January 2012

Where has the time gone? I have completely neglected this blog for 1/2 a year. I have found new interests like Facebook, a smart phone, Pinterest and Zulily, as well as a Kindle and classes of course.

I am about 1/2 done with my MBA. I will probably be working on it next spring but hopefully that will be the end.

Nothing super interesting going on here right now...just trying to get a little order in my life.

Mid-Year

I was going to log in today and talk about my holiday weekend. It has been very nice....but after looking at some of my past blog posts, and realizing that I haven't been here in forever...I changed my plan.

I saw my new years resolutions a minute ago and thought about a friend's comment about making 1/2 year resolutions instead of the typical new year resolutions.

So... how did I do? Not really that good.

The budgeting thing has worked out pretty well. I have not documented it like I had planned but I have done much better with my expenses, etc.

Everything else pretty much bombed.... I didn't lose weight...I actually gained. I didn't manage to let my MBA work not overtake my life and I didn't take my lunch to work (which would help with the budget and the weight). I didn't work out either.

So....now for my plan....
LOL...it's the same of course. I am taking one class in second summer term...I will try very hard not to let it consume me. I'm only taking one in the fall too...so maybe I can manage to save some time for me/us.

Diet and exercise....I gotta get this right this time....I'm about sick of myself in this shape so I need to save some time for that too.. I guess it could be an additional class (lol...).

Anyway....hello to anyone that is out there reading. Wish me luck :-)

What was I thinking...

Well...on days like today, and I know there will be many others, I wonder what I was thinking when I decided to get my MBA. I really really really really have not had a good day. Today was a "holiday"...and I've been sitting at my desk in the study looking for a free data mining software program to evaluate. (LOL)... First, you can't pick a program that any of the other classmates have chosen...you can't pick anything from this list provided, and you can't pick anything that you know how to use (apparently) because I have absolutely no clue as to how this program will work... After HOURS of searching and reading....I finally chose one that was approved. I had one selected yesterday but it wouldn't run on my computer...for some freaky reason....

So...I have a program that I don't know how to use and I've got to evaluate it (LOL)...this should be interesting.

So...today, I wonder what was I thinking...why on earth am I doing this....and why shouldn't I just quit already...not looking like it's going to be a good semester.

But...on the bright side....at least I can look forward to a nice vacation when this semester is over...

No day like a snow day

First snow day of the year - January 10, 2011.

I really did make use of the day off...though I could have accomplished more :-)

First, I fed the animals. Then I took a shower, put on my makeup and dried my hair. Then I decided to try to take a photo of myself with the self-timer on my camera. I hate the arms length photos that I try to take and George just can't take a good photo of me (probably because it makes me so uncomfortable to look at the camera and wait for it to click). After a few tries, I came out with about five that I'm not embarrassed to show..and you know, the funny part is...everyone that I took after getting the set up done was fine. Go figure. Here's the one that seems to be the most popular on Facebook.


After taking the photo, I did the breakfast thing....and put on the crockpot with pinto beans for dinner.....

OK..so now to what I'm really supposed to be doing today....I checked my classes at ASU....in case they had posted anything since today was officially the first day of class. One of my courses had stuff posted, so..... I started working on that. I answered several discussion questions and read more of my assignment...

In the mean time... I visited Skype and saw that Helen was online...so I called her. She and I had a nice chat, I got to see Fatena and she drew a picture of the snowman that she built with some of her sisters.




So...now...I've still got most of a chapter to read but if I hadn't had that snow day, I would have just been getting started (lol).

Let it begin

OK...I've been quiet about my MBA classes but I have to admit that I'm a bit nervous about them. Maybe a little intimidated at the moment....however, I got an email from my instructor (classes officially start tomorrow) that had the first reading assignment in it....well....If you know me...then you know that I had to start working on it :-P So...I have read chapter one....now I'm having dinner....I'm really going to try not to let this overwhelm my life (I know...good luck with that huh)...but anyway... I have 2 more things that I need to do tonight (fold clothes and tan)...so I'm going to do those before I let myself read chapter 2....haha

Anyway......we'll see.... George was awesome with helping me keep up with the house and dinner, etc. when I was working on my Bachelors degree and I know he will be with this as well...but I'm going to try to manage a little better....my course load is much smaller but the course content should be more difficult ;-)

Anyway... the beginning has arrived....

Sugar and Swine...make me feel so fine

The Arkansas Razorbacks are playing in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans....Sounds like an awesome time to me.... NOLA is one of my favorite cities... I am completely a fan of the cajun drawl and the food in the city is "to die for"...amazing!

