Resolute.

New Years resolutions are typically bunk. People say a lot and do almost nothing (or do a lot for a week or two). I made a 'New Years Resolution' this year. I am resolved to achieve it. It is probably the most common resolution there is...

I suppose in reality it is more than a 'New Years Resolution'. I'm attempting to change my lifestyle. I want to eat healthier foods, cook healthier foods, make healthy choices when eating out, incorporate exercise into my life, resulting in a healthier (and lighter) body and achieve all of this before having children (at some point in the future). I want my kids not to have to work at changing habits but to grow up living AND seeing them every day.

I have a FANTASTIC tool to help me in my endeavor...

sparkpeople.com

It is a FREE, healthy, goal-oriented, health-oriented, NON-FAD, weight-loss (or other goal achieving) tool. It in itself is motivating - you earn 'sparkpoints', you meet and motivate (and get motivated by) other people, you have experts telling you how to make healthy choices (REALISTICALLY), and it helps you set small goals that will help you achieve the larger goals (again motivating you with already achieved successes).

It works for me and I feel compelled to share. For those of you who know you are unhealthy but are trapped in your unhealthy habits - give this a try, it might work for you too!

Merry Christmas!

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through our new house
Not a creature was stirring… except for miss Gweny chasing a mouse.
The stockings were taken to relatives with care,
With hopes that St. Nick would still find them there.
No children yet nestle all snug in their beds,
They may have some plans for them somewhere in their heads.
They dream of their wedding, a wonderful warm day on the beach
And hope a return trip isn’t too far out of reach.
They hosted a reception in their new home on a beautiful summer day
Thanks to our family and friends who came from near and far away!
They purchased appliances, grill, patio set, and new mower,
Before a foot of heavy snow, they got that snow blower!
They are happy to be settled and enjoying wedded bliss,
(They still often greet each other with a short kiss.)
She is NOT sick with a cold from working with kids in the schools
And he anticipates a season of taxes with plenty of tax rules.
They love Badger hockey games and trying new things,
And they can’t wait to see what fun next year brings.
Thank you for the many blessings that have reached us this year,
We wish the same for you during this season of cheer!

I love my husband!

Beware, I'm going to be really sappy here...


I was just thinking about how many wedding pictures I've framed and put around the house... too many? I don't know, but I like them. It got me to thinking, as I do often, how much I LOVE my husband. He is so good for me (and I hope me for him) in so many ways!

I work with little kids (3-5 year olds) so it follows that I am a pretty fun-loving little girl at heart. I was lucky enough to find a little-boy-at-heart to marry! We spend 75% or more of the time we are together laughing (the other 25% is NOT fighting either...we don't do that too often ;-) What we DO do (haha dodo ;-) is play... tickle or make funny faces/jokes/noises or call eachother ridiculous names (lots of them) or laugh at our kitty.

While my hubby may not be big on surprise flowers or stopping to pick up milk... I LOVE the surprise e-mails I get on an almost-daily basis that simply say "I love you!" or something else to make me laugh.



















We also have never had any problems sharing household chores etc. He actually loves to vacuum. I take out the trash and do the kitty litter. We share cooking (though it's more me) cleaning up and laundry. After living with not so equitable roommates in the past, he's the best roomie I could ask for!


















Most of all, he is my best friend. The first person I think of when I want to tell someone something. The person I need to hold when I'm watching a scary movie. The person who's opinion I always want to know (even if I may disagree!) We love the same foods and love to spend our time off in the same ways. He's the one I want to make happy and he wants to make me happy in everything we do.


I know we've only been married for 2 months -- so it's as if we're still honeymooner/newlyweds... BUT if you consider how long we've been living LIKE we were married... it's been FIVE years. Five years of living together, sharing expenses, coming home to each other, compromising, arguing, changing, but most of all ... laughing.

...and kissing too I suppose... (must notice the butt-grab!)

A "simple" project....

I think that Windows Movie Maker (WMM) is an awesome program. Easy to use and I love the finished project (it's very much like iMovie.. or whatever those apple people call it). So just after getting engaged I put together a short movie of all the photos of me and my betrothed. I left space for the wedding pictures and planned out a couple songs. Yes, I'm a planner... very very much a planner...

Snag #1:
--Songs you download are copyright protected and can't be imported to movie maker. But they're the PERFECT songs, I can't NOT use them!!!

