So apparently...

...the hard drives come blank! And I don't have the discs to install the operating system!

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Of course, right?! lol At least I can laugh about it today though! Think God is telling me to spend less time on my laptop and more time packing?????

I just got a phone call...

...and a service tech from HP is on her way to my apartment to replace my hard drive! Amazing! I mean, it's certainly not amazing that my hard drive needs replacing and that I lost just about everything that was on my laptop, but at least I'll have my laptop back. As I said before, I never buy extended warranties, NEVER! But for some reason, when I bought my laptop almost exactly one year ago, I bought the 3 year extended service plan. Either it was really cheap, or someone must have talked me into it. But I bought it, THANK GOD!

My apartment is pure chaos at the moment, but the packing is slowly but surely getting done! The hubby is only working until 2 today and has tomorrow off so I'm sure we'll get it all done. My parents and grandparents are coming Thursday night to help us with the move. I am so lucky to have such an amazingly supportive family. I could not do this on my own!

So I don't know when I'll post again. It may not be until Monday. But rest assured that when I return, a huge load of stress will have been lifted off my shoulders! I hope...

In other good news, I won a giveaway!!! woooooohooooooooo :) It totally brightened my day!

I hope you all have a great end of the week and weekend!

Not a happy camper...

*Update*

I realized I bought a 3 year extended service agreement (which I NEVER do) so I called HP. I spoke to someone in India (I'm assuming) that I could barely understand. She had me run some test in which the result almost immediately told her that my hard drive was completely corrupt. Meaning I lost EVERYTHING! Just freaking wonderful!

Apparently, all she can do is mail me a new hard drive that won't be here until Thursday and then a service tech can come to my house to fix it (hopefully that day). Have I mentioned that I'm moving Friday morning, there are boxes everywhere and I'm still not completely packed yet???? This is just what I needed today.

There are 2 silver linings in this, however. First, I did purchase the extended service agreement, so this shouldn't cost me any money. (Key word is "shouldn't," but we'll see.) Second, I just recently backed up all of my photos on discs so I didn't lose those. (I did lose all my documents and all my photos from this past weekend. :( Thankfully, I hadn't deleted the photos from my camera yet though!)

So now it's 90 degrees and I sent our air conditioners home to my parents' house because the new apartment has central air and I'm packing. Can we fast forward to Monday please????

*******************************************************************************

I went to bed last night and my laptop was fine. I woke up this morning and it was just a black screen. So I manually turned it off and when I turned it back on it says:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
Windows\system32\config\system

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! I'm going to cry now...

Not Me! Monday

*UPDATE* Great news!!! Stellan was discharged today!! Head on over to MckMama's blog for details! :)

It's Monday again, and I know you know what that means! It's time to confess all the things we haven't done this week! Since I last did a Not Me! Monday, MckMama's youngest son, Stellan, was transferred here, to Boston Children's Hospital! He has had his ups and downs, but things are looking really positive for him to be discharged on oral medications soon! For the latest on Stellan, you can head over to MckMama's blog.

Now on to the show...

I did not skip Not Me! Monday last week because I was feeling a little down. I am always way too positive to let something like that happen!

And despite the fact that we're moving in 5 days, I did not avoid packing all last week! Nope, not me! I am not a procrastinator! And I certainly do not hate having my life in such disorder all around me.

The religious Saturday morning grocery shopper that I am, I would never go grocery shopping on a Friday so I had as much time as possible outside in the BEAUTIFUL weather Saturday and Sunday! I do not love sunshine!

Saturday, I did not have to re-open one of the few boxes that is packed for the move to find some sunscreen. Since we don't have a backyard here (really we don't), I did not set up a lawn chair in my hubby's parking space, after he left for work, so I could sit outside and bask in the wonderful sunshine! That would just be silly!

Yesterday, it was not almost 90 degrees here!! I did not decide around 1:30 pm, at the hottest point of the day, that I was going to go for a little walk around town on a mini photo shoot. That would just be crazy! I did not end up drenched in sweat and absolutely exhausted as a result. And I absolutely did not get a few great photos that I'm really happy with!

Well that's it for today! Happy Not...

What's that? You want to see the photos I didn't take?? Well, since you asked so nicely, I guess I'll share a few...

Sorry for the copyrights! As I get further into my photography classes, I realize it's important to protect my images, just in case I ever decide to do this for a living. Anyway, hope you enjoyed my sweaty photos from yesterday!

