Heading to Indiana again!

Yeah we are leaving for Indiana tomorrow to have the Handy Christmas on Saturday! We are so excited to see everyone! See you tomorrow family!

Fixing Up The House

Fixing up the house (Project #1 for winter)

Today Matt and I went to Home Depot and loaded up a Naturescape van full of blow in insulation. Yes we are going green and bought the Greenfiber brand that was 85 % recycled. It took us four hours to blow 25 bags into the attic. I had the job of filling the machine while Matt was in the attic blowing it in. We forgot to take a after picture but that is ok because it took a while to get it out of my eyes, nose, throut, eyelashes, and hair. Overall it was a fun project that we did together!!

Thanksgiving in Michigan

A Time to be Thankful

At 3:00 a.m Thanksgiving morning Matt and I left for a 6 hour drive to Michigan to visit his family for the Holidays. The drive really wasnt that bad considering it usually take us around 8 hours to get there but with my driving I cut it down to 6.

Day 1

On Thursday we went to New Baltimore, Michaigan to have Thanksgiving with his grandparents on his dads side. His grandpa is bed ridden and his grandmother just broke her arm so it was a Meyer bought dinner which Matt wasnt too keen on but it was still nice. Here is a picture of all the grand kids on this side of the family.

Day 2

* We went to YaYa's (means grandma in Greek) for Thanksgiving on Nancy's side. This was a fun filled day full of playing with children and eating realy Thanksgiving dinner. We had a great time. Here is a picture of YaYa and all her young great grandchildren and grandchildren. Doesnt she look like grandma Handy?

Day 3

* Matt and I drove up to Dana (his sisters) scrapbook store that she just sold to help her get the final boxes she needed and for me to do a little shopping before she handed the store over!! Hehe!! Here is a fun picture of Emerson with my sunglasses on! She loved playing in my purse with the perfume, chapstick, and sun glasses.

Day 4

* We all went up to Dana and Kevins and did Christmas with the kids early since Matt and I cant go back up for Christmas. The adults then had a Wii tournament which was so funny to see grown people fighting over who gets to play next. Here is a picture of Dana and Kevin boxing each other(they are husband and wife and Kevin really wanted to box her)

Day 5

* Matt and I went up to Dana and Kevins again and hung out all day with them and the girls. It was a fun and relaxing day!

Day 6

* Matt and I left to come back to Illinois in the blizzard.

I have been tagged!

My cousin Kelly tagged me so I guess I have to do this. So here it goes....

10 things that make me happy (in random order)
:1. Spending time with my family
2. Shopping
3. Reading a good book
4. Playing the Wii with Matt
5. Having girls night with the girls
6. Exercising
7. Renting a movie and curling up in a blanket
8. Scrapbooking
9. Cleaning the house
10. Trips to Indiana, Michigan, and Florida

Northern Illinois Univeristy

Yeah!!! On Black Friday, while in Michigan, I got an emial from the university of my choice. Northern Illinois University. I finally got in!!! I have been waiting for this for almost 2 years and I am finally going to be working toward my Bachelors Degree. By the end of December I should graduate with my Associates in Arts at Rock Valley College and starting in the spring I will be at NIU.

I cant wait!!!

Xango Distributor

Xango

http://www.xango.com/

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am now a Xango Distributor. Xango is an excellent company started by a guy named Joe Morton. Xango is the first company worldwide to market the mangosteen drink made from the Asian mangosteen fruit. This is a juice that has the most nutritional attributes that you will ever find from a single fruit.

Xango has been known to cure many ailments in many different people. For instance Matt's mother has horrible blood pressure and has been on medication for years. Since she has been drinking the Xango juice she is no longer on medicaiton. Matt's dad has had horrible acid reflex his whole life and took prilosec for years just to be able to eat. He now takes nothing. I have been drinking the juice for a few months now but not how im supposed to so havent had any luck but I am going to start drinking my two ounces everyday and see if it can cure my problems.

This company and this product is the most amazing thing I have seen in a long time and that company is still growing, providing healthy vitamins, juice, and skin care that is enviromentally friendly and great for your body. If anyone is interested I placed a link at the top of the page to the Xango website and you can give me a call if you have any questions or would like to sign up.

Halloween

Halloween Night

Kyra and I went to a Halloween party with Mom and Steve and then went to a bar for the rest of the night! Man was it a night to remember!!

Kyra and I before we went out! She was a pirate and I was a dumb cop(it was mom's outfit from last year)

Me and Nikki, she was the Nanny from Super Nanny but everyone thought she was Sara Palin.

Mom and Steve Before

Mom and Steve After! They were flashers and actually won a trip to Lake Geneva from the bar we were at! It was a very interesting night!

And here is my mother flashing cars when the light turned red. It was the funniest thing Ihave ever seen. The looks on peoples faces were great, It was like watching Americas Funniest Home Videos!

Fowler Trip

Man I Miss Home!!!

Two weekends ago I went home to Fowler, Indiana to see all of my family. It had been way too long and it felt so good to be with all the people I love. Here are just a few pictures from the trip, they all consist of Lucy cause she is just so cute that, that is the only person that everyone focused on!! She is so Cute!!

Me and Lucy Goosey!

Lucy and her mommy had some professional pictures takin out at Wanie's and here are a few cute ones! Miss you both already!

Getting Involved in our Church

Today I met with a lady named Betsy Frost at our church to talk about getting involved in the childrens program. I am now a sunday school teacher at Rockford First Assembly!! I am so excited, I love working with children of course and this is a chance to give me some more experience and get more involved with our church. I dont know what got into me the other day but I called to see if they needed anyone and baam!! I believe God was telling me that I needed to add more of him to my life and this is one way I can do that and pass my knowledge and love for God down to the children!!

