Happy Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my younger, taller bubba, Jeff! He was born 25 years ago on Mother's Day and Mom had always said he was the best Mother's Day present she ever received. I've yet to figure out a better gift, and believe me, when I was younger, I tried!

Snow in April?

It snowed off an on for a few days over the last week....so I let the puppies out to play! They slipped across the deck trying to get each other. Then, Jesse was so tired, he fell asleep with his little head hanging out of their bed!

Thankfully, the snow only stuck around for a day and then melted away.

Introducing....

The two newest members of the Bauman household: Jesse and Chester! I had a momentary lapse in judgment and decided to adopt a puppy for Curt for his birthday (April 7 - he'll be 31!). When I showed Curt the picutres of the two puppies left at the shelter, he thought it would be a great idea to get them both. So, on March 24th we took a trip to Madras and picked up our puppies. They are cute (when they're sleeping) and fun (when they aren't trying to chew everything they can find), and they had managed to wiggle their way into our hearts by the time we arrived home (after a quick stop at the pet store to get supplies).

I'm sure you can image our kitties are less than thrilled. Maverick just sits around an glares at them and occassionally whaps them on the noggin. Patch won't leave our bedroom (it's her "safe place").

First BBQ of the Season!

It's been SO nice here the last week! We're talking high temps in the 60s! Woo Hoo! Heat Wave! Anyway, our neighbors across the street invited us over yesterday afternoon for a BBQ. Another couple and their 2 boys came over as well and we all enjoyed the warmish weather, yummy food, and watching the kids be wild. I'm just going to say that fire + big boys (as in adults that should know better) = burning things that probably shouldn't be burned....like old pleather couches....good, hot times.

Happy March!

So we finally have some snow around here. It started snowing on the 19th and has been snowing pretty much all the time since then. This is the most snow we've had all winter!

My parents came for a visit over President's Day Weekend. Mom and I did some decorating (pictures to follow one day) and shopped! She helped me pick out some curtains for the front room....they're RED, but don't worry, our walls are Walnut Cream, our couches are cream, and the carpet is brown, so the room needed a little color ;). It was so nice to have them visit. They were our first official overnight guests. They even left a small tip for the maid in the guest room. Guess I'll have to give it to her, oh, wait that's ME!

Not much else is going on....work has been crazy busy, but that's good. We're still loving our home!

For those of you who have been requesting....here are pictures of Maverik and Patch enjoying their new home and of the front and bank of the house.

We've Moved

We must have picked the coldest weekend this winter to move, but we did it. Last Friday (1/12) Curtis' dad picked up our U-Haul (we rented one incase of snow and/or other wintery type weather) and Curtis, our friend Brandon and I spent about 2 1/2 hours loading our stuff out of storage. This way all we had to do was move our stuff from the in-law's house and unpack the U-Haul. Everything went smoothly on Saturday and we had everything out (we had the biggest truck PACKED full) by mid-afternoon and most everything out of Don and Martha's house. The kitchen is usable as are the bathrooms, washer/dryer and we have TV (thanks to our across the street neighbor, Jason who is a whiz with electronics - hey, he works for the cable company). Our clothes are unpacked and there are sheets on our bed. I finally got the computer unpacked this past weekend and have been working on re-arrainging the furniture in the living room. I think the next room I'll tackle is the guest room - the bed is in, but the sheets haven't managed to make it on yet.

I tend to take my time unpacking boxes - some haven't been opened since we left Portland just over a year and a half ago. I found all our wedding cards and some souviners from our honeymoon in Hawaii. I'm down to 1 1/2 rooms that still have unpacked boxes in them, but I think that is pretty good. Here are some pictures now that we're moved in. Dad, I've included 2 pictures of the refrigerator - THANK YOU!

A Light at the End of the Tunnel

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year! We had Christmas with Curt's parents on Thursday before Christmas and left Friday after work for my parent's house. We had a great time at my parent's house for Christmas - we fondued after the Christmas Eve service (I think it is starting to become a tradition - 2 years in a row!). My cousin, David, proposed to his girlfriend....I hear wedding bells!