Happy Not Me! Monday!

funny story and my handsome hubby

I woke up early this morning, after a horrible night's sleep, and my husband was already up. My horrible night's sleep was due to a combination of my husband's horrible new snoring pattern and bed hogging, some REALLY vivid dreams, and the dancing vampire children upstairs. Have I mentioned how happy I am to move next Friday!? I digress...

So, I walk into the living room where my dear husband (DH) is watching ESPN. He looks at me and this is the conversation that follows:

DH: Did you not sleep well either, hunny?
Me: Either?!?! Trust me you slept!
DH: What are you talking about? I barely slept all night.
Me: Oh really? I must have been imagining the snoring that kept me awake for 2 hours after I came to bed.
DH: I'm sorry.
Me: Oh that's ok. It was worse when you practically rolled over on top of me and tried to use me as a body pillow and I couldn't get you to move. It was like a sauna, I probably lost a few pounds.
DH with an evil grin: I just wanted to cuddle.
Me: HA!
DH: Well, at least you slept this morning. The kids upstairs were pounding on the floor. I couldn't sleep through it, I had to get up.
Me: Oh, I heard it! I also heard you get up and thought, "GREAT! Maybe I can get half an hour's sleep now!"

hahahahaha Oh, how I love him!! Isn't he handsome??

I just love this photo I took of him! You can see a few more I took of him here.

Anyway, I've had my green tea and it's already a gorgeous day! It's supposed to be 80 here, so maybe I'll take a nap out in the sunshine!

Change is good!

Emotionally, I had a MUCH better day today! I swear I'd be a millionaire if I could bottle sunshine! It really does wonders for my mood and attitude!

Anyway, you've probably noticed that my blog has undergone some changes! (If you're reading this in Google Reader, head on over to my blog to check out the makeover!) In an attempt to regain a little bit of confidence, I did this entirely by myself! :)
I hope you like it as much as I do and hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Fix-it Friday!

It's Fix-it Friday again! This week's already tight crop of this adorable cooing baby had me stumped at first.

Original:
First, I rotated the image and then made it a mirror image. I played around with it in Paint Shop Pro 9, adjusting the color balance and highlights, and I still wasn't happy. I enhanced the color of the eyes and sharpened them, and it still didn't pop for me. I cropped it and did a barrel distortion correction and it was getting there, but it still wasn't interesting to me. This is what I had at that point:

Then, I remembered I had just downloaded this cool new Polaroid program! I popped my edited photo in that, added some text and voila!

Happy Friday, everyone!

I never did like roller coasters...

I love the adrenaline (loved skydiving, white water rafting and rappelling!), I just always hated the feeling of my stomach flip-flopping up and down.

And since January, it seems as if my life and emotions are a non-stop roller coaster ride. Intellectually, I know the economy is in terrible shape. I know that there are so many people who have been laid off and are struggling to find work just like me. I know that it has nothing to do with me, personally. But emotionally, it is incredibly frustrating!

I have days when I am filled with energy and optimism and I have days when I feel worthless. I have days when I feel inspired and creative and get so many things accomplished. And the next day I may sit on the couch watching tv all day. Thankfully, as the weather gets nicer, and the sunshine pours through the windows, I seem to have more good days than bad.

But it continues to be a roller coaster ride. I had so many plans for the next few years of my life, and of my marriage. I'm a planner by nature, so knowing that those plans are now off track, at times brings me to tears. I'm not the kind of person who easily takes each day as it comes, though I am trying.

I believe that everything happens for a reason, but at the same time it's hard to let go of the control and not know what that reason is. Most days, what keeps me going is something that my dad always says:

You just have to do the best you can
with what you've got every day.

So whether I'm feeling optimistic and inspired, or frustrated and sad, I continue to do the best I can on this roller coaster that is my life. And boy is it a wild ride...

8 things...

El over at Through My Own Lens tagged me Monday and I'm just getting a chance to do this, so here goes!

Here's how 8 THINGS works:

- Mention the person that tagged you.
- Complete the lists of 8's.
- Tag 8 of your wonderful bloggy friends.
- Go tell them you tagged them!

