pics - FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are a variety of pictures, but here we go:

Here is when the carpet got burned - this doesn't really make it look that bad, but in person it looks more burned. :(
Here is Les & Kodiak asleep on the couch. Les was sick and got up coughing one morning and he then fell asleep on the couch with Kodiak.
Here is a really cute picture of Bear & Kodiak!!!
Here is Les in the boat in our pond and Kodiak swimming out to him.
This looks like they are both in the boat now in the pond.

Hill Country............

............watch out!

Well, we're going to the Hill Country this weekend. We're excited and it'll be just the 2 of us. As Les said," sort of like a mini-honeymoon!" Which is so true b/c we're going to leave early Saturday morning and then come home Sunday night. It'll be a nice mini-vaca!!! :)

It's already Wednesday and the time is FLYING by!!!

Almost Forgot!!!

So, we have a full pond and we have ducks and thousands of tadpoles and frogs. I'm not kidding when I say thousands of tadpoles. If you go out to the pond in the middle of the day while they are basking in the sun under the water - you can see them. They are big, they are small, they are medium! It's crazy, but so cool too!!! Our pond is now inhabited by living things. We knew that we could hear them, but wow, to actually see them was so cool. I can't imagine WHAT it will sound like once all those tadpoles are full grown frogs!! We're going to have our own frog tourist attraction.........LOL If you stand out there for a few moments - a frog will actually float to the surface and float at the top of the water with its head out. Oh, also the tadpoles swim around a lot; they are very busy swimming, eating the insects that are on the water, etc.

We now have the well uncovered b/c the bricks were slowly starting to fall in and we wanted to do something. So, Les and his friend David pulled the 2 big brick coverings off and we have a board deep in the hole covering it in case something living falls in and our john (sp?) boat sitting over the hole to help even more. We bought this big heavy plastic pipe to stick in there and we're hoping that it will keep anymore bricks from falling in. I think I have pictures of the well, so I'll have to take some the way it is now and then the ending result. We want to build something pretty to put over the well to make it look cute and go with the house (I have a vision in my head as to how I want it, but we'll see what we end up with!!!). :)

Just thought that I would share in our fun times!

Oh wow!

Has it really been 2 weeks since I last wrote on here?!

On Sunday we went to a Cuatro de Mayo party (I know, it wasn't Cinco de Mayo) and had a BLAST! Our Sunday School class (ABF) had a party and we had fajitas (beef and chicken) and all the fixings. I took queso with hamburger meat in it and it went FAST! I do have to say, it was VERY tasty. I used this mini crock-pot that is supposed to be used for hot dips - I got it as a wedding present and it worked very well. Althought it got really hot on the outside - it still worked great and kept the cheese nice and HOT!!! :) There were a few little girls (Ella & Olivia) and Jen (http://jenleforce.blogspot.com/) got a great shot of them eating those really big iced cookies - you can follow the link and see the pictures - they were too cute!

I tricked Les into eating a chocolate cake that someone made - well, it wasn't the chocolate that he would have not eaten - it was the mayo (yes, you heard right, MAYO!)!! So, he totally missed the conversation that the cake had mayo in it to keep it moist. He tried a piece of cake and liked it. After he ate it I told him that it had mayo in it - he got the most disgusted look (yes, I am laughing as I type it) on his face and he said," you're supposed to tell me these things." I said," well, I knew you wouldn't try it if you knew it had mayo in it." I laughed and laughed and laughed some more! Poor Les, BUT he did like it. :)

I know that I promised pictures from our trip to PA, but I have STILL not downloaded them from my camera. I am terrible, but I promise to do that soon. We're going to go out of town this weekend and I want to have my memory card cleared so that I can take LOTS of pics! We haven't decided where we're going to go yet, but these are our thoughts (what do you think?)
1. The Hill Country and see San Antonio too
2. Beaver's Bend & camping & hiking
3. Granbury - rodeo and drive-in movie theatre
4. Galveston

I'll let you know what we decide as soon as WE decide..........LOL :)

What a weekEND

Today is Tuesday - where in the world did Monday go?!

Okay, so I'm totally kidding!! I know where Monday went........LOL

I had a good time in PA this past weekend. Les and I flew up to PA to see his sister and brother-in-law adopt a 10 yr old boy named Joey. It was very cool. We left on Wednesday evening and came home Monday night LATE.

