She's gettin' (partially) fixed!

Finally!

I love this truck for many reasons:

- It was the first vehicle decision I made all on my own
- My grandma helped me purchase it (against my will, that's just the way she is :))
- I bought it before I even met my hubby
- It's big, it's diesel and 4-wheel drive...everything I wanted when I was 20.

It ran great for a little while.  Then little things started happening.  Totally normal for a '97 with 175,000 miles on it.

We had just gotten it out of the shop a couple months ago and a couple days after that, something happened with the brakes and you couldn't hardly even push the peddle down.  No bueno.  So there it sat.  On the side of the house not being used.  We had just bought a stack of hay and had corn in bulk, so we really didn't need it to pick up any feed and it's our 3rd vehicle, so neither of us needed it on a daily basis.

Yesterday when we picked up my car from the shop from getting its brakes checked, the owner is a friend of Chris's, and he runs a towing business as well.  I told him to come pick up the truck when he had time because I'm tired of it sitting on the side of the house not being used.

There it goes.  My baby.  Should have it back by next week.

Then we have to take it to a dealership, because there is one more thing going on that no one can figure out.

We've thought about selling it, but you can't sell a vehicle that doesn't work properly, and so we have to get it fixed, but once we get it fixed, we might as well keep it because we DO need a truck.

Clear? :)

Just want to kill her...kidding...kind of

So I went out to our freezer in the garage today to pull out some hamburger for dinner.  I try not to go into the back yard unless I have to.  It just makes me depressed.  When I spend time outside, it's usually either in the front yard or out behind the backyard.

I know this has been going on for a while, and there was no stopping it.  Our dog, Mallie, is relentless.  She. Ruins. EVERYTHING.  

A couple weeks ago she decided that it would be totally fun to rip up our entire sprinkler system in the back yard.  She figured out where all the pipes ran underground and dug them up and used her mouth to rip everything out of the ground.  I literally watched her do this.  Damn dog.

Don't let her "Oh crap, you caught me.  I'm really really sorry, I'll never do anything like this again!" look fool you.  She just didn't like me capturing evidence that she is a pain in the you know what.

Luckily we already had plans of having our backyard redone.  We traded some livestock for a backyard remodel.  

Now I'm just wondering if we should wait a little longer on that deal.

A whole new look, check it out!

So, I was tired of just changing my blog look with the seasons or changing the color according to my mood.  I wanted a look that says something.  That kind of exemplifies what this blog is about.

I've been scouring the internet for a great new template.  The generic blogger ones just don't tickle my fancy.  I found a couple that I liked on the preview and then when I applied it to my blog, it just didn't flow.  I wanted a simple look with simple colors and something that helped display what I had in my mind.  

THEN, I can across this template.  I fell in love.

It was 95% of what I wanted.  The graphics were just perfect, but the layout wasn't all the way there.  So, I set it to my blog and found out that blogger allows you to go in and adjust the HTML coding for the templates.  Freakin' awesome!

The company I worked for my last semester of college and a year after that, did a lot of website design work for agriculture companies.  I learned a lot about website design and HTML coding.  I don't know nearly enough to write it out, but I can figure out what I need to in order change it to how I want it to be.

Needless to say...I've changed alot of the fonts & colors, spacing, margins, etc. to make it how I want it.

I still have some work to do on the pages in the navigation bar, but the look is 99% there.

What do you think?

UGH!

I've spent several hours tonight trying to upload a new template.  I want one that isn't the typical blogger template.  You know, the 20 or so they give you to choose from.

I've found a couple that I like but I can't seem to get rid of my old background.  I've tried to go in and delete the html widget, but it won't let me.

Quitting for the night, so I apologize if you are here and my blog looks like a big pile of crap-o-la.  

I'm working on it...hopefully I will have hair left when it's all figured out.

A week of thanks...day 3 & Thanksgiving

This was a pretty busy week.  I kept thinking about how I needed to keep up with my blogging, but it just didn't happen.  So here is the rest of the week...

