More March Madness

We went off and did something rather spur of the moment this weekend. Look here for the photos.

Yes, that was a surprise, but we had put a lot of miles on the previous car in less than 2 yrs and would rather take our chances with a new one to maintain one car payment (and hopefully) have less maintenance in the event the Pontiac has issues. Still have to say, we've been blessed with the Pontiac, 234,000 miles and still kicking.

Now where are those MSU decals???

March MAD-ness

OK, so it's that time of the year where I usually stay glued to the TV set. Unfortunately, the DFW area does not show the affinity for my Bulldogs that should be noted. Instead we were stuck , not once, but twice, watching Oklahoma. Fortunately, MSU puts on a better showing on Sunday than OU and they switched the coverage once OU started getting blown out. That serves all the Okies right for ever moving out and coming to Texas. :-) Anyway, my dream match-up of watching the MSU's (Miss. State and Michigan State) go head to head went down in flames. Maybe next year Sparties...

much ado about nothing....

Well, I am updating because I realized it has been a while since I last posted. To say things have been crazy would be an understatement. Thankfully, I am on spring break this week. I desperately needed it! My job seems to be taking a huge toll on me. I am always working, usually until 10 at night, just in time to go to bed. I am ready for summer!!! Just me and my Sippi!! Gladly, I found out today that our kiddos did really good on their state mandated test, which is awesome, thank you Lord!! Maybe we'll be appreciated for our HARD work!!!

We have enrolled our little Sippi in puppy training class. She needs some obedience!! It is an 8 week class and we are half way through with it. She seems to be getting a little better but she did tear some of our clothes the other day......She is the alpha dog and we need to show her who is the boss! :) The other day during class she darted out the front door of Petsmart into the parking lot and Stephen and I both nearly had a heart attack!! Luckily someone caught her eye and they were able to catch her!!

I think this is the only week that I am not looking forward to Friday!! I wish time would go slower, just for this week!

Wanna lose 10 pounds fast???

Let me tell you how! Just get a stomach virus and they will get flushed away before you know it. :) Yes, you guessed it! It hit me last Thursday morning about 1 am. I finally settled down about 7, then didn't get out of bed until 4 pm. Before I knew it, Oprah was on and I knew I had to crawl out of bed! I am just now beginning to get my appetite back. I don't know what it was, but I don't want it again any time soon!! I just pray Stephen doesn't get it!!

Poor little Sippi, she had to know I was sick. That morning when Stephen went to get her out of the kennel, she slipped away from him and ran upstairs to greet me. She just looked at me with pitiful eyes. It was then I knew I had a good dog!!

Bad doggie....

In recent weeks, our little darling blondie has been acting out of control. Poor Stephen has many bite marks/scratches to prove it!! We decided to enroll in puppy training. Tonight was the first night. Sippi did ok, she just got very excited at seeing the other little doggies. It was very interesting to hear what all we were doing wrong!! :) We have 7 more weeks of this!!

Tomorrow night she goes through more shots. She will not be happy!!

Are you smarter than a cockapoo?

In the spirit of the show "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?"

Last night, we had just finished watching the aforementioned show and had left the dear Sippi in her playpen. Stacey was grading papers and I was tending to chores when out of the corner of my eye I saw something move on the couch. The Sipster was on the couch staring at Stacey and when I saw her, she tried to hide. I ask Stacey if she'd let Sippi out, and she replied, "No, did you?" Thus, I exclaimed, "Well, Hi, Sippi!" and she sheepishly whirled around to look at me. Needless to say, the little darling has learned to jump out of the playpen and walk clear across the sectional we have without making a sound.

Now the question begs to answer, are we smarter than a Sippi?

my niece

Sorry for not updating sooner...it has just not been real clear as to the condition of my niece. After doing several tests, the doctor believes she has seizures. Her daddy has them too. The doctor wants her to take a certain medicine. My sister looked it up and it seems to have many side effects. She has been very apprehensive about it but I think she is going to give it a try. Please pray that the medicine will help her out but yet not have any side effects.