George took me to NOLA for our first wedding anniversary. Another time we went on a cruise that departed from NOLA so we had a little time in the city...and then we spent almost a week in NOLA one summer for vacation.

Well..I'm hoping that the Razorbacks beat the Buckeyes tonight...guess, I better stop blogging to cheer them on........

Time heals all wounds

Time heals all wounds...or so they say. It seems interesting to me that there are wounds that need to heal that seem, in my humble opinion, to be basically self-inflicted...yet someone else is blamed for the occurrence.

Self-infliction occurs when you "get what you ask for"...you know "what you deserve"...when you cross a line that in nice, normal, polite society it is not acceptable to cross....

The blame...well....I guess when one crosses a line that polite society wouldn't cross, then one wouldn't be expected to take responsibility for one's actions...would one...

I guess one also wouldn't expect to have a person respond to their inappropriateness either.....

Glad we have that cleared up.

2011

Wow....Can you believe it is really 2011?

January 1, 2011 was our (George and me)11th Wedding Anniversary. It's hard to believe it was 11 years ago...it seems like we have been together forever yet it seems like just the other day that we were getting to know each other. I'm glad that George is such a good man...strong, comforting, encouraging and a bit wacky (lol). Lucky lucky me... OK..that's enough about that...

I have decided (with George's support) that I want to work on my MBA. I hope I'm up to the challenge...we shall soon see as I begin my first two graduate classes next week. If all goes as planned I will be finished in between 18-24 months.

Now for my new years resolutions.....

I resolve to:

Exercise (starting with the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred as soon as it is delivered....treadmill until then)

Lose 10-15 lbs...not a big goal but really all I want...

Live with my new budget

Take my lunch to work

School.... take it seriously, work hard, but do not obsess about it (lol...should be interesting)

I know that lots of people make resolutions and some keep them and others don't. I don't know how I see myself on that...sometimes I do OK and other times I don't... This year, I really want to accomplish my goals. I am feeling the need to have more activity and focus...to do more than just work and sit on the couch watching tv.... and to accomplish something that would be good for me in many ways.

I have never been good at "saving money". I have always been more concerned with getting and doing what I want....but...right now (and I really hope this feeling remains with me) I feel like I NEED to be more mature and focus on what would be better for the future (not the right now).....

So...wish me luck...in....

Reaching year 12
Graduate School
Exercise
Weight Loss
Budgeting
Taking my lunch to work

Peek a boo...where are you?

Gosh, I've been missing in action. I don't know what has happened to my blog. I really should be posting to it...there are things going on in my life...but I just don't seem to have the motivation to share much anymore. Hum....

Well...here's what is coming up in my life....

Taking the GMAT in November
The kids are all coming home for Thanksgiving
Lots of Christmas Shopping
Having Christmas celebrations with my family and George's family
Starting Graduate School in January and my freedom ends ;-)

Here's what has been going on....
We ordered a new bed...King size...now maybe Tess and George won't squish me so much

We are selling our mule and horse...waiting for the mule to be sold before I sell the horse

Not really anything interesting going on...we're just living the life that we have made for ourselves and looking for the next adventure.

Maybe it won't be so long before I get back her to chat.

Robert Earl Keen - Again

This weekend, George took me to Little Rock to the Village to see Robert Earl Keen, Jr. This makes the 7th time for us to see him. The show was not like any other of the shows that I have been to. The venue was different, and there was actually seating(though I did not sit through the concert).... REK came on stage with his band, mumbled their names and his and started playing....someone yelled out "what"... he said "there is a program under your seat" and continued to play.... after the first song, he said "that's the first song"....then they played another....and he said "that's the second song".... I admit I was a bit lost in all of this....serious me was like, well crud, he's drunk, but no...no alcohol is consumed by this band on stage, so why did I assume that... did he not want to be there? They why perform if you don't want too.....but....by now it was obvious that he was once again going to be AMAZING! He was just being a smartaXX.... he played some new stuff, some really old stuff, some in the middle stuff...and all of my most favorites (with the exception of Linville Train and I've never heard him perform that one live).....they even threw in some funny stuff that I've never heard them do... "How do you spell New Braunfels"... a riot!

The opening act was pretty good...they had their music too loud for their vocals but they, I'm sure, are still learning what to do... and they say they are from Hamburg, AR.... (that's where we always went to deer camp).

Anyway... We had a great time at the concert and enjoyed the whole trip (well, I did at least).