Day 3, Wednesday:  Knowing that I had been asked to bring a vegetable dish and a dessert to the Thanksgiving gathering with Chris's family, I knew exactly what I was going to make.  I took our family's rendition of green bean casserole and a blackberry cobbler.  So, I am VERY thankful that my mom taught me how to be a great cook!  I grew up helping her in the kitchen, and she definitely knows how to prepare a good meal, so I learned from the best!  Thanks mom!!

Day 4, Thanksgiving:  I can't be thankful enough for the man that I'm married to.  Almost a year and a half ago, I lost my job (a total blessing) and I have not had a full time job since then.  He works his tail end of which allows me to stay home, work part time from home and keep up with things around the house.  Not only does he work full time, but he also farms 50 acres which is a great supplemental income for us.  I don't say it nearly enough, but Christopher, thank you for all that you do for us.  I love you.

His lovely makeup after getting off the tractor

A week of thanks...day 2

This is a stay at home Thanksgiving this year.  My parents are currently on their way to Arizona to spend Thanksgiving with my sister & her family.  We did that last year, so this year we will spend time with Chris's family.  I will miss being with my family, but it's always fun to be with my in-laws too.

So today, I am thankful for these little guys...

We miss you Greyson & Sawyer, but so excited to see you at Christmas!

A week of thanks...day 1

I know a lot of people that have been posting on Facebook and on their blogs something that they are thankful for every day.  Love that idea, I just haven't had time.

So, I decided since it is Thanksgiving week...I'll start now. Better late than never.

Today, I am thankful for our friends and my parents that came out to help us fill a 20 yard dumpster last weekend.

The barn was FULL of all kinds of crap, not just animal.  The renters that lived there for 18 years and probably whoever lived there before them used the barn as their dump.  So. Much. Trash.  Filled a 20 yard dumpster in like 6 hours.

The whole area was piled with boxes full of trash, couldn't hardly walk through there

We burned a lot of weeds and wood.  No reason to take up space in the dumpster with things that can go up in flames!

There is still more stuff out there to get cleaned up, but it is looking sooo much better!  

Thank you dad & Mom & the Marino family for helping out!  Couldn't have done it without you guys!

Who's business is it anyway?

Strictly written just so I can vent...

The hubby and I were together for almost 6 years before we got married.  Got engaged at around 5 1/2 years, had a 4 1/2 month engagement and got married about a month and a half before our 6 year anniversary.  For about 3-4 years, were were constantly asked "when are you getting married?"  "are you ever going to get married?"  "so when's the big day going to be?"  

We got these questions long before we ever got engaged.  Frustrating? Yes.  

Maybe like a month after we got married, was the first time the topic of pregnancy came up.  "When am I going to get more great-grandchildren?"  "When you guys going to have a baby?"  "Do you plan on ever having children??"

It just gets frustrating.  Over & over again.  

I know everyone who asks is just curious because they are excited for us to have kids, but holy crap.  We will have a baby when God chooses us to have a baby.  It's obvious it's not right now.  Don't worry, we will tell people when we are pregnant, but now is not the time.

When will we get pregnant, who knows.  When the time is right.  Don't even ask when we are planning.  It's not up to us to plan.  Being ready isn't even a legitimate question.  Is anyone ever truly ready for a child?  Probably, but they do change your whole world.  Depends on each individual couple.  Maybe someday I will share more details on here, maybe not.  I don't know.  But for right now, the time isn't right for us and that is OK.

We will not have a baby when other people want us to, or because other people want us to.  It will be because God wants us to.  Imagine that.

Just watch out, I might hit the next person who asks.  It's getting close to that point.  Nothing personal, it will just be an involuntary reaction to what my mind has been preparing for.

This is not directed to any one person in particular, just what has been happening over the past year and a half.  Are there any other girls out there that are with me?