from her church is getting married soon. She is 83 years old and met her future husband when her first husband and his first wife were both patients in the alzheimers unit. They became friends and have now fallen in love and are getting married! How sweet is that!

I'm thinking that if she can find love at 83 in the Alzheimer's unit then there is still some hope for me out there! I shouldn't complain yet. I've still got quite a few years to go before I need to start worrying.

But her story got me thinking that there are probably a lot of older people that are single and looking for love again. If there isn't an Alzheimers Unit near by where do they go to find love? Well they might be able to use a senior personals or senior dating website. They can view profiles of other seniors and make connections with people that have the same interests. Who knows love can happen at anytime right...

Jessie

Blogging Biggest Loser Week 3

Well this was an interesting week. Some of us lost a lot and some of us did a little gaining. I hate to admit it but I gained .5 pounds this week. Not sure exactly what happened there. I thought I did well but I'll have to reevaluate and work a little harder this week.

Natalie however rocked it out this week! Natalie lost 4 pounds this week! I'm so impressed with her. That puts her at a total of 9.5 pounds so far!!!! GOOOOOOO NATALIE!!!!

So right now we are sitting at a total of 24.6 pounds lost. That means we only need to lose another 75.4 pounds as a group to hit the 100 pounds mark! That is very realistic. In fact we could be at the half way point in two weeks if everyone lost about 1.5 pounds the next couple weeks. So lets do it team!!!

This week the challenge of the week will be to get to moving! Let's each get at least 15 minutes of exercise a day.

Good luck losing!

Jessie

Fire In My Eyes

This morning I got up and stumbled to the bathroom. I flipped on the lights and it was like fire in my eyes. I have a bit of a lighting dilemia in my bathroom. I went from not enough lighting to too much lighting. Now my lights are so bright I'm about blinded in the morning. And I've noticed that while I'm doing my makeup in the morning it's melting off my face from the heat. That's not a good thing people! I need some help!!!

So I was looking around online and found a great site to help me with my bathroom lighting problem. They have a large variety of lighting options and they even have an information guide to help folks like me that might make poor decisions! There may be help for my blinded eyes yet!

Jessie

10 On Tuesday

10 Television Shows You'd Like to Have (or Have already) on DVD.

1. Nip/Tuck (Already Have)
2. Grey's Anatomy (Already Have)
3. Friends (Already Have)
4. Little House on the Prairie (Want)
5. Full House (Want)
6. Law and Order (Want)
7. Law and Order SVU (Want)
8. Dirt (Want)
9. Roseanne (Want)
10. Will and Grace (Want)

20,000

Wow I checked my hits today and I'm almost at 20,000 visitors. By this time tomorrow I will be over 20,000 visits. That's so crazy. Who would have thought that people would come visit that much. Kinda cool kinda creepy weird. Go figure.

Work is crazy. I'm just so lost. I try really hard and I think I'm doing okay. But every day there is something that comes up that I don't know and I'm lost again. According to the palm reader it should be better in about 12-18 months! Are you kidding me. I was hoping for 6 or 8 more crazy weeks but no. I was asking Libby the other supervisor about it today. And she said that the palm reader is right and I'm wrong. She said to not count on it getting much easier for quite awhile. She said it took her at least a year to get comfortable so I guess I've got a long wait ahead of me. Hopefully I won't suck to much in the meantime.

Off to do homework!
Jessie

Manic Monday

It's just another Manic Monday

If technology was sufficiently advanced, would you be willing to clone yourself?

I would not clone myself. While I would get a lot more done with two of me I just couldn't do it. One of me in the world is enough.

At the local grocery store you see an elderly woman shoplift a chicken. Do you tell the management?

I would totally tell management. I don't care if your elderly or not. If I'm paying for a chicken so are you.

If you could be 8 years old again for an entire day, knowing what you know now, how would you spend it?

I would spend the day with my mom. I would ask her to make all my favorite meals. I would ask her to take me to the zoo, to read me a story, to braid my hair. I would pay close attention when she said prayers with me at night and I would hug her pretty tight.

Hope you have a wonderful Monday!!!