Here is the lowdown of our vacation:

Wednesday - depart for PA at 5:25 PM and arrive with absolutely NO problems. We were actually about 15 - 20 minutes early - SWEET!
Thursday - "Gotcha Day" This was really neat! We went to have some fun at Chuck E. Cheese. After that we went home and I think this is also when Les and I took Joey on a 2 mile walk. That was really nice - a little warm, but definitely nice!!
Friday - we went out for a picnic at a park and that turned out well, a few bugs tried to eat our sandwiches instead of us!!! LOL Randy (brother-in-law), Les, and I took a hike up to this "cave." The cave was the result of them trying to build a railway through the mountain, but it proved too difficult and stopped their efforts (I have pics I'll post later). The temperature in the cave was SIGNIFICANTLY cooler than outside. There was even a block of ice still in the cave - I found that fascinating!!! We hiked down to have our picnic with Donna (sister-in-law) and Doris (mother-in-law). We got down there and the bugs were TERRIBLE!!! We ended up leaving and finding another park to have our picnic at. This was a much better place to eat b/c the bugs weren't bad at all. :) Randy took Les, me and Joey to this park to ride bikes. We ended up riding about 3 miles. I think we played games that evening and enjoyed each other's company.
Saturday - We stayed around the house and played Phase 10 and Strategy. Then that afternoon we took off for another park. This park was where Randy and Donna got engaged. At another section of the park was a beach, spillway/dam, nature trails, etc. We wandered around the nature trails and then we went back and I put my legs in the water at the spillway. That was VERY COLD!!!!!!!! Saturday night we went to eat (tell more about this in a minute) and then to this country line dancing called Tractor Twang (www.tractortwang.com). When we first got there I didn't want to get out of the car b/c the mean age was 17 or so. I was so embarrassed and just kept laughing. I think that everyone was laughing at this point too. We all finally got out of the car and went in. We had a great time and you can see my picture on the Tractor Twang's website at (http://www.tractortwang.com/pics/displayimage.php?album=289&pos=11). Okay, now about the dinner - we thought it would be good to go and eat at Friendly's. Well, we get there and there is absolutely no wait to sit down. We order our drinks and dinner. I'm not kidding, we sat there for an hour and then I go to complain. The manager said that the food would be out in 3 minutes, well after 5 minutes we got up and left. We went to McDonald's and drove through the drive through in 5 minutes and were on our way to our country line dancing. :):):) We danced till about 9:30 PM and then we had to get home to go to bed for church on Sunday morning b/c we were going to the early service.
Sunday - we go to church and see Randy and Donna dedicate Joey to the Lord. After church we went over to Randy's mom's house and had lunch with their family. We had a good time, but it rained the whole time. Les and I didn't let the rain stop us, we still wandered around and looked at the trees that surrounded us. After that we went home and finished packing and left for the airport. We get to the airport, check in, go through security and then we find out that the plane that was coming to take us to Chicago had been struck by lightening. So, our flight was cancelled. It took almost 1 1/2 hours to find out what our new flights would be. They put us up in a hotel room and we slept like little babies that night. We got up the next morning and went back to the airport to drop our bags off. After that we had breakfast and then headed out to Lancaster. Randy and Donna drove back to Harrisburg and we went and toured Lancaster. We had a good time. We took a buggy ride through the Amish country. It was VERY informative and we all seemed to really enjoy it!!! Then after that we went and ate lunch and looked through a few shops. It was then time to go back to the airport to try to get on our flight again. Which was successful UNTIL we arrived in Chicago and went to get on our next flight; that's when our traveling came to a screeching hault. That plane had some mechanical problems and they changed our gate, brought another plane out of the hanger, cleaned it and got it ready, then we boarded. After we boarded; then it was no time till we were off and flying towards Dallas. Once we arrived in Dallas we were so excited, but we pulled up to the gate and no one was there to direct the plane in. We sat there for 30 minutes or so and then finally we got to finish pulling up and got off!!!! We pulled into our driveway around 1 AM and we were exhausted to say the least!!!! We had been up about 18 hours and ready to go to bed.

All in all we had a great time and so glad that we were able to go. I'll post pictures once I get them downloaded off my camera. :)

Our 6 month anniversary date night!

Here is a picture of Les and I before we left for dinner. We had dinner at Red Lobster (one of our fave restaurants!)!!! I had crab legs and coconut shrimp and Les had crab legs and fried shrimp. We had a really good time and the weather was perfect!!!

While we were at dinner I asked Les if he had checked the mail and he said he hadn't. I love checking the mail and so once we got home I went and checked the mail. We had this card in there and I said," Les, someone sent a really weird card." It was addressed to:
K & L Cornelius
and our address

Then the return address was:
The Unknown
777 Christway
United Holy Land

What I DIDN'T notice was that there was no stamp!!!! Les had surprised me and put an anniversary card in the box before I got home. It was a VERY sweet card and I LOVED IT!!