S W E E T! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

BTW.... just about 11 years ago when George and I were dating, George took me to my first REK concert (even had to give up a weekend of deer hunting to do it)... look what he started....

Russell's Graduation from NADC

August 27, 2010 at 2:00 pm was Russell's graduation ceremony from NADC (Nashville Auto Diesel College). We had a small family celebration going on....


Of course George and I attended.


As did Matt...


And Bill and Louise....


And of course Granny (Rita) and Papa (Henry).....

We had lots of good quality family time....and lots of food of course :-)

Congratulations to Russell. We are so proud of you!

Looking Up Again

YIPEE! Russell got a job in the diesel mechanics field! Just got out of school...and had two interviews and two offers. We go to his graduation this week in Nashville and then real life begins. He's set up for a great start!

Still waiting on Goat babies... George is great but he sure can't predict due dates.
I'm guessing September 10th or so now...

I've been having a lot of job related changes going on... it's all good though... waiting for those things to get settled so I can tell you all about it. I'm excited though!

Also thinking about a Master's Degree... need to take that GMAT and get it over with though. YUCK!

Nicole has started her first year of college at OU. I know she's got lots of adventures ahead of her and I hope she enjoys every one of them.

Ryan and Leah are both in school at U of A..... I'm sure they are tired of school by now but they are forging ahead.

And George...we'll you all know what he's doing...hunting season is fast approaching and he's READY for it.

And...... Robert Earl Keen is coming to Little Rock next month so George got me tickets!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So...that's what's going on with us right now....ttyl.

Look up.....

If you keep your head down and your eyes in directly ahead, you could miss a lot!

I was walking up my porch steps last night after feeding the horses....keeping my head down and watching just in front of me... out of the corner of my eye I noticed a bright spot.... so...I looked up and saw this amazing glowing sunset. By the time I got in the house, got a camera, and got back outside, the sun had lowered some...but I was still able to get a photo of the sunset that had caught my attention.



So, it made me think...if I don't look up and around.... what am I really missing???????? Think maybe I'll give it a shot :-)

Busy Busy Busy

We're having a really busy month this August! Gotta get things ready for Russell to get out of school and move back from Nashville....looks like he has a part time job with Fed-Ex in Jonesboro and an interview about diesel work too. We're doing a lot of work on the trailer at Bono for him.... paint, flooring, cleaning and rearranging....all sorts of stuff. That will be done this weekend....

This week I have a groundbreaking ceremony tomorrow and I will be glad when it is over :-) Have workouts every afternoon!

The next weekend is the qualifying shoot for George and the boys for the Horseshoe Bend hunt. Leah and I will have to find some way to entertain ourselves while they are doing that....maybe old Hardy town.

Russell's graduation is also coming soon. Going to Nashville August 26-28.... Then we have Labor Day Weekend....and all sorts of celebrations.

Now...you know with all of this going on, we have the normal things to take care of...so tonight I was weed eating by car headlight (lol).

Once upon a time....

Once upon a time... 11 summers ago.... I met a guy....



And it was the beginning of an all new adventure.....

It led to:
A move to Tulsa
A first flight
A first trip to New Orleans (and a second and third)
A first trip to Las Vegas (and a second)
A first trip to Washington, D.C.
A first cruise
A first dive at Cozumel
Another trip to Cozumel
A first time to Deep Sea Fish
A Second set of Dives at Cozumel
A travel trailer and camping trips
Deer Camp (many times)
House hunting (and again)
Remodels
A first horse and a second.... and a mule
Goats
A dog that owns me
Kids that are mine at heart (the way it counts)
A move to Catoosa
A move back to Arkansas
Lake Norfork (the place we met)
The White River and Trout fishing

The list goes on and on...

Once upon a time ... 11 summers ago.... I met a guy....

and he began to make all of my dreams come true.

Big sigh.....

Things sneak up on you when you least expect them. Some things, like bills and repair projects, and cleaning, etc....those kind of things... you know how it is...you mow the yard and then you look up and realize that it needs it again...or you look at your garden one day and it looks fine....then two days later..it's a mess....

Other things sneak up on you too....like the sudden urge I had this week to go to breakfast with Ryan. When we lived in Tulsa and he was the only kid living with us, when George would go out of town, we would go out for breakfast before work/school. I thought of that this week and remembered how much I enjoyed it and wished that he was close enough so that we could sneak off to breakfast :-)

There are lot of other things that sneak up too... birthdays (ugh), pounds (oh no!!!), etc.. and of course they are not all bad......