Relatively easy fix:
--Burn a cd of the songs you want, then rip the songs from the CD and bye bye copyright problem. (just keep track of where on your computer you ripped them to). I see no problem in this as I DID pay for the songs and I'm not going to be selling copies of my wedding movie.

So months pass, wedding occurs (yay!). I compile all the pictures from everyone who attended (THANK YOU!) and pick out my favorites. Time to put the movie together...

Yes, WMM is easy to use, but that doens't mean it's not time consuming. I spent A LOT of time putting in the pictures, effects, transitions, music, titles, timing the music with a few appropriate pictures, timing the music for transitions from pre-wedding to wedding to pictures, etc. I play around with different songs, import etc. I 'publish' the movie... then realize I missed some transitions and stuff... back to work. Then I get some late photos that I want to add. All said I spent at least 6 hours on the project. Good thing this IS my summer job :-)

So I 'publish' the finished work. It's a .wmv file which I've had problems creating DVD's out of in the past. I look through the programs on my computer (I've never burned a DVD on my OWN computer before) I see nothing so I google 'Burn DVD from WMV') I get some great step by step directions. I download the two free programs they suggest, program 1 - converts wmv file to DVD format, program 2 - writes the file to the DVD, I closely follow all instructions and try to burn the DVD and ....

Snag #2
Didn't work. When I try to play the DVD our player says "disc is dirty". When I put it in my computer, it pops the tray back out and says 'please insert disc'.

(DVD-R waste count: 1)

Easy fix #1
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again... so I did... everything the same. Same outcome.

(DVD-R waste count: 2)

Easy fix #2
Try with a different burning program that I've used before at work. Download free program, read instructions, try again... no dice.

(DVD-R waste count: 3)

Easy fix #3
Figure out that I DO have a DVD burning software on my computer that's even better than the ones I downloaded (it makes a menu and everything). I put it all together, try again. The computer says 'DVD burned successfully'. EUREKA! My hopes are high. I pop out the disc and put it in the DVD player..... 'disc is dirty'

(DVD-R waste count: 4)

Easy fix #4
My sister gives me some of her DVD-R's to try, just in case that's what it is, though at this point we're convinced my burner is bunk. I use the program that came on my computer again and try, try again....

SUCCESS!

Finally, I have a burned copy of my Windows Movie Make photo montage, with the wedding video at the end so I can just play it on a loop at our upcoming reception.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!

(unfortunately the file is too big to post here, my apologies!)

Fun in the sun!

Just have to share... he had no idea I was going to push and I had no idea he was going to drag!

Imagination gets the best of me...

While cleaning the tops of my kitchen cabinets (not fun, but judging by the sheer amount/thickness of the dust that was up there, VERY necessary), I found a few curious items: a (faux) diamond ring in box (I looked up the brand, 'Diamonique', it is a QVC brand), a legal folder that said 'contents of deed enclosed' or something like that which was filled with lottery tickets and a printout of the winning numbers, tickets to box seats at a Badger football game in November 2005 with the game book, crumpled pieces of notepaper which, when uncrumpled, read the movie times for a day of movies, and a small paper airplane made out of a church donation slip.

We know very little of the people that owned the house before us. They were (are?) an older couple who through some turn of events (went to a nursing home?... passed away?...) were foreclosed upon. We were surpised to learn the couple was older, given the house has 3 levels and so lots of stairs... especially as the house is new (5 years old) and so assumably, was built to suit the previous owners. The walls are all white and have very few holes from nails etc. (leading me to think they were either boring, unable or unmotivated to decorate). They did leave one decoration in the basement basement (the room that holds all the basement-like items...water softener, furnace, etc.) It is a decorative plate that reads something in German and says 'God' at least once. They put in some strange type of stone-tile surround in a formal dining room. It looks like it was meant for an electric fireplace, plant area, or possibly even an altar? (it does face East...) The guestroom in the finished basement has marks in the carpet which appeared to hold weights and training equipment, again surprising for an older couple...

As you can see, I've already done a fair amount of extrapolating about the couple. After finding these items today, my mind couldn't help but wander into 'what if...' territory. Then it wandered even further into pure fiction...