Our New T.V

Today Matt and I went out and finally got the T.V. Matt has been wanting for the last 3 months. He was so excited and has been messing with it for the last 2 hours and Im guesing he will be all day!! As you can see from the pictures above he is happy!!

Week Three Complete

Friday I finished week three of my running pod cast.  I think it gets better and better every week.  I love it and not gonna stop.  i just have to get some new running shoes that support me better, which if anyone has any suggestions on which are the best let me know.  Right now im still using my Nike shocks and they suck!! 

As the days get colder i am finding that my lungs are getting used to the cold so I am able to run and breathe properly and no die!! haha!

Well thats all for this week, ill keep you updated on next week, maybe Brooke and I can run together next week when I am home!!

Edwards Apple Orchard

Mom, Johnathon and I went to Edwards Apple Orchard over the weekend to get some hot apple cider doughnuts and some wonderful apples. It was a lot of fun and was very neat. A while back we had a horrible tornado touch down about 20 minutes from here, it hit the apple orchard. They have now newly renovated and started to get the place back to the way it was and had amazing pictures of all the damage shown up on the walls. It is crazy what Mother Nature can do in just 4 minutes. Luckily everyone was safe and the Orchard is now back up and running.

Here is a picture of Mom, Johnathon, and I. I miss these kinds of times with my brother!!

After the Orchard we stopped by Demter to see dad and this is what we saw when we pulled up. This is Rick one of the employees at Demeter. One of the other employees made this replica of him next to the break building. I was dying with laughter because Rick doesnt have any teeth and if you look closly this pumpkin Rick only has 3!! Haha. To make it more Halloweenish they stuck a screwdriver and metal rod through his head with blood dripping down. What people do when they have too much time on their hands.

Caden's First Birthday

My Boy is growing up..... My godson Caden Bouslog turned one year old on September 25th and we had his birthday party for him on the 27th!! I cant believe he is one already. Its so neat to see all of the changes he has gone through during this first year and how much he has grown into a little man!!







His mother got him his own little birthday Blue's Clues Cake and then everyone else got this big cake!! The look on his face was priceless. He had no idea what to do with his cake so daddy Coley had to show him. He then got the hang of it and Godmomma Megan got the priveledge of giving him a bath before he opened his gifts!!! They always give me the fun jobs!

Fowler Town Fun

I have been about three weeks behind on my posts so i am putting them all up now. Sorry Everyone!! Anyway Matt and I went out to our friend Kaela and Tony's for a tractor race a few weekends ago. I was prepared for it well living in Fowler and all but Matt I dont think this is what he had in mind. It reminded me so much of home and was so much fun! After you see the pictures you will see why.

*This first picture is a picture of the track in thier back yard!!*This is my friend Brian, on his tractor(lawn mower).*You cant see all of the tractors but there were about 10 people racing. What they have to do is each time they go around the track twice they have to stop at the pit and down a beer, put their forehead on a baseball bat and go round and round, then get back on and do it again. I have never seen something so funny in my entire life. It really mad me miss home!!

Matts 25th Birthday

On September 22nd my hubby turned 25 years old. Can you believe that? I cant! But anyway we did a little celebrating a couple weekends before when his parents were out but on his real birthday we took a trip to Best Buy and got him his new ipod nano(even though we now have 3 ipods). For anyone who doesnt know Matt is upsessed with technology especially apple products, so this new Ipod was the highlight of his day! As you can see below!

Mom gave him a cake at work for his birthday too and this is what he did with it!

Week one Complete

Well I finished my first week of running and wow do I feel different.  I forgot how good running felt and just how relaxing it was.  Every time  I run I listen to my ipod and get lost in how beautiful the scenery around me is.  The leaves are starting turn into the wonderful shades of red, orange, and yellow as the trees slowly shed them.  I love fall except the cold weather going into my lungs.  I guess I should stop smoking too!! Cant wait to start week number two and get a little better and stronger so I can reach my goal!! Brooke I can see why you do it but I still think your crazy for how far you go!!

Running Again

Well tomorrow September 29th I am starting my couch to 5K podcast that is going to start me from the beginning with running. I am really excited to start back up but it will be a struggle to gain up the endurance I used to have. My goal is to do this 3 times a week and heopefully once I reach my 5K I would like to take it a step further. Im gonna need a lot of support and push because I have recently gotten to be really lazy with my working out but I hope to put that behind me and relax again while running! Wish me goodluck!!

Chrisopher O. Palmer (9-4-08)

Last wednesday my world crashed when my friend Chris died from a drug overdose. Not only was this a big shock but it struck me hard because of everything going on in my life. The services were sunday and monday and were the hardest days of my life. I still dont believe that it is actually real! Chris was the kind of friend who could always make you laugh no matter what was going on, on a bad day or a good one, he always was the life of the party, he was a horticulturist, a volunteer fireman and EMT, a brother, a son, a uncle, and over all a wonderful friend. I will always cherish our fun times together, and will always remember him. One fun memory I have was attending the Rockton Fireman's Ball with him. He made that night so fun and never was I bored. Chris I love you and will and miss you so much! Your legacy and memories will live forever through me and all of your loved ones! You are a great friend and we all will miss you dearly!

Andrea's 21st Birthday

For Andrea's 21st birthday, us girls went to the Wisconsin Dells for the night to go out to the bars and stay at the raintree resort. We had an awesome time, and it was a great little git away. For anyone who know him we got to meet and spend the night in V.I.P with Devin Harris an NBA basket ball player. Girls trips are always fun but its even cooler to tell people that you got to go bar hopping with a celebrity!!

Malie Graduated Doggie School

Yeah!!!! Last Sunday Malice graduated from her dog class. She has done so well over the past 8 weeks and has made a lot of progress. Here is our family picture that they took of us and her special certificate of graduation!