There is something that has been on my heart lately and I want to share it with my blog-friends. In the morning at work, I listen to a radio show out of Texas and they do this thing called "Breaking and Entering Christmas." Basically, people write in about someone they know who, for whatever reason, doesn't have enough money for Christmas. The listeners donate money and gifts and one of the morning show hosts goes to the house (conveniently, the family is not at home) and sets up a tree, presents and fills their fridge with food for Christmas dinner. This year the family of 6 was living in a travel trailer (much like the one Curt and I have been staying in for the past 7 months) because their house was destroyed by a tornado sometime in November. They have 2 storage sheds they use for "extra" living space. It hit me that I have been whining a lot about living in the trailer at my in-law's house. We are so lucky because, in a few weeks, we get to move out of the trailer into our brand new house. This family's lives were interrupted when their house was destroyed but their attitudes were that of gratefulness because nobody was killed (several family members were injured).

So, I prayed a simple prayer asking for forgiveness for my ungrateful and whiney attitude and I let my in-laws know how much I appreciate their generosity these past 7 months. They opened up their home (and trailer) to us not knowing exactly how long this process would take. I know they are ready for their space and daily routines to go back to normal (my mother-in-law had a moment of honesty the night before we left for Christmas saying they needed a break from us just as much as we needed a break from them), but I'm sure they will miss having us around when we move out.

Today is our walk through - the day we get to point out all the things that we think are wrong so they can be fixed (like the big hole in the drywall under the kitchen sink from the finish carpenter). We still don't have an exact move-in date, but I've been told about 2 weeks!

Frozen Hair, Car Doors That Won’t Shut and Frost on the Inside of Windows

That’s what I’ve been dealing with the past 2 mornings! I opened the window shade in the trailer only to discover frost on the INSIDE. My cat, Patch likes to hop up on the table and lick the condensation off the window (yes, she has issues), but had a very surprised look on her face when she licked the frost. I immediately laughed and had pictures in my head of her tongue sticking to the window, so I closed the shade to prevent her from injuring herself. I won’t bore you by complaining that it was -2 Monday morning and how when it is that cold the heater in the trailer doesn’t so much like to work. Funny how that is…

We got all our Christmas shopping done this weekend…YEAH! As I was baking some cookies Sunday evening, my Bubba (my brother, Jeff) called to get some recommendations for gifts for the parents. Watch out, Mom and Dad, your kids have been cahooting, or is it ‘in cahoots?’ Anyway, Curtis and I will be heading to Grants Pass for Christmas on Friday!

In other news, our countertops and cabinets have been installed! The carpet and other flooring is being installed this week…I LOVE my red wall in the nook. Curtis likes it too, but he won’t admit to it.

Merry Christmas!

A Little Fun...

A - Available/Single? Married.
B - Best Friend? I have several…luckily!
C- Cake or Pie? It depends…I love a good chocolate cake and marrionberry pie, but not together, unless it is marrionberry sauce drizzled over the chocolate cake :)
D - Drink Of Choice? ½ decaf, double, tall, sugar free whatever, nonfat, extra foamy, latte (hey, I worked at Starbucks for too long…I like to choose drinks that fill all the boxes J).
E - Essential Item You Use Everyday? The Internet…hey I have to keep up on celebrity gossip. Their lives are far more interesting than mine…thankfully.
F - Favorite Color? Shara-cotta (see recent post about painting our house).
G - Gummy Bears Or Worms? Worms.
H - Hometown? Grants Pass/Merlin.
I - Indulgence? Anything chocolate.
J - January Or February? Well, by January, I’m sick of the piles of snow, so I’ll say February – we’re getting closer to the snow going away!
K - Kids & Their Names? We have 2 cats…Maverick and Patch.
L - Life Is Incomplete Without? My family.
M - Marriage date? August 21.
N- Number Of Siblings? 1 – Fluffy (Jeffrey).
O - Oranges Or Apples? Oranges.
P - Phobias/Fears? Heights, but I did get up on our roof to paint the trim on our house!
Q - Favorite Quote? I don’t so much have a favorite as I have one for every situation!
R - Reason to Smile? I have a loving husband, supportive parents, and great friends – I’m a lucky girl!
S - Season? Fall – before it starts snowing (yes, it snows here in the fall).
T - Tag 3 or 4 people? 3 people – you know you want to!
U - Unknown Fact About Me? If you know me, you pretty much know everything about me (“Hey, that’s MY exit!”)
V - Vegetable you don’t like? Lima Beans.
W - Worst Habit? Biting my fingernails – I’ve done this since I was a small child…
X - X-rays You’ve Had? Are you asking how many? (At least 1) Or what’s been x-rayed? (I broke my foot when I was 6).
Y - Your Favorite Food? My mother-in-law makes mean fried chicken.
Z - Zodiac Sign? Gemini.