Once we got home we watched a movie (comedy) that I had received from netflix and then spent good quality time together with no distractions. It is nice to spend time celebrating each other and being able to enjoy each other.

Anyways, it was a very memorable 6 month anniversary - I LOVE YOU!!!!!

6 Red Roses!!!

I was sitting here at my desk and I had just talked to Les on the phone and he told me that he was on his way to the hog feeder. A few minutes later the door to our office walks in and it's Les! I was so shocked because he had a vase of 6 BEAUTIFUL red roses (1 for each month that we have been together!) and then there is greenery and purple flowers (not sure what they are). The 2 types of flowers together are beautiful!!

I told Les that this delivery boy was special and got a kiss too!!! :) I LOVE YOU, HONEY!!!!!!!!

As you can see from my previous post - this past Sunday was our 6 month wedding anniversary, but we're celebrating it tonight because he worked on Sunday.

When I take them home this evening - I will take a picture of them and post them on the blog. One thing that was really cool was that the roses are still tight and they will be blooming for a while as they open up. :)

6 month anniversary cake!

Okay, well, I definitely DO NOT claim to be a cake decorator, but I thought it would be fun to write on a cake for Les. Here is the cake - it was fun doing it; even though it is not good. :) HAHAHA I know that cake professionals out there will probably cringe when they see this picture.........LOL Even though it isn't the prettiest cake - it does TASTE really good!!!

The top picture was taken by holding the camera over the cake and the bottom picture I was actually looking at the cake through the lens. :):)

T-storms!

I tell ya, I have definitely been more aware of the storms these days. While I was living at my parents' house awaiting my wedding - I would NEVER hear the storms. However, now that I am married and living with my husband in Lucas in our home - I hear EVERY storm!! :) I do enjoy the rain, but the hail part kind of scares me. The other night when it was raining and hailing - I got up to see the hail. Unfortunately, I was 1/2 asleep and couldn't see anything. I could hear it, but not see it.

Last night was no different - as Les and I were drifting off into never never land - it started to lightening; then thunder, and then rain. I quickly fell asleep until the middle of the night when a humdinger of a storm rolled through. The rain was falling hard and the lightening and thunder were going to town. When I got up this morning it was chilly and VERY wet. We ended up getting a little over 2 1/2 inches of rain. I believe it!

That's all for now - I have lunch in less than 1 hour and I am meeting a friend of mine, who's name is also Kim for lunch at Market Street. She has never eaten lunch at the grocery store and I told her that it is VERY good! They have an awesome salad bar, limited sushi, american food, pizza, etc. I am so excited by my lunch I can hardly taste it. Now for the decision as to WHAT I will get. I am thinking on the lines of california rolls (beginner sushi LOL). ;)

Oh, we leave in 1 week from today to go up to visit Les' oldest Sister and her husband. We're going up for the adoption of our nephew, Joey. We're excited to be able to be apart of the event. We're staying till Sunday night, so we have a lot of time to play around, sight see, barn dances, etc. Also, we'll be close to Amish country and it is beautiful up there! I'll try to remember to take my camera; which I ALWAYS forget when I go places. :( Lancaster here we come!!!!

My Big Girl

Kodiak had her weekly training in agility last night. Oh how she wanted to run with the rest of the dogs, but we limited her as to what she could and couldn't do. Her paw is healing from a cut pad. Not sure how she did it, but it has been 3 weeks now and it is slowly healing. Our trainer said that it can take quite a while for those things to heal. I was talking to a girl in my class and she was saying that when her dog cut her paw that it took the dog 1 month to heal and after that the dog had to gain confidence on walking on it again. I can see that b/c Kodiak is getting used to not putting pressure on it. We'll get there! We didn't let her run any on the sand b/c that seemed to irritate her foot and get up in the cut. We did work her when we went outside and she had a great time!!! She worked on the teeter and the dog walk. She was very excited to be on the equipment and working on her contacts. :) My girl has lost 7 lbs since September and I am so proud of her!! Of course, I have been controlling her diet too. Plus, she has not had access to my parents' dogs food. She has been eating 1 cup of kibble food a day and then she eats 1 can of green beans too. She LOVES green beans!!

Lessons we should ALL learn from dogs!!

Live simply.
Love generously.
Care deeply.
Speak kindly.