It's really nice when someone sneaks up with a hug.

50 and counting....

On July 14, 2010, George turned 50.
The kids and I celebrated with him over the weekend while they were home....but... today didn't go unrecognized...
George arrived at work to find a handicapped parking sign at his parking spot....























He was honored with a cool new t-shirt that I so look forward to him wearing everywhere we go (lol).....Here's the back....

























Here's the front.... and look at that smiling birthday boy...



























Somehow, they managed to find some props to use for decorating.:-) We can thank Henry and Rita for access to some photos..... and Dusty Clem for getting it all organized (Thanks Dusty).














I did find it funny that the only old fossil in this photo is Lonnie ! Haha





































They also had birthday snacks at break.

So... now.... he's stuck with just celebrating with me and Tess. He's having a ribeye for dinner and hanging out with us.

Hope he had a wonderful day....thanks to everyone that helped make it that way.

Visit with the kids

We've been having a nice visit with they kiddos this week. Russell was on holiday from school, so Nicole and Ryan rearranged their schedules so they could visit while he was here... so... we had everyone together at the same time... We got to have a few hours on the lake... here's a cell phone shot of me and Nicole... we were waiting for George to make some waves with the boat so we could crash through them....

Saturday night, we went to Pocahontas for Henry's (my father-in-law) retirement dinner. All of the family was there except Magi and Linda... it was nice to see everyone and celebrate Henry's new status...

Since I had all the kids together at the same time I got a photo of them when their Daddy-o. I don't get this opportunity often anymore, so I have to jump on it when I can.

Nice lookin' family that I have! Lucky me.

Everyone is leaving today and it will be just me and George and the critters for a while.

Oh....... I'm going to see Eclipse with my friend Suellen this afternoon :-)

Independence Day.... a day late

I really did start to post to my blog yesterday, but I've had so many electronics issues this weekend that I just couldn't do it. My laptop was down, George's computer won't ready my memory card and then it got malware problems as well...and my camera is on the fritz...

I have the computers working again but the camera is still not working correctly. But, I can now post the photos that I did get while trying to fix my camera.

We had a day at home taking care of things that needed to be done. We went to the lake on Saturday....though.... so... after working around the property with George and running back and forth to me...Tess wanted a nap...but she didn't want to miss anything, so she napped in the living room. Such a sweet puppy...on my couch ;-)

I made some slaw for dinner...had some baked beans.....so.... guess what was for dinner......

That's right.... ribs.... beef ribs to be exact....

George suggested we have ribs for dinner but we didn't buy any pork ribs...so we had some black anugs beef ribs from our Rex Whitfield cow. He has perfected a slow grilled method that takes quite a while....

I also made brownies a'la Drexene...which are brownies, with a layer of marshmallows melted over them and then a tub of chocolate frosting heated and poured over the whole thing.

This morning I got up and made a batch of Grandmother Dust's Sugar Cookies....

Yes, it seems like I'm going overboard... but Russell is home! and Ryan and Nicole will be here on Wednesday....so...I'm getting into the cooking groove... I know I'll need to make fried squash and probably fried chicken while they are here...and of course, we will need to celebrate George's birthday then too...so that means a cheesecake ;-)

Anyway.... our Independence Day did not have any fireworks or major plans but we have enjoyed a peaceful weekend together.

Charging my batteries....

I'm charging my batteries...literally. I have not had my camera in my hands since May 20th.... Can you believe that....I know I am not a great photographer but I usually do make an effort to take photos of what's going on in our lives.... this week I went outside to take a photo after the rain and my batteries were dead and the charger was still in the truck from our trip to Tulsa.

My friend Kim mentioned that she might start another photo challenge and that reminded me again that I still haven't charged my camera batteries.

I've been so un-me lately.

I have not.... cleaned out my closet or any of the drawers in the house, stayed on my diet, exercised, scrapbooked, taken any photos, ironed my clothes, or shopped.

Maybe I need to be charging my own batteries as well...but I'm not sure how to do that right now.....

Of course, I'm working up to a big new project....and maybe that's what I need is a little project to get me going again....I'm about ready to start tiling the living room, study and bedroom...that will make the whole downstairs tile. Of course, I still haven't ordered the tile, but I plan to this weekend.

I did get my paint out so I can do some touch up painting this week (Russell and I need to touch up his room for sure).

I just need to be motivated...or to have something to be motivated about.

Maybe I should go ahead and order that GMAT study book.....

Well...I've rambled on tonight...but maybe this is the charge that I needed....I guess we'll see.