Always Get a Paint Sample

We're one step closer to moving into our house....the inside is painted. Curt's friend John came out Saturday morning and we started about 8 and finished just after 2. We almost had a disaster: The Mohican Mist color I picked out, which I thought would be a lovely purpley-grey was PINK! If you attended our wedding, you know that the bridesmaids wore pink. If you are my mom or friends, you know I like pink. I definatly DO NOT like pink on four walls of a bedroom. John was going to paint over the pink with the Walnut Cream, but he let me try to tint the pink with some tints he had. I added some Venician Red, Burnt Sienna, Brown, and Black in hopes it would come out a shade of Terracotta. It turned out great! It's not as orangy as Terracotta, it's more red. The new name for the new color is: Shara-cotta! So, the lesson for this weekend is to ALWAYS get paint samples. Don't depend on the little color stip to be an accurate representation of the color. I didn't get any samples for the other colors and I really love them, but it's better to be safe than sorry!

PS - sorry for the lack of pictures. I'll add some once we're moved in and I have high speed internet again.

Christmas Time is Here...

I'm sad because we don't get to put up a tree this year....I just don't think it will fit in our trailer. So I thought I'd try something new this year: I decorated a Gingerbread House. My mother-in-law was kind enough to pick up one of those nifty kits from the store. It was fun for a while, until the roof wouldn't stick. My icing decorating techniques need some serious work. I don't think I'll be making this a new tradition.....

My company Holiday Party was this last Saturday night at the Deschutes Brewery....Good times! The food was yummy and desert was delicious! Chocolate Lava Flow cake w/ Kahlua Ice Cream. Everyone got to draw 5 cards for their poker hand and, after dinner, the person with the best hand at each table got to pick or steal (from someone who had already picked) a prize. Curt had the best had (3 eights!) and he was the last one to pick a present. He ended up stealing a snowman dressed as a cowboy that came with a sign that reads "Believe" in fun glittery letters for me. That means we're two for two on winning prizes at my Holiday Parties (last year we won a portable DVD player from a raffle). To think, I almost didn't go so I could attend the Trucker's Light Parade in LA....humm....Standing in the sub-freezing temperatures, or winning fun prizes and eating yummy food?

In other news....We're almost done with the back deck. Hand rails are up, holes have been picked/dug for the support system for the step, and boards have been cut for the step. All the boards are down for the main part of the deck and it is beautiful! Many grateful thanks to Curt's cousin Erik for being the whiz he is at building things and to his wifey, Krimsen, for letting us borrow her hubby on the weekend, again. Now we just have to finish the step in the back and do the front, which Erik says should only take about 6 hours.

We finalized our paint choices: Walnut Cream for the main living area, hallways, bathrooms and kitchen; Leaf Rust for my accent wall in the nook; Drops of Dew for our room (it's blue); Morning Sunshine for bedroom 2 (which my mom has dubbed the baby's room for her future grandchild); Fraser Lake (green) for bedroom 3; Mohican Mist for the guest room. I believe we're still on track for painting this weekend!

I've decided to do a bit of Christmas shopping tonight....Only 3 weeks until Christmas! I think I need to watch "Love Actually" when I get back to the trailer tonight!