8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO:

- MOVING to our new apartment!
- Seeing my new bedroom furniture all set up and sleeping in our new bed!
- Warm weather
- Grilling out
- Planting a garden
- Finding a job and getting back to work(soon I hope!)
- Owning our own home (someday)
- Starting a family (someday)

8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY:

- Blogged about my new furniture
- Ran some errands

- Got gas

- Checked for updates on Stellan multiple times

- Paid a few bills

- Ironed my hubby's shirts for work

- Made dinner

- Watched American Idol with my love

8 THINGS I WISH I COULD DO:

- Find a job

- Not worry so much

- Be more spontaneous

- Play golf better

- Be less introverted

- Get paid for loving my husband (I'd be a millionaire!)

- See my sister more often

- Take a cross-country road trip with my hubby

8 SHOWS I WATCH:

- House

- Fringe

- American Idol

- Survivor

- Grey's Anatomy

- Private Practice

- Iron Chef America

- The View (since I've been laid off)

8 BLOGGERS TAGGED:

- Lindsay over at The Godsey Six
- Sonya over at Ladybugs, Butterflies, and Boxing
- Katrina over at The Sevin Family
- Laufa over at Morgan Madness
- Domestically Disabled Girl
- Trisha over at A Day in the Life of a Seelen
- Kameron over at A Wrinkle in Time
- MomE

These 8 bloggers are a few of my new favorites! Looking forward to your responses, but if you don't feel like doing it, that's certainly ok too!

Finally found furniture!

Don't you just love alliteration?!

Anyway, in December of 2006, my hubby and I moved back to New England from South Carolina and stayed with my parents for a few months. When we moved into our new apartment in March of 2007, we decided to leave our bed in "our" room at my parents' new house. We were getting married that June and figured we'd have enough money from wedding gifts to invest in a new bedroom set.

But being the indecisive person I am, it took me 2 years to find something I like!! In my own defense though, it is a big investment to make, and I wanted to make sure it was quality furniture and something I would like for a long time. I didn't want to just buy something to have furniture. My hubby and I had been to many furniture stores with no luck. Then, this weekend, my mom and I went to a few stores we hadn't been to yet, a little further away, and I finally found something I liked!

The hubby had the day off yesterday, so we took a ride. He liked it too, so we bought ourselves a bedroom set! woooohoooooo :) I couldn't take pictures in the store, but their website has pictures, so here they are!

We got a bed...
...a dresser...

...a chest......and 2 nightstands!
We'll pick it up the day after the move, which is GREAT! That way we don't have to move that furniture twice. I'm really happy with it! I love the dark wood and simple clean lines! And even though it's a big chunk of change, I know it's an investment and can't wait to be sleeping in a bed after 2 years of sleeping on a mattress on the floor!

Good News, Bad News

I don't have the energy to try to be witty about all the things I didn't do this week, and I didn't take a single photograph all week, so I'm forgoing Not Me! Monday today. I had a busy, busy weekend so a summary in "good news, bad news" format will have to suffice until tomorrow, when I can hopefully pull myself together with a post worthy of my throngs of adoring readers! ;)

Good News: Friday, my mom came to visit and help me pack!

Bad News: We packed all day and not only was I exhausted, but I will be living out of boxes until we move in 2 weeks.


Good News: Saturday, Mom and I spent the day together shopping! :) We went to a bunch of furniture and home goods type stores and did my grocery shopping.

Bad News: We left my apartment at 9 am and didn't return until 4:30 pm! When we got home, I was completely drained!

Good News: I FINALLY found a bedroom set that I like, and when my hubby got home from work, she took us out to an awesome dinner!!

Bad News: We ate WAY TOO MUCH and I'm going to have some serious calories to burn this week!


Good News: Hubby didn't have to work until noon yesterday, and we had a lovely, relaxing Sunday morning together!

Bad News: Mom had to leave and the people upstairs were even more obnoxiously loud than normal ALL DAY yesterday! I like to think that I am a considerably patient, kind and caring person; however, I seriously wanted to strangle those screaming, running, floor (my ceiling) pounding, headache inducing kids and their disrespectful, inconsiderate, loud music playing, "think they're the only ones who live in this house" parents!

Good News: We're moving in less than 2 weeks!!! And the weather was absolutely GORGEOUS this weekend!! I ♥ sunshine!

Fix-it Friday!

It's Fix-it Friday again! This week's photo came from Melinda over at Bloggin’ It From The Burbs.