Have a good week!

Puppy Tales Part 2

We planned on going to E.Texas this weekend for my parents' 39th anniversary. Sippi has not been traveling well in the car so we decided to board her at the vet's office. Plus, it was time for some more shots. I never knew someone could become so attached to a dog!! I was so sad to leave her on Friday! I can't wait until tomorrow to be able to pick her up!! :) Maybe she'll still love me!

Puppy Tales

Well, here we are and we've now had Sippi for 4 weeks. Sippi is now showing us tons of personality and the antics are quite humorous. First, we have the constant fascination with bathrooms. Whenever Sippi has gone to running roughshot through the house, a simple flush of the toilet will usually garner her attention. The puppy usually stops dead in her tracks and goes straight for the toilet and stands on her hind legs as if to see what will disappear. Next, we have the latest stunt she's been pulling: going up the stairs. No thanks to our niece, Lauren, coaxing Sippi up the stairs, we now have a doggy/child gate to prevent the darling(s) from running up the stairs. This afternoon, Sippi went all the way up the stairs and into our bedroom. Bad news...

Yet, it sure is entertaining!

Excuse me while I yawn...

Overnight was quite the experience. About 2AM, we were sound asleep only to be awakened by the burglar alarm. When I say sound asleep, I mean out cold, barely even heard the alarm asleep. Apparently, it was only a malfunction since there were no signs of forced entry, but it was one of those when you hear 105 dB of siren that just serves to leave you on edge for a while. Poor Sippi had never experienced the alarm going off and she was just trembling and crying to no end. Poor puppy got to endure it again when we ran a test on it with the monitoring service center. Now, I sit at home awaiting the service guy to come out and tell me what's wrong with my system. Maybe I can stay awake.

Red Green or Bob Vila

One of the joys (maybe pains) of being a homeowner as opposed to being a renter is now the projects are DIY (do-it yourself) instead of calling someone else to do it. While I naturally abhor the idea of doing something that I could pay someone to do, especially when they do it better than I do, I have been undertaking many projects at the house. Most recently, after hanging curtains and such, the larger projects have been installing shelving in the garage in order to remove the clutter and be able to park the vehicles in the garage. After all, when you have a two car garage, why should you have to park out in the driveway or street? But, I digress...

For those of you who have seen the Red Green Show, some of my projects have left me wondering whether sparing the duct tape was spoiling the job. In other words, should I have done something better or taken a shortcut. Yet, most of them have come out decently, I guess the judges will decide next weekend when we have the open house. As Red would say, "I'm pulling for you, we're all in this together..."

No news is good news???

Well, I'm not quite sure but we haven't heard anything about Lauren's MRI. We're still praying for good results.

She is also having an EEG on Friday. Please pray those results come back ok. My sister has to wake Lauren up at 2 am and keep her awake until the EEG. They want her to be sleep deprived when they give the test. She won't be happy! :)

please pray

I just wanted to update real quick to ask for prayer for my little niece. I just got back from Nacogdoches because she had some tests run today and I wanted to be there for her. She has been having "episodes" at night where she wakes up and doesn't know who/where she is and who anyone else is. She has also been having headaches. So, please pray that everything comes out ok with her MRI. She got very sick with the sedation they gave her. She vomited before and after the MRI. I was holding her after the MRI and she said, "I think I hear Aunt Stacey!" She didn't realize I was holding her!!

Hopefully we'll know something soon.

Happy New Year...almost!

Hello all! It is almost 2008. And then we start all over again....I can't wait to see what God has in store for us this year.....you just never know.....

I'm not sure if I'll make it until midnight tonight but we'll see....

Count your blessings and thank the Lord for all that He has done!

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!! I hope everyone is having a good day!!! We are enjoying the newest member of our family, Sippi!! She is an adorable cockapoo!! We are trying to get her adjusted to our house and being with us.

