the black hole will not win

I'm not sure why, but I haven't been able to find anything lately, and I told Jason that I think there is a black hole with my name on it.

But it will not win! I found my connector cord! Finally. Now that I know that I have it I promise to take and post more pictures.

Please enjoy a few of my favorites from my trip home.

Miss Emily on the carousel.
Baby Laney in her car seat smiling away. (finally!)
Miss Emily in Papa's truck, looking beautiful.

First Day of School

Today is the first day of school, and I feel just like I did my first day of kindergarten...well maybe not just like that.

As I said in my previous post, I had no feelings about today. I wasn't loathing it, but I wasn't looking forward to it either.

That was until I was able to get into the color photo class I needed to take with my adviser Christine as the professor. I walked into class this morning with a binder full of blank college ruled notebook paper waiting to be filled with invaluable knowledge.

It was so nice not being brand spanking new to the school. I already knew the instructor, and her style of teaching. And as I walked through campus instead of everyone looking at me with blank faces, it was great to be able to shout out hellos and give and receive hugs from the friends I have made here.

I can't quite put into words what I'm feeling today. It is just a really good feeling compared to last fall. This feeling of contentedness, of belonging, of having new goals and new challenges. A feeling of knowing that this is where I am supposed to be, this is what I am supposed to be doing, and this is where I will be for the time being.

(on a side note, I am writing this on my not so brand new mac, but new to me nonetheless. more on this later!)

a trip home

Hey all. Well, I meant to have pictures to post, but after scouring my apartment and even my car, I can't seem to find my connector cord to my camera. I'm sure it will turn up sooner or later. I traveled down to the lower part of the state to see my family. I left Jason in the UP because he had to work and he had school.

He has been working so hard to prepare for his class he is teaching. It is so good to see him loving what he is doing. We'll see how he feels after his first time teaching his class on monday. Tonight we are going to a back to school party at one of his professors house. Everyone is supposed to bring a dish to pass, and Jason thought we could just pick up a dessert at Wal-Mart. What he doesn't understand is that with us being one of the only married couples, I love to show off my wifely talents by cooking something. You can't just show up with a store bought dessert. Funny boy. I set him straight on that! :)

School starts on Monday, and I don't really have any thoughts on this good or bad. I've been in classes all summer and I know that I just have to keep plugging on. I will let you know things go after the week is over. One really good thing is that I get to pick up my new Mac Computer on Monday! Whoo hoo! I can't wait.

Well hopefully soon I will find my cord that connects to my camera, and then you can see some pictures.

p.s. edited on 8/25 to correct very bad grammar (pointed out my my lovely husband!)

back to the scales

Considering I only have around 7 weeks to make the dress for my sister's wedding Jason and I have gone back to the tried and true method of weight watchers.

The last couple of months we have fallen off of the band wagon, but before we got back to the place we started, we decided to kick it in gear.

I look at all of the advertisements for Jenny Craig, or Nutrisystem, or other programs where they send you the meals and I wonder about them. Now don't get me wrong, if you or someone you know is over weight and is using one of these, good for them. Everyone has to do what they have to do. For me Weight Watchers makes sense. It teaches you how to eat right no matter what your situation. And if you do fall off the band wagon, you don't have to pay a rejoining fee or buy more meals, or anything else. You have all of the tools, you just need to use them.

So kudos to the founder of Weight Watchers. We thank you.

p.s. I know I was updating before, but the total since the beginning of the year is officially 25 lbs.

clean sheets

When I was growing up, my mom cleaned our sheets on a regular basis and in the summer even more, because we were so dirty. Now that I'm older and married, I still wash my sheets on a regular basis. I love and appreciate clean sheets.

That being said....the hotel we stayed at this weekend did not have clean sheets.

Jason and I drove down to Detroit on Saturday morning and met his parents and his brother and sister in law for the Tigers against White Sox game. The only hotel rooms we could find that weren't $150 dollars a night were at the Leland hotel. It was close to the ball bark and Greek town, but those were about the only positives about this hotel. When you walk in the lobby it is beautiful old with great marble and high ceilings, but that is where the beauty stopped. When we got to the hotel room Steve already had someone changing the bedding. I don't know what was wrong with it, but new bedding was a must. There was a futon in the room that had no covering on the cushion. We had to cover it with a sheet in order to sit on it. The air conditioner was blowing cold air under the bed, so we had to open the windows which had no screens on them. I'm not even going to tell you about the walls or the bathroom or the elevators or the crazy goth club in the basement of the hotel. They only gave us one towel and one washcloth, and at midnight or so we were playing cards and all of the sudden all of the lights in the room went out. They got them working about a half an hour later. Just randomness.

We couldn't wait to get home and take hot scalding showers with some bleach and a brillo pad. I don't think we're going to go back to Detroit for a while.

We had a great time at the game though. We just love watching the TIgers even if they haven't been able to win a game in the last couple of weeks.

In the end it was a weekend to remember. After we get rid of the bed bugs we will laugh about it later.