Remember, if a dog was the teacher you would learn things like:
When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.
Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.
Take naps.
Stretch before rising.
Run, romp, and play daily.
Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.
On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.
When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
Eat with gusto and enthusiasm.
Stop when you have had enough.
Be loyal.
Never pretend to be something you're not.
If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.
Be always grateful for each new day.

6 MONTHS!!!

Has it already been 6 months? Wow, I have loved married life and I am thankful EVERY day for my husband, Les. This has been the best 6 months and I can't wait to see what is going to happen in the next 6 months! Les had to work yesterday, but he got off at 6 PM and we met at our church for an old hymn night. It was a lot of fun and afterwards we went and ate at Steak & Shake with our family and some friends. We had a good time!

We're going to go and celebrate our 6 month anniversary this Friday! I told Les that I really wanted seafood, so we'll see where we end up going - I'll keep you posted on that! Les is off all day on Friday, so once I get home we'll get ready and go out for a night on the town. :)

Thank God for making Les & I for each other!! Each day is a brand new day and it just keeps getting better and better!!! I LOVE YOU, HONEY!!

1 heck of a day yesterday

If you're a guy - I would suggest SKIPPING this blog b/c it is for women!!!!

Okay, so Wednesday morning I woke up with excruciating pain in my lower back and abdomen. It was terrible! It was the dreadful "Aunt Flo" we all have come to hate........lol j/k Normally I don't have bad cramps or back aches, but yesterday was a completely different day. My mom thinks that it is because I am not taking birth control pills anymore. I stayed home from work yesterday and I now have a new best friend - the heating pad. The pain finally went away around 7:30 PM last night, but it did last ALL DAY!! As the day went on though; the pain went down.........YAY!!

I have stopped taking birth control because Les and I want to start trying to start a family this summer. I know that you're thinking to yourself and saying," but the just got married." This is true, but we met almost 3 years ago (May 2005) and would have been together 3 years in August. Les is getting older and he doesn't want to wait too long, so we have decided to try. We have left the process totally in God's hands. When He sees that we're ready for parenthood; then He will bless us with a child of our own. While we love the dogs; it is nothing like your own baby. We're so excited, but yet so nervous too!!! I think I am more nervous than anything b/c I don't know what to expect.

If you would like to support us; then we welcome the prayers and love! If you have your own opinion about our decision; then please keep it yourself. We have left the decision in God's hands and He knows what is best for us and our family. :) He has been so faithful in everything so far and we know He'll be faithful through this time in our lives too.

MMI Ladies

I just received this picture and I think it is soo cute! These are some ladies that I work with including my boss (she lives in Canada). I think this picture is so cute of us all and I wanted to post it!

Update

Okay, well, so my sister-in-law, Jill, was telling me that you could add music to the blogs. So, I got on here today and since I already had a playlist account that I used on my myspace; then I found the code to add it to my blog. I also decided since I haven't changed anything on my blog in while; that I would update it and change things around, play with the fonts and colors too. YAY for change!!!!

So, I hope you enjoy the music while you're surfing around my blog. :) Thanks, Jill! You can see her blog at http://jc-originals.blogspot.com/.

Arab or American?

I got such a kick out of Les when he decided that he was hot and wanted to keep the sun off his face (he was already a little burned on the nose). David and I were teasing Les that he was Ahab the Arab (do you remember that old song?) Well, I was singing it and here is shot of Les with his turbine on. :) Fun times!!

It was even funnier when he first put the shirt on his head b/c he is trying to steer the boat and the part of the shirt kept falling down in his eyes - it was a moment when you HAD to be there to enjoy it and get a kick out of it.

The picture taken below was after we parked the boat up a creek and we were going to try and walk up some of the land, but it was too wet from all the rain and we weren't able to get but a little over 1/2 a mile and then we ran out of land.

I was ready to go back b/c I had forgotten socks and my rubber boots were starting to get just a little uncomfortable (no blisters, but definitely sweaty.........hahaha). I walked a good mile in those boots and I was sure glad to get them off. I had almost sliced the tip top part of my toe off and thank goodness it was not hurting my toe, but my band-aid did fall off.......:( It has healed really well and the skin that was sliced was still attached by some skin and it has been able to attach back (or grow together) again. Although I do have this bump looking thing on the end of the little toe. Oh well, such is life - another story for me to be able to tell..........LOL!!!

You Know You're a Redneck When......

You're out on the boat up a creek and your husband wants to build a fire ON the boat.