Second Chances

Last night I attended a "Girls' Night Out" with my mother-in-law, Aunt Linda, and some other Bunco friends. The functions are once a month and have a new theme each night. Last night was a tea party and we learned proper etiquette when you attend tea.
The second speaker talked about second chances. She asked us to list 5 things we're thankful for. Then, she gave her life story, which included having a baby girl at the age of 16 and being sent to a home for unwed mothers (this was in 1965) where she was forced to attend "services" and hear all about what an awful sinner she was and how God could never love such a bad person. She was also forced to give up her daughter for adoption (they let her hold the baby for 3 minutes). Years later, in her late 30s, she and her husband started attending church and ended up adopting 2 boys (one whose mother dropped him off at the train station in Seattle at the age of 7 and told him she didn't want him anymore). She said how happy she was to figure out that she wasn't the only sinner in the world! What I took away from it was how she struggled to forgive herself for her past sin. She had this incredible guilt, and even though she knew she was a new, clean person in Christ, she just couldn't let go of that time in her life. I can relate. Some things are hard to let go of. But when you finally do let go and let the Lord heal you, it is the most freeing feeling. You will always remember that mistake, but the hurt has disappeared. I'm so thankful that I have second chances in life!

I've been promoted! & 2 more months in the trailer

I am now an official "regular" player in my bunko group as opposed to a "sub" that plays just about every month. The lady I've been subbing for just couldn't commit to another year, so they asked me to take her place!

Some house news....our expected move in date has been pushed back to sometime in mid January. Boo....At least we have an actual goal that seems realistic. They will start the dry-wall on Monday and need 13 working days to complete, so with Thanksgiving in there, we're looking at them being done the first week of December, then a week to paint, and then all the fun stuff arrives on Dec. 13, all our carpeting, cabinets, fixtures, etc. They said they need about 3-4 weeks to complete all that and have us do the walk through so they can fix any problems and then we can move in! Guess it'll be Christmas in the trailer....I wonder if we can fit a tree in there?

It's Snowing

I thought Curtis was just trying to get a reaction out of me when he looked out the window and excalimed "IT'S SNOWING!" For some reason I didn't believe him, until I looked outside and saw these pretty, white, fluffy flakes falling from the sky. All I could think was, "great, it's snowing and we haven't put my snow tires on the car yet and the stupid road maintence guys won't get the highway de-iced until AFTER I get to work and I'm going to get in a wreck on the way to work in the morning..." I know what you're thinking - wow, someone forgot to take her happy pills. I do like snow, but what I don't like is driving a 4-door car in the snow when EVERYONE else in Central Oregon is driving a 100-ton jacked up diesel truck thing that's wheels are bigger than my car. It's scary, especially because they drive fast and have no regard for us little cars on the road!

Anyhoo, the road guys did get the highway cleared before I left for work and I had a very uneventful drive. I think it' supposed to snow off and on for the next 5 days or so, but I see blue sky out my window!

PS - Mom and Dad, hope you're ready for a white Thanksgiving :)

I LOVE apple cider!

Our office served apple cider on Halloween to the cold little trick-or-treaters. We had some left over, so I've been drinking it EVERY DAY! Although, today I think I may have had one too many mug fulls today, because I'm feeling a bit of a sugar high. (Ok, a big sugar high.) The weather here has been perfect for cider drinking, too; it's been raining since yesterday. Apparently someone up above heard my cries for some west-of-the-Cascades type weather. It's been warm enough to keep the rain in rain form, rather than snow form. Thank you! Now if I could only find some time to get to my friend Amy's house, maybe she would share her cider with me. I'm not sure she has enough to go around, though. :)

House update: We have a garage floor! They poured the cement on Tuesday! The electrician is hooking us up to power and water is being connected to the house! We are on the schedule for insulation next week! Slowly but surely our house will get done. I should have stopped praying for patience... Wow, that was a lot of exclamation points, I must be excited for our house to be done or something...

Game Time!

Some pumpkin carving fun for the kid in all of us (and a lot less messy)!

http://www.cubpack81.com/images/carve_pumpkin.swf

My high score is 175!

http://www.itsga.com/fun/cat_new.swf

You can smell it in the air!

SNOW! I can smell it in the air, it's on it's way! It has already dusted the peaks that surround us. I'm ready for you this time, Mr. Winter. You may have taken me by surprise last year by dumping so much snow that it pilled up so high that I couldn't see out my front window....but this time I won't be in shock when that first snow flies and doesn't go away until April.
PS - I won't be upset if you decide to give us a cold, but not so snowy winter ;)

Bunko?

If one gets bummed out because her bunko night was postponed until next week, does that make her life sad?