The ring...
thrown in frustration and disgust by a young man after learning his love had left him for another.

thrown in frustration and disgust by a young woman...after her engagement ring turned her finger green...

purchased from QVC by little old lady who lived here and tossed above the fridge to hide from little old man.

purchased by little old man for little old lady, hidden on top of fridge and forgotten.



The lottery tickets...
purchased by young man to fund his engagement ring purchase, alas, no such luck, he was stuck with one from QVC.

purchased by little old man to avoid foreclosure on his house.


The football tickets/book...
purchased by the young man as the venue/event for his proposal.

purchased by little old man and little old lady to celebrate their 50th anniversary.

Movie times...
another possible proposal venue... ??

written out by little old lady in an attempt to get out of the house...thrown up there in frustration and disgust when little old man refused to go to 'Finding Nemo'.


Paper airplane...
made by little boy while being punished and thrown up there to escape getting caught playing while in time out.

made by little boy and accidently tossed up there...too high to climb up to get and forgotten.

Oh what fun an imagination can have with a few random items :-)

LAZINESS revisited... again... (adventures in first-time home ownership)

I realize I have revisited the 'laziness' topic many times. I now see why I was so wrong. In an apartment, you can be lazy. I mean really lazy... as previously described...

In a HOUSE... not so lazy. We bought a 'new' house (5 years old). Which does not mean 'new' when you consider that the basement was leaking, which takes some explaining*, radon levels were considered high**, no sump pump***, deck is in ill repair****, lawn is full of weeds*****, and we moved from an apartment to a house which means we have endless things to BUY******!!!!

*Basement is not leaking in a way which is typically thought. We have drain tile (as I understand it a mini-level below the basement which collects water into a 'sump-crock' which can then be pumped outside). We have a faulty retaining wall which partially washed dirt into the siding, which created a pathway for water to run over the cement foundation and get into the house itself. It wasn't a huge leak... but it was water on a finished basement... probably creating mold and mildew... which will now need to be remedied...(perhaps I should create *******?) by more people that cost $$$. We have had some people over a few times working on the retaining wall and after a huge downpour last night, the basement stayed dry (and will hopefully stay that way!!).

**Radon is a carcinogen that leaks out of the soil in this area and gets into homes. We had a test done as part of our home inspection. We were found to be in the 'high' range. LUCKILY, because we have drain tile, the radon fix is cheaper than for many people. We just have to install a fancy fan that pumps the air around the drain tile out of the house... therefore most of the radon that comes from the soil down there.

***The sump pump itself is the machine that gets the water from the 'drain tile' area (sump crock) to the outside of the house. We don't have one and figure that we might as well add one since we're putting the fan on that will effectively make it more difficult to add one later if it ever turns out that we need it.... just another expense...

****We were lucky enough to find a house that has beautiful decks. One private deck off the master suite, a large deck off the kitchen, and a patio below that. Unfortunately, these decks were not well maintained and have warped to the point that we need to repair the railings, warped boards, and they were also not built to 'code'. There is no 'flasching' between the deck boards and where it is attached to the house...allowing moisture to touch the house instead of having the protective 'flasching' between them.

*****Our lawn is the LAWN... the one you notice when you walk/drive down the street because it is FULL of WEEEEEEEEEEEEEDS!!! When touring the yard in flip-flops, you must also beware of many, many, many thistles! My soon to be hubby and I are fortunate enough that his father generously gifted us a few lawn treatments so we will no longer stick out and have a pretty yard soon!

******Our shopping list is forever growing... so far we HAVE bought: LAWN-MOWER, step-ladder, caulk, caulk gun, large broom, new showerhead, burst-proof appliance hoses, REFRIDGERATOR, OVEN, WASHING MACHINE, DRYER, new detergent for the 'high-efficiency' washer, MATTRESS, comforter and sheets for said new mattress, among other things I've forgotten I'm sure. We still NEED: PATIO FURNITURE (to enjoy the aforementioned decks), GRILL (to enjoy the aforementioned furniture), shower curtain-plungers-garbage bins-etc for FOUR bathrooms, hanging flowers, other flowers, learn how to garden, garden tools (I planted the 1 plant we do have with a kitchen spoon...), hose, sprayer, WEED WACKER, paint, paint tools.... and the list goes on....

So anyway... I WAS lazy.... BEFORE I had a house... but now I no longer have that luxury :-) It's still wonderful though... as long as I get past the fact that I will be broke until further notice...