Sorry about the quality - it was taken by a picture phone, but you can at least see the flames - the trolling motor is right behind the grill and then you can see the lake too. This is Les in the black, white, and red jacket. I am sitting off to his right side, but you can't see me. :)

Here's the story:
We went out to Lake Lavon Saturday afternoon - it was me, Les, and David. We took our grill, charcoal, and lighter fluid because we were going to grill out while we were out on the lake. Well, we soon realize that the lake is about 5 feet high and there is not much land around the creeks to get off and cook our hamburgers. Les decides that while we're up this creek he is going to start the grill while we're fishing in the middle of the creek. I told him," I don't think this is such a good idea." Well, him and David decide to go ahead and make it work. Les is looking for the charcoal and come to find out - we don't have the charcoal. I said (sarcastically)," looks like we'll have to go home now so that we can grill the burgers at home." Les said," no, we'll just use the branches that are sticking out of the water from the trees that are underwater. Who knows WHAT type of trees these were, but Les gets the grill going and I'm padding out the hamburger meat. I had put on several worms at this point and there is no where to really wash your hand, but I did use my hand sanitizer to "wash" my hands...........hahahaha We grill the burgers and needless to say, they weren't the best tasting b/c the wood is what gives them great flavor a lot of the time. I forgot to add that when Les cleaned the burger flipper - he just dipped it in the lake. We were all laughing at this point and couldn't believe it. David took pics, so if I get them; then I will add them to the post so that you can see our adventure. We had a good time and now something to talk about...........LOL

I hope you enjoy our redneck grillin' out........... :-)

Easter

I wanted to remininence from last year's Easter Day. Last year Les and I were on our way to church and we had Sunday School first. We pulled into the parking lot at the movie theatre (this is where we had Sunday School). There is a fountain on the property and I mentioned to Les that the water fountain must be turned off and he actually pulled into a spot near the fountain. Well, I went to open the truck door and he says," wait - I have an Easter card that I want to give you." I told him that I didn't get him an Easter card and that I was sorry. He said," don't worry about it." He gave me the card and I opened it and on the inside were 2 bunnies that had a wire shaped like a cross that was between the 2 paws of the bunnies. On the top of the card it had some sweet words and said that your Easter egg was on the bag of the card. I turned the card over and there was the engagement ring! I was so shocked and I leaned over and kissed Les. It was a very sweet moment and he said," you will be my wife won't you?" I said," of course!"

Just wanted to leave you with a picture from last Easter of Les and I.

Cracked Windows

Hey Everyone: Les and I are going to be traveling to PA next month for the adoption of our oldest nephew and I came across this today. I want to let everyone know that they need to be cautious when flying on planes because you never know when you'll experience this - be prepared!

BIG bunny

I thought this was awesome - I want a big bunny like this!!! He is so cute!!!!!!!! :) Below the picture is the caption that came with it telling about the bunny. Have a great day!

He weighs in at 22 pounds and measures a little over 3 feet. A breed of rabbit called German giant (how appropriate!). This is his owner, Hans Wagner, struggling to hold him up. From the NY Post article: I don't feed him an unusual diet, said Wagner. He goes through more than his brothers and sisters, but he eats the same food mix. His favorite food is actually lettuce. He can never get enough of it. LOOK AT THOSE FEET!

Updates of my week.........:)

Monday - Kodiak and I had our agility training class. Kodiak is doing well and I am so proud of her! She is so in-tune with me when we're in class - she STARES at me and when I'm not paying attention to her - she BARKS at me. :)

Tuesday - Les and I wanted to do a test drive with the car. He drove to Murphy and then we switched seats and I drove the rest of the night. We went to McDonald's and we got ice cream - yummy! Then I wanted to go to my parents' house and take my mom out for a drive (she has never seen me drive a standard). We picked her up in Fairview and I drove out North of McKinney and then we drove through downtown McKinney on the way home. She was very impressed with my driving and so was Les. I did really good and I was proud of myself!

Wednesday - Les and I decided that we wanted to have a picnic. Our original plan was to drive up to Bonham and see if the Dogwoods are blooming yet. We got on Hwy 5 and then Les remembered that there was an oil spill on Hwy 75 and we didn't really want to mess with the traffic. So, we decided to go to Sister Grove Park (east of Princeton). We grilled out hamburgers and played with Kodiak some. Then we went out to the dam in Wylie to see what everyone was catching - they're letting out water from Lake Lavon b/c it was 2 feet to high. While we were there (it was dark) Kodiak started eating something off the ground. I put my 2 index fingers in her mouth to get her to drop whatever it was. Well, I quickly figured out AFTER THE FACT; that she was eating poop!!!!!! My 2 fingers were covered in poop and I gagged all the way to the bathroom. It was soo gross and we started laughing!!! We did have a good time despite this little happening. :)

Thursday - I had a great time with Julie - we had dinner at Potbelly's at Park/Preston. We had a good time and we laughed a lot. They had outdoor seating, so after we finished eating we took the wedding photo album outside and enjoyed the weather and the pictures. We laughed and laughed. Well, when I went to leave I started walking toward an explorer that I thought was mine. Well, I tried to open the back door and it wouldn't open. These girls were staring at me and it ended up NOT being mine - my explorer was parked next to that one. I got into my car and bursted out laughing!!!! I was embarrassed b/c those girls just stared at me like I was nuts!! Pretty darn funny!