Alto wins again...

Back to back state championships! They won today 22-0. They haven't lost a single game in 2 seasons. (This is the school I have taught at before moving to DFW). Go Jackets! My sister Shelley still teaches there and my niece and nephew go there.

On a different note, Stephen and I are looking forward to being couch potatoes!! We didn't leave the house today until 5:30. We wouldn't have left then, but we desperately needed some stuff so we could continue hanging curtains. By the way, Stephen is getting really good at hanging curtains. He is for hire!!! :)

Will the dust settle?

Ah, it's been a little over three weeks and we are finally getting settled into the house. Not to say we haven't had our share of little adventures, but still sifting and sorting through our stuff. As the poet once said, the best laid plans of mice and men...so, that's where we are now. Admittedly, we had quite a lot of our belongings that went upstairs, but some of it never made it up there during the move. Thus, we've spent the better part of the week cleaning out the garage and the study, trying to figure out what still belonged in those areas and what should have made the journey upstairs prior to now.

If you've seen Stacey's flickr site, you get an idea of what else we've been up to, decorating for Christmas. Two Christmas trees, the outdoor decorations, and of course, the interior as well.

On Monday, we had a slight problem. We woke up and had allowed the house to get too cold. Thus, I turned on the heat for about 20 minutes to warm the house up while we were getting ready for work. When we came home, it was almost 100 degrees in the house. Apparently, the HVAC guys wired the house for a gas heat pump instead of an electric one causing our heat to not shut off properly. Thus, the repair man got to spend a good portion of Monday evening with us.

As for other adventures, both of us have had our share of traffic adventures. We both have had to deal with hour plus commutes this week due to accidents. Not exactly my idea of fun, but I'm thankful I have a reason to make that commute.

Interesting start to my day!!

Well, every now and again, I think the Lord tries to make things really bad to show us that things are not so bad after all....if that makes sense!! :)

Today I left the house a few minutes later than normal. I get several miles down the road and realize I have forgotten my laptop at home. That is my only computer in my classroom that I can use, so I must go back and get it. I already know that the traffic is bad the way I'm going. So, basically, instead of leaving about 6:35 like usual, I end up finally leaving the house at 7:00. Traffic is horrendous. I get to work exactly on time, 7:45. I get to my classroom, the lock is stuck. No one can get in with their key. Meanwhile, here come my kiddos, bright-eyed and bushy tailed!! Can't get in the classroom....someone (not mentioning names but an adult that works at school) said, do you need a key??? Duh!! They had to call the emergency maintenance person!! He finally got my door open at 8:45. Yeah!!

I hope tomorrow is less eventful!! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wow! It sure doesn't seem like it should already be time for another Thanksgiving! Where has the year gone?

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! We will be leaving tonight for Alabama. I am truly thankful for many things this year. Above all, I am thankful that I serve a God that loves me and provides for me unconditionally. I am thankful for Stephen. He is the best husband I could ever ask for. He loves me for who I am. God hand-picked him just for me. I am thankful for my family. I couldn't ask for a more loving family. They love me too. That was very evident when they all traveled to Dallas this past weekend just to help us move. I am thankful for Stephen's parents. They are like my second set of parents. Some people are not lucky enough to have 1 set of parents that love them, I have 2! God has truly blessed Stephen and me this year. We have been through some really hard times these past 2 years but we were faithful to Him, and he has blessed us for it. I am thankful for my job, even though it is very tough. It allows me to be with Stephen, which I am truly grateful for! And....I am thankful for my house!! God provides!!! This has been our dream since we married and now our dream came true.

We're in....

I can't post much right now because I am at school but we should be back in business w/ our internet today so we'll post more. There are MANY interesting things that happened this weekend so we'll be sure to fill everyone in! :) I am at school right now resting!! This weekend wore everyone out!! We realized we have too much stuff!!

The house is wonderful and it is still weird! As of today, we are finally out of the apartment. Thank goodness!!