Original:
My Fix:
I loved the way Melinda was trying to use the rocks as a frame around this little cutie, but he was just too short for it to work in my opinion. He got lost in all that rock! I tried make him stand out more by cropping in closer, while still keeping the frame of the rocks. I tried to use the rule of thirds, and adjusted the midtones and color balance a little bit too. It didn't come out extremely creative, but nice and natural like I like my photos to be! :) Looking at it again now, I think it would look nice slightly rotated then cropped even closer, but I don't have time to try again this morning!

********************************************************************************

My mom is on her way here as I'm typing this! I'm looking forward to spending the weekend with her, even though we're going to be packing most of the time. Happy Friday everyone! Hope you all have a nice weekend! :)

Anyone else...

...eat whole cans of chick peas in a sitting???

Anyone? Anyone??? Really? Just me?

Oh well! I love them!!! Drain 'em, put a little Italian dressing on 'em and hand me a spoon! Yuuuuuum!!

Installing a husband

I don't usually read email chain forwards, but I just got one that is hilarious! And with all my talk of technology lately, I thought it was appropriate to share!

INSTALLING A HUSBAND

Topic(s): For Married Women, Home Page

1 COMMENT

For those of you who understand computer language, you might appreciate this spoof on “Installing a Husband” that we received from a friend. (The original author is unknown.) ENJOY!

Dear Tech support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5 and then installed undesirable programs such as NBA 5.0, NFL 3.0 and Golf Clubs 4.1.

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. I’ve tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed,
Desperate

DEAR DESPERATE,

First keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system. Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.html and try to download Tears 6.2 and don’t forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update.

If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5. But remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1.

Please note that Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources).

Also do not attempt to reinstall Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Cooking 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Best to you,
Tech Support

It's Wednesday...

...and I'm wondering how many of you check out other people's wedding rings?

I often catch myself looking at people's wedding rings. I've done this since I became engaged myself and it's really quite interesting.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not looking to see if people are married...I'm a happily married gal! I just think that the many different kinds of engagement and wedding rings, on men and women, are really interesting! I like to think it tells me a little bit about what that person is like.

There are so many different kinds of rings! Yellow gold, white gold and platinum. Plain and smooth, carved, diamonds, no diamonds. Big diamonds, little diamonds, and sometimes other gem stones. Round cut, princess cut, marquise cut, pear cut. And many different combinations of these descriptions. Some women wear just a wedding band and some wear a wedding band and an engagement ring.

Not only is it interesting to think about what the person might be like based on what their rings look like, but it's interesting to think about what those rings mean to that person. Do they see it as a symbol of their marriage? Or just a piece of jewelry? Do they plan on "upgrading" in a few years? Or can they not imagine ever trading them in?

Another thing I think about is, "Do they ever take them off?" I know my grandmother is dead set on never taking her wedding band off. In 51 years, she has only taken it off ONCE, and only because she had to have it re-sized. Personally, I always take mine off when I'm putting on lotion or putting gel in my hair. All that stuff gets gunked up in between the diamonds and just makes it harder to clean. But if it's off for too long, my hand just feels naked! Then there are people like my dad who, when he was a laborer, never wore his ring because if it got caught in a piece of machinery, he could lose a finger or hand!

With all this thinking about wedding rings, I got to thinking about my rings. Do other people look at my rings? Do they give people an idea about what I am like? Maybe. But since my husband picked them out, maybe they give people an idea about what my husband thinks I'm like. Or maybe both, since hopefully my husband knows me pretty well!

Anyway, you should check out people's wedding rings! They are pretty interesting and can really get you thinking!

Back to basics

Last week, I was doing some reading about how to improve my chances of actually getting my resume looked at in the piles and piles of others employers are receiving. With all the technology out there, many people looking for jobs are taking the technology route. One article I read suggested getting back to basics by printing and mailing in your resume and cover letter when possible. They said that there was something about mail and a few pieces of paper that was more concrete than an inbox full of emails with attachments to print out. I've tried a lot of the technology routes and haven't had much luck, so I figured it was worth a shot!

It really got me thinking though. I spend so much of my time online. I do love the blogger world that I have become involved in, but some days I'm on the computer all day long. So I decided to cut out technology all together this past weekend and it felt really good.

Now don't worry, I'm not leaving you! But don't be surprised if I'm not around quite as much as I have been. I have a few projects I'm working on. Some of them I'm not quite ready to share with the world yet, but there is one that I thought I'd share with you.