Friday - My boss just came out and said that we were going to get to leave early!! Woo Hoo!!! It is definitely our secret. The weather is gorgeous outside and it is definitely acting like spring time. :) We're going to have a party over at my parents' house tonight. Les gets off at 7 PM and then he'll be over after that. I am so excited for the weekend to finally be here.

In your prayers - please say one for my little Kodiak - she is limping and favoring her back left paw. She just looks at me as if she doesn't know what is wrong. I had to pick her up and put her in the car and get her out of the car too. I have called the vet and he told me what to do to try and relieve some of her pain.

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend and I'll write more next week!!!

Weird Article for the Day!

This is probably the strangest article that I have read in a long time! My best friend, Julie, sent this to me and yeah, we laughed!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080313/ap_on_re_us/woman_in_bathroom

I have a funny story of something that happened last night to post later when I have time to write.

Till then...........Ciao

What Kind of Dog Am I???

Wow, You're a Labrador Retriever!
Labrador Retriever
The Caretaker
Your family is what makes you tick, and you never "flea" from an opportunity to hang out with the whole gang. A family picnic complete with hot dogs, deviled eggs and a refreshing swim in the lake is hard for you to stray from. Your sparky temperament and dogged intelligence mean you are not only a blast to hang out with, but great to work with as well. Your close pals appreciate your patience and forgiveness, knowing you'd rather let sleeping dogs lie than dwell on the mishaps of the past. Your dashing good looks may one day lead to a modelling career, if only you can tame the unfortunate clumsiness that sometimes causes you to go flailing from the catwalk. Learn more »
FAMOUS LABRADOR RETRIEVERS: Bill Cosby, Jackie Onassis, Dr. Phil, David Beckham
LIKELY PROFESSIONS: Doctor, Sales Executive, Teacher

When I say.....

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not shouting 'I'm clean livin'
'I'm whispering 'I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven.

'When I say... 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say.. 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou, I'm just a simple sinner Who received God's good grace, somehow!'

Me and My Nieces & Nephew

Here is a picture of me and the triplets!!! From L - R; they are Hannah, Whitney, and Tyler. They were 5 weeks old yesterday!! This picture was taken when they were 4 weeks old. You can see more pictures from my SIL's blog at http://www.triple-a-amy.blogspot.com/

ENJOY!!

A REAL Actor in Allen, TX!!!!

Lauren and I were here at work and her husband called her from one of the Allen Starbucks'. He told her that Steven Baldwin was there. So, we quickly left and went to the Starbucks to see someone famous. :)

Here is a picture of him - he belongs to the Baldwin Family.

We were very excited to see him!!!

NEW CAR!!!!

Les and I found a great deal on a `95 Toyota Corolla that we couldn't pass up. It has 102,500 miles on it (rounded up) :-). It is a standard and we were very excited with our deal!

The car has some ice and snow on it, but the body is in great shape and the coloring is great. Praise the Lord for blessing us with a good deal. He truly does take care of those who trust in Him. Les and I thank God for our blessings daily - the Lord is great! :-)

Snowstorm in Lucas, TX

We had REAL snow Monday night - it was beautiful!!! Les and I went driving around that night around 9:45 PM and as we drove through the snow I felt like I was on a roller coaster in the dark and all we could see was black spotted with giant snow flakes! It was definitely a rush!!!


Here are some of the pictures that I took on Tues morning when we woke up!!!

Here is a great shot of the house - I think it is awesome!!!!! The house just shines with the blue backdrop behind it - I love it!
Here are the the trees just south of us - you can see the field beside us and the crops trying to come up. Les enjoyed seeing the trees (this pic was for him). ;-)
Here is our pond - we thought it was soo pretty with the snow surrounding it. It looked prettier (in my opinion) in person, but this is still a great shot too!!!!
Here is a funny shot of Bear running - he is like mid leap when I pushed the button. We thought this was a good picture of him. We don't always get good shots, but this was really good!!
Here is a picture of Les and Kodiak coming across the front yard. The front got about 1-2 inches of snow, but out by the pond and on the back part of our property we had 3-4 inches back there. It was very deep and my shoes sunk under the snow.

