There are a lot of things I don’t mind waking up to. Things like; good morning kisses from my husband, either of my cats pawing at me in an attempt to wake me up and the chirping of birds outside of my window. I do, however, mind waking up with things like ear infections. Talk about a bad way to start of a gorgeous day (outside).

As much as my ear has been bothering me though, I refuse to let it ruin my day. We’re currently in the middle of grilling steaks, ribs, hot dogs and hamburgers. I woke up a bit earlier than normal today to make cupcakes. I have about 9 left to frost, but I’ve run out of storage room for them. I’ll wait until some of the others have been eaten before I frost the last batch though. I don’t think it’s going to hurt them to let them “cool off” a bit longer!

Speaking of cooling off though. I spoke with my youngest sister and her three boys earlier today. They’re all over at my Aunt’s house enjoying the swimming pool. I made me a wee bit jealous though because it’s been hot enough here the last few days that cooling off in a swimming pool is a welcomed treat!

Well, my husband is calling for me to come outside and enjoy the warm sunshine while he’s grilling. There’s a really nice, cool breeze coming off of the ocean and he says it isn’t so “hot” anymore. Great!

Hope you’re all enjoying the holiday!

As a little girl I often dreamed about what it would be like to be married, to my prince charming of course. I grew up thinking love and marriage just “worked” with little effort. I guess that’s because of how I was raised; put on a smile, even when it hurts. That’s not to say my parents didn’t love one another. I knew they did and while they eventually drifted apart, and eventually divorced, it was a little deceiving. Life happens, and sometimes people that have fallen into love fall out. Before people fall out of love, they should consider Marriage Family Counseling. I am believer that if you love your spouse and really want it to work out, you’ll do everything you can to see that happen. I often wish my parents had done this, but I’ve learned to accept things the way they are because they really do seem happier now.

My husband and I will celebrate our 9th anniversary this Fall. I’ll be the first to admit that it isn’t been easy. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs throughout our relationship. I think one of the biggest things I had to learn is that it was no longer about “me” or “I” but “us” and “we.” I was with myself for a little over 20 years before I married Jo. Yes, we were young. I can’t tell you how many times people tried to drill that into our heads. Obviously it went in one ear and out of the other because we stayed together, got married and will be celebrating another anniversary in a few months.

During some of our rough patches, Jo and I have considered seeking assistance via a “Marriage Counselor.” When you throw in the stress of one spouse being laid off, which leads to financial struggles (which I hear is often a problem in a lot of relationships), it can really take a toll on a relationship. That, combined with everyday stress that leads to silly arguments, along with family stress (illnesses, death, family struggles). A part of me didn’t want to believe we’d gotten to that point, but the other part of me felt that I had to do whatever it’d take to make my marriage work. We had our work cut out for us that’s for sure, but we feel like we’ve overcome far too much (odds of being young and married, and our initial long distance relationship) to just give up like other people might have done.

If you’re marriage needs work and you’re looking for help, you can learn “How to Save Your Marriage” with Marriage Fitness by Mort Fertel. Sound familiar? That might be because you’ve seen it on NBC, Fox News or even Family Circle. Marriage Fitness is an alternative to traditional marriage counseling. With this step-by-step system, you and your spouse will learn how to better communicate with one another, pinpoint the problems that are troubling your marriage and keep things positive. I think this is something that can be used for any relationship to be honest, but especially a marriage.

I know my relationship isn’t perfect. To be so would require that my husband and I be perfect too, and we’re not. We’re both human and we both have flaws. That doesn’t mean our relationship has to suffer though.

I imagine anyone that truly loves their spouse will do whatever it takes too.

Happy 4th of July everyone!

I’m super excited about our big BBQ tomorrow. Ingrid, Jo’s cousin’s wife, and Riley, their baby girl flew home today. They’ll be here for a week. We’re going to drive out to Jo’s aunt’s place tomorrow and visit with them. I’m hoping they’ll join us for our BBQ tomorrow. We’re having a few of Jo’s relatives down for some really yummy eatin’! We’re having steak, hot dogs, hamburgers, a couple of salads and I’m making cupcakes for dessert. It’s supposed to be really nice weather tomorrow, warming up into the 80’s. Hopefully the bugs won’t drive us all indoors though. It’ll be really nice to have dinner out on the deck as the sun is going down, just in time for fireworks!

Speaking of bugs though, there are these little critters up here called “skits” (I think that’s what everyone is calling them). They’re much like sand gnats back home, in Georgia. Let me tell you, these buggers are driving me! We had to turn off the main breaker tonight to put up a new ceiling fan (bless the fan, thank goodness). Well, when we did that Jo decided it would be wise to open up the windows and sliding glass door. Well, that would be wise if it weren’t for the skits. They’re so tiny that they can fly right on through the screens. It only took about a minute before we were all slapping ourselves on our arms, necks and legs from all of the biting. I think there’s still one inside too because it felt like another just bit me on my mid-back! Jo told me it must be because I’m “sweet.” I think he was trying to score some brownie points so I’d start playing Age of Conan with him!