In August of 2005, when I moved to South Carolina with my then boyfriend (now hubby), I started knitting an afghan. I got caught up in life, not to mention babies were being born and I would put it aside to knit baby blankets. Fast forward to last week, almost 4 years later, and it was still only about 1/4 done! lol So I am working on finishing this afghan!


I still have quite a bit to go, but it is so rewarding to spend some time doing something with my hands that produces an actual physical result. It really allows you to clear your head and focus in on what's really important. I've also found that it's helping me feel more creative and inspired in terms of my photography course. So that's one of the projects I'm working on. I may be sharing some of my other new projects with you soon too, but we'll see!

So my question to you all today is this:

What do you do to escape technology and get back to basics?

Really looking forward to your responses! :)

Not Me! Monday

It's Monday again, and I know you know what that means! It's time to confess all the things we haven't done this week! MckMama's youngest son, Stellan, is still in the hospital, but he seems to be doing better! He was even moved out of the PICU! He's not out of the woods yet though, and there's a possibility that he still might have to come to Boston for surgery, but things are starting to look up for this adorable little boy. MckMama is, understandably, not feeling up to posting a Not Me! Monday this week, but you can head over to her blog to read about how little Stellan is doing.

As for me...

It did not make me sad that my hubby had to work yesterday, and we couldn't go home to be with our family for Easter. I did not want to see my cousin's kids running around in my grandparents' yard looking for Easter eggs, in their cute little Easter outfits, like we used to. As a result, I did not eat so much chocolate to try and cheer myself up, and since my Lenten chocolate fast was over, that I gave myself a stomach ache!


In another attempt to make myself feel better, I did not make a huge Easter dinner for just me and my hubby!

I definitely did not get out the cloth napkins and napkin rings to make it a little fancier either!


Without knowing it, my sister and I did not both make banana pudding Saturday night, in preparation for our Easter dinners with our hubbies! We are not two of a kind! I most certainly do not miss her like crazy. And I did not say a prayer for the inventor of Skype yesterday because I was so happy to see her face!


Finally, I do not love my tripod and how it allows us to capture memories without the dreaded arm-stretch-super-close-up shot!

Nope, not me!

I know I said...

...that I was taking a technology break and wouldn't be back until Monday, but I couldn't resist!

I just had to wish all my peeps a very Happy Easter! ;)

Love is a decision

Oprah yesterday was on the economy, people losing their jobs, and how these two things are negatively affecting marriages. If you read my post yesterday, you know I was having a rough day and, as a result, I was interested to watch this. Just as a warning, I'm going to ramble about marriage and my marriage now! I really mean ramble too. I'm not going to go back and proof read. I'm just going to write how I feel because that is the most therapeutic for me, and frankly, I need that right now.

I met my husband at 14 years old. I fell in love with him at 17 and we married each other at 24. A lot of people think this is too young, that you should live your own life, travel and establish a career before you get married. I honestly think this was the best path for us. I do not think it was a mistake, I know it was meant to be this way. We fell in love before we had any real material possessions, before we had real responsibilities, before we were expected to be adults. And now, I feel our love transcends all these things. We by no means have to perfect life. We are human. But I know that even on the hardest of days, he is waiting there to lift me up. I look in his eyes and I can see how deep his love is for me.

The couples on Oprah's show yesterday were contemplating divorce. Divorce is not an option for me. (I am not judging anyone else. Every situation is different and this is just my opinion and my outlook on my marriage.) No matter what obstacles we face, I know that he is my partner. I cannot turn against him because together we are stronger than we are individually. On our wedding day, I made a commitment to him, a commitment to God, a commitment to all of our family and friends, and a commitment to myself. That commitment is not something I take lightly. Just recently, during my sister's wedding ceremony, the deacon asked everyone a question. He asked, "What is love?" At the end, he told us, "Love is a decision." And it is a decision! Every morning, we have to decide to love each other. Despite all the obstacles, we have to decide to love each other.

Some people may say, "Oh that's easy for you to say, you don't own a house and you don't have any children." But I don't believe that. My parents own a house and had 2 children and they made that decision every single day. I've been so blessed with the examples of marriage I have in my life. My parents will be married 28 years in June. My mother's parents have been married 51 years! And those are just 2 examples! My whole life I have observed the marriages of the people I love. I have seen them make the decision to love each other in both the good times and the very difficult times. What a blessing this is! Going into our marriage, I knew that it was not going to be a fairy tale, that it would be hard work and that I would have to decide to love my husband every day. There was never the illusion of anything else. This outlook has saved our marriage and has saved us a lot of stress, and I believe it will continue to throughout our lives together.