I hope you enjoy our pictures - we were very excited to receive some snow. I hope that it snows tomorrow night too - last time I looked it was in the forecast for some possible freezing rain. YAY!!!!

Click on the Link Below

We have a star in the family - click on the link below and see if you recognize anyone:
http://www.bestfriendsagility.com/students11.html

If you have any questions about who I am talking about - just leave me a message and I'll get back to you. :) :)

It's SNOWING!!!!

Some exciting news - it is SNOWING outside!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!! It is sooo pretty outside watching it fall - very exciting!!!

Mice + Bear = YUCKY!!

Kodiak and I were about to head across the street on Saturday to take our neighbor's mail to them (we collected it for them for the week). When I started out onto Stinson Rd, there came a mouse running at me.............I pointed to it and told Kodiak to get it. I wanted to see her chase it and she did - quite amusing if you ask me. Well, Bear sees Kodiak playing with something and he runs over to check it out. When Bear sees it; he grabs it from Kodiak and eats it!! It was gone in about 5 minutes or so. That boy doesn't waste anytime eating his raw meat. :)


1 more story; then I'll close for the evening:

While Kodiak and I were over at our neighbor's house I could tell she needed to go poop. I called her over to me and made her sit by me so she wouldn't go poop in the yard right in front of them. She's REALLY good at picking yards to poop in on walks when the owner is in the front yard...........HAHAHAHA Well, I told them that I needed to leave; which I did b/c I was going to this lunch for cancer survivors (not me, but my mom is in remission from 2 types of cancer - Praise the Lord for allowing her to have a full life; despite the obstacles that come and go). I'm thinking to myself," YAY, we made it and she didn't poop." Well, the husband wants to know why I'm not staying longer and I explain to him why I was leaving. He got to talking and before I knew it Kodiak had run off and started pooping in the yard.........OH WELL, at least I tried to keep her from doing it. We all laughed it off and kept on talking.

HOPE YOU ENJOYED PART OF OUR WEEKEND; MUCH LIKE WE DO. IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS IN LIFE THAT LES AND I ENJOY!!!

OUR MOTTO: WORK TO LIVE, BUT DO NOT LIVE TO WORK.

NEW CAR!!!

Okay, so it's not exactly a new car, but it is a new car to Les and I. We were very excited about Les' find. We bought a '95 Toyota Corolla for next to nothing. It has 102,000 miles on it and it looks great! I will post pictures of it once I take some...... :) AND I find my cord to download between my camera and laptop. We loaded the dogs up in it yesterday and off we went to Royse City. We laid the seats down and they had an area to lay down and get comfy in, plus they could stretch their legs into the trunk too! They were very excited, but they were just like 2 little kids. Bear got on Kodiak's side and when she sat down (on her side) he snapped at her for sitting on him. We laughed about it and kept on driving. I still have my explorer and have not been able to give Les the OK to actually sale it yet. :) hahaha I know, I know, I'm silly, but I have so many memories in my car!!!

Pole Cats: aka SKUNKS!

Okay, so last night was not the best night that Les and I have had since we've been married. Bear started barking about 11:15 PM and was still barking at 1 AM. I went outside on 2 different occassions to try and get him to stop barking.

#1 - I go outside with my pj's (it's about 11:45 PM) and a little jacket b/c it was rather chilly. I get over to him (he's near our culvert) and he's barking at something. I then see a skunk dancing around with his tail up and I hear a nice spray sound. Bear got sprayed and well, I was only about 5 ft away and now I kind of smell like a skunk too.........LOL I can still smell the lingering smell today, but it is SLOWLY fading away.

#2 - As soon as Bear sees me he runs away from the skunk (around 12:45 - 1 AM).

Well, he won't stop barking except when I'm out there, so I ask Les if a box fan in our room would drown out the noise. We agreed that it would, so I went and got one and plugged it in. It was like heaven to my ears!! Thank you to whoever created the wonderful box fan....LOL I was finally able to drift off for a while UNTIL I started smelling smoke.

I woke Les up b/c my nose was itching and I could smell our wood-burning stove. He goes to check on it to make sure that everything is fine with it. All is good and finally I go back to sleep. My alarm went off at 6:40 AM and I felt like I hadn't slept a wink. ;) So, I call in at work and tell them that I'm going back to bed and I'll be there later. We slept till about 9 AM and then got up feeling a little bit more rested. Needless to say, it was quite the adventerous night!!