For me, there is no other option. So, every single day, no matter how I'm feeling, no matter what the obstacles I face, or even if I like him that day, I decide to love my husband. Just a month or so ago, we were both laid off. We were unemployed and terrified, but we leaned on each other and decided to continue to love each other no matter what obstacles we would face. I believe that there is already a very special plan in place for us. We are not in control of it. I also believe that God would not place an obstacle in our way that we could not handle. He knows us better than we know ourselves. There is always a reason for the difficult times, just as there is a reason for the good times.

We would never truly appreciate the good times and our blessings if we didn't have the struggles too. During this difficult time in my life, my husband has made it extremely easy for me to decide to love him. I'm afraid I haven't made it as easy on him, and yet, every morning he wakes up and decides to love me. He is my rock. He is all I need here on Earth.

Phewww! Two serious posts in a row! I think this calls for a photo to lighten things up!

This is me and my husband at my sister's wedding on January 31st. It was taken by an amazing photographer (and friend of mine) named Carolyn Beaudreau, who just took some photos of my new niece, brother-in-law and sister-in-law also. If you want, you can check out a few sneak peaks of this photo session that she put up on her blog!

Anyone want to hire me?

Being unemployed is starting to get really old. Now, before I go on, don't get me wrong. I do feel that being laid off from the specific job I was at was the BEST thing for me. I was losing myself there. It was an environment where all my hard work was not appreciated and I constantly felt looked down upon. I spent at least 3 hours a day commuting and I was constantly exhausted.

The first 3 months of being laid off were great! I was able to spend a lot of time with my family for the holidays, I spent a lot of time helping my sister plan her wedding, I got a lot of things accomplished that I never had time to do, I got to help my sister move and spend some time with her in her new home. Most importantly though, I feel like I am starting to get myself back. It's been a long time. And I'm happier than I have been in a very long time. I feel like I'm a better wife, sister, daughter and friend because of it.

But it's getting old. My hubby is back to working long hours and I am sitting here by myself all day. My photography classes are great, but I can only do so much of that in a day. The internet no longer entertains me. I know what you're thinking, there's a lot of information on the internet! Well, trust me, I think I've looked at the entire contents of the internet multiple times!

I can't tell you how many jobs I've applied to, and nothing. There are so many people looking for jobs and very few jobs out there. It's frustrating. Some mornings I'm so tired of doing nothing that I don't want to get out of bed. I force myself to get some exercise just to get my blood pumping and feel a little better.

I hate that this sounds like I'm whining. I'm not really. I know how blessed my life is. We are so blessed to have the support and love of an amazing family. We have savings in the bank. We can pay our bills every month and have food on our table. I am grateful that we are much better off than a lot of families out there right now.

But I'm getting tired of this. I don't feel like I'm doing anything that makes a difference. I'm trying so hard to stay positive, but some days are definitely better than others. That's kind of an abrupt ending to this post, but I'm afraid that's all I've got for today.

Potato Cheese Soup

It was a cold, dark, rainy day here yesterday, so we thought it would be a good night for some warm, cheesy, starchy goodness for dinner. This is one of our favorite soups so I thought I'd share the recipe with you since I've noticed some of you got *eek* snow yesterday!

Looks yummy right?!

Potato Cheese Soup

3-4 tablespoons of butter
2 cups chopped onions
1 large garlic clove, minced
4-5 large red potatoes, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
3 cups chicken stock (You can substitute water or vegetable stock. I haven't tried water, but personally, I find that the vegetable stock makes the soup too sweet.)
1 teaspoon dried dill
4 ounces cream cheese
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

In a large soup pot, saute onions and garlic in butter until onions are translucent. Add potatoes and carrots. Saute 5-10 minutes longer. Add the stock or water and dill. Use a wooden spoon to get up all the little brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Cover and simmer until all vegetables are tender.

Puree about half of the vegetables with the milk and cream cheese in a blender or food processor. (We like ours a little thicker and less chunky, so we puree about 3/4 of the vegetables. You could also puree all the vegetables if you wanted.) Return to the pot. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in cheddar cheese and reheat gently.

Serve by itself or with a nice crusty loaf of bread. (We like multi-grain!)

Enjoy :)

Not Me! Monday

Well, it's Not Me! Monday again! MckMama's son, Stellan, is still in the hospital. His health has certainly been a roller coaster ride for this family, but they seem to be making some steps in the right direction by getting a 2nd opinion. I don't know if she'll post a Not Me! Monday this week or not, but you can head over to her blog to read about how little Stellan is doing.

As for me, I did not decide that we are going to move again. Nope, not me! Not after moving in August 2005, December 2006, March 2007, and March 2008! I would have to be crazy to do that, especially if it was only half a mile down the road.

And, hypothetically, if I had decided to move again, when my current landlord showed up with no notice, knocked on our door, and asked to show the place to someone (who was standing right there with him) I wouldn't actually let him in. I would not let him make me feel guilty and like I couldn't ask him to come back later, seeing as our bed was not unmade, there was not a pile of dishes in the sink, and my dirty, sweaty gym clothes were not hanging off my dresser drying. That would just be embarrassing!

And last night, I did not sit on the couch salivating while watching Iron Chef America, secret ingredient: chocolate! I definitely didn't dream about chocolate Saturday night either. Giving up chocolate for lent has been a piece of cake for me!! mmmmm...chocolate cake....

Seems that I have actually been semi-normal this past week, and don't have much to confess to not doing! :) What did you not do this week?

Drumroll please...

...and the winner is...

Lindsay
over at Tales from the Godsey Six!

If you disregard my one comment in the entries for the giveaway, Lindsay was entry number 22! Congratulations, Lindsay! Send me an email at whyrinsechicken [at] gmail [dot] com with your address and I'll get the beautiful card set in the mail to you!

And for everyone else who didn't win, don't feel sad, all of little miss spy's cards are available in her Etsy shop! I got a sneak preview of a few cards to come, when I was visiting on Wednesday and, trust me, you're going to want to keep an eye on her website! She's so talented!

Thanks for participating and sharing about your best friends! Have a great weekend everyone! :)

Fix-it Friday!

Welcome back to Fix-it Friday! This week's photo had some serious blur problems! I had fun trying to fix it though, and played around with some parts of Paint Shop Pro that I haven't used before!

Original:
My Fix:

Basically, I adjusted the color balance, rotated and cropped the image, and did a lot of sharpening! Personally, I like photos that look real. I'm not into a lot of special effects, so I like to keep it simple. But there are a lot of really creative people out there, so head on over to i ♥ faces to see all the other fixes!

And DON'T FORGET, today is the last day to enter my AWESOME GIVEAWAY!! It's super easy, so get those entries in!! Happy Friday everyone! :)

Stellan

As you can see, I finally took my picture for Stellan's Name Gallery. The pictures being taken all over the world are just amazing to look at. There are so many people praying for this precious little boy and, thankfully, he seems to be having a much better day today! If you want to read the most recent update, head on over to MckMama's blog.

I've been wondering...

...why is it that men go through deodorant
so much faster than women?!?

I mean, is it just in my household?? My hubby seems to go through a stick of deodorant every 2 weeks! A stick of deodorant for me lasts at least 6 months! At least!!

Do their sticks come with less in them? Do they have to wear more to get through all that hair?

Hmmm...think my hubby will shave his armpits and save us some money?!

random ramblings

I can't think concisely enough this morning for a post that actually makes sense. So, bullet points it is!

• I cannot sleep anymore. No matter when I get in bed, it takes me an hour to fall asleep and I have the most vivid dreams all night that I just don't rest. I'm so tired.
  
  
• I'm started to get a little antsy being unemployed. Why can't someone just call me for an interview?!
  
  
• Similarly, do you have any idea how extremely frustrating it is to be called overqualified?! I need a job! I will work hard for you! What do you care about my potential to do a harder job? That's for me to decide.
  
  
• I burned about 20 DVDs of all my photos yesterday in preparation for the possibility of this April Fool's Day virus. The hubby thinks the joke is that there is no virus, and the rumors were started by the companies that manufacture the blank DVDs everyone is backing up on. lol
  
  
• We're heading up to little miss spy's apartment for dinner with her and the schwarz tonight! I'm really excited to see her and give her the birthday gifts I have for her!
  
  
• I'm loving all the comments about your best friends!
  
  
• If you haven't entered the giveaway yet, you only have until Friday at midnight EST, so hop to it! You don't want to miss this awesome prize!