I am thinking that we're going to have to try the "no bark" dog collar and see how Bear likes that. He barks non-stop at night sometimes and I'm sure the neighbors just love him - well, I know I do.........hahaha NOT! When I was telling my mom about our night she just laughed b/c of me smelling like a skunk now - I was laughing too and can't believe it!! YUCK! I can't wait to tell my dad and hear of his reaction too of my stinkin' (no pun intended) story.

Have a great weekend!!!

what a wonderful weekend - TOGETHER!

Les and I had a wonderful weekend this past weekend. We went camping after church on Sunday up to Bonham and had a great time! We camped on a dead end road where hunter's camp (Les has a hunting license and I have a permit), so we're completely legal to be on the land. :)

On Sunday we hiked for a little while, but I get scared after dark and we forgot the flashlight, so I insisted that we back BEFORE it was dark. :) Something about the dark and not being able to see really scares me!!! I even got scared 1x in the small patch of woods near our house and I knew where I was and headed home in tears. Les was very sweet and followed me b/c I got so scared (also, there were about 4 rabbits dead and some of them were hanging in trees, so I was freaked too). Anyways, after we got back we started a bonfire to keep warm (low was in the low 30's) and had hot dogs over the fire. That was a lot of fun relaxing and talking and just enjoying being together!! It was really cool, we got these HUGE logs started and they honestly burned all night - I'm not kidding either. It was wild! We went in our tent around 11 PM and played a few rounds of yahtzee and yes, Les beat me 2x, but I did beat him 2x the week before at home.........it was my time to lose......hahaha On Monday, we got up and had our breakfast (oatmeal) and packed up and went hiking in the woods. We were wearing rubber boots b/c it was pretty muddy, but it was fun and we used our GPS and walked about 3 miles or so. We were going to ride our bikes, but my tire was a little flat and we didn't want to chance it. So, we went and started our grill and fixed hamburgers. While the grill was getting ready we walked to the lake and bad - that was fun. We then started home and picked up our girl Kodiak and went to dog training. Kodiak has been having so much fun with agility and honestly she talks to me the whole time and wags her tail like crazy. I have fun seeing her have fun and using her brain. :)

Well, that is my weekend in a nutshell and I have been busy all week at work since we were closed on Monday for President's Day. It was a nice break and now tomorrow is FRIDAY!!!

I am sooo ready for Friday to be here and can't wait. :)

Kodiak's 4th Birthday!!!

Today is Kodiak's 4th birthday - I can't believe all that she has taught me in responsibilities, how to love, to give unconditionally, etc. She is the best dog and I am sooo glad that she's mine!!!

She is staying with her grammy, poppy, and uncle Chrissy tonight. I know that she is so excited to be staying over with them (she will get a pig ear - she LOVES them!!!!).

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day to YOU!!!
Les, !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Storms on Monday Night

Well, I have to say we had some hum dinger of storms come through around 2 AM Monday night. It woke me up and I was a little scared. The lightening was VERY bright and the thunder was literally clapping right around us. As I was laying there a few of the thunders made me jump b/c they were scary sounding! I heard a fire truck and just prayed that whoever's house was struck; that they would be able to get outside safely. That was the last time I thought about that for the rest of the night. I was on my way to work the next morning and there is a church about 1 mile from us and the steeple was on the ground and part of the roof was burned - the church was where the fire trucks were going when I heard them during the night. I couldn't tell how much damage there was, but they had taken the door off and had a ply board covering the door hole. I pray that not too much damage was done, but at least my prayers were answered - no one was hurt. A building can always be rebuilt.

Les and I got 1 1/2 inches of rain at our house and our pond is starting to fill up again - so that is always exciting to see! Now my girl can go swimming again!!! :) I have attached an old picture of Kodiak and Les that I just love. Kodiak had had surgery this particular day and all she wanted to do was be pampered and lay with us. This is a very cute picture of them loving on each other.

Biscotti's

Well, today was my 1st time to have a Biscotti. The flavor that I am eating is called Chocolate - it is really good. In fact, here is a picture of it - this isn't the ONE that I am eating, but honestly, it looks EXACTLY the same. :) I found this picture on the web.

Go and have a biscotti!!!!!

Friends

Here is a picture of me and some high school buddies. We got together a few weeks ago and had dinner and shared MANY laughs!! We had a great time. I wish we could always get together & hang out. Where does time go?! I can't believe that it has already been 10 years since we graduated (well, in May.....LOL). ;)