Jo went in for his CT scan today. We were told it would be about a week before we’d get the results though. I hate the waiting part. We’ve been wanting answers to his back pain for over a year now, since he injured his back where he worked previously. It’s a shame that his previous doctor wasn’t concerned enough to send him in for an x-ray, MRI or CT scan of his back. They sent him straight into physical therapy, which could have caused further injury. I think that’s absolutely ridiculous, but what can you do when it’s a company doctor due to a worker’s compensation claim, you know? I’m still not sure about his current doctor, but the fact he’s actually concerned enough with Jo’s back pain to send him in for testing is enough for me right now.

I hope we get some answers soon though. If nothing shows up on the scan, I don’t know what more we can do to get answers. We’re all thinking it could be a nerve problem because at times it radiates down through his legs (the worse part he says). I was wondering if it might be a disc issue, perhaps the disc is causing a nerve problem (rubbing against maybe) or possibly a slipped disc. I guess we’ll just have to wait until we hear something back. I hope they find something, but I hope it’s nothing serious!

I’m a little late in announcing this. Being on time isn’t always my thing. At any rate, I’m happy to announce that I’ve finally received my lovely laptop. It’s far better than I thought it would be, so much more than I was expecting,. I was little weary on the whole laptop thing because I’ve never owned one. I’ve only ever used my brother’s when he’d bring them to the house when I was younger. I think this biggest thing that always turned me off from buying one in the past was the touch pad mouse. They’re so sensitive, yet at times are a real pain to work with. Problem solved though; I’ve got my regular laser mouse hooked up to her now and it’s fabulous. Fabulous, I tell you. It’s been quite the adjustment moving from a desktop to a notebook though. The keyboard is a little more compact, which basically means some of the keys I use are repositioned. For example: My delete key is above my backspace on my notebook, but on Jo’s desktop which I’d been using it was located where my num lock key is on my notebook. I can’t even count with my fingers the number of times I’ve hit that pesky num lock key and curse that what I’m trying to delete won’t disappear. Ha, ha.

I can’t even begin to tell you just how happy I am with my decision to buy a notebook rather than a desktop. Speaking of which, my old one that hasn’t been hooked up to the internet in months will be my backup. I probably just use it for storage and possibly doing my graphic and design work on. There’s no way I’m getting rid of it, especially considering I got a brand new flat screen monitor for it for Christmas this past year.

I must go doctor my mosquito bite now though. I have no idea how that annoying thing got into the house but it did. I hate mosquitoes… but I guess no one really likes/loves them do they??

It’s very rare that my husband notices any change in my hair style or color. In fact, it would probably take me taking his clippers to my head and giving myself a buzz cut before he’d really notice a change.

This weekend I decided to give myself a haircut. I was a bit worried about cutting it to start with because I’ve been letting it grow out for over a year hoping to get it close to my waist. Saturday, I gave in and started chopping away. I wound up cutting over 4 inches off of it. I thought for sure he’d notice that, but I think because I cut it at an angle that left the front longer than the back, he just didn’t take much notice to it at all. I coyly asked him how he liked my hair, and it was only then that he noticed something was different (though I doubt he knew exactly what it was to start with ha ha). At any rate, he said it looked really nice and a lot better than before. I told him I really liked it too, but that I still wanted a little something else. I said I’d probably go ahead and color it, or possibly highlight it. That’s where he mouthed off “You have a lot of natural highlights. You don’t need to go to a salon for what you’ve been given naturally.” By that, he meant gray hairs. LOL.

MEN! It was pretty funny though, and I guess I sort of set myself up for that one.

I wonder how my husband would feel about red, cream and dark beige for bedding? I was originally going to go with something that was a bit more “Spring,” with flowers and airy colors. I still may do that, but for our guest room. I’m thinking I should go with something that’s a bit more cozy and romantic for our bedroom, and what color says romance best? Red!

I hopped over to Jcpenney.com and found this bedding; Rio Grande (the name reminds me of a Mexican restaurant in my hometown), featured in the image to the left of this entry. It’s fairly affordable, and comes with the comforter and 2 shams. I found one similar to this at pottery barn, but it cost way more than I’m willing to pay and it was only for the duvet (in light blue). We’re eventually going to have a white head and foot board, so I think this will work really nicely with it! I think there’s enough red to satisfy me, but not too much that it’ll satisfy my husband. I keep telling Jo, my husband, that decorating our place would be less painless (for him ha,ha) if he’d just let me have my way!

Picking out so many things in red lately reminds me of my grandmother Mac. She loved red!

I know it sounds dangerous, but I’ve been thinking…

Instead of spending thousands on a new living room suit, I’m thinking of just investing in slip covers. A couple of years ago I bought one from Sure Fit and I loved it. I never like the colors and patterns in the slip covers I’ve found in local stores, but Sure Fit actually has a lot of different styles, colors and patterns to choose from. I occasionally go to their website to see if they’ve added any new products, and while I was there today, I found two that I simply love.

My first choice is a bit on the country side, which I’m sure my husband will not be happy about. It’s lovely though, in beige and red, with a combination of plaids and florals (which I’ve always loved). The second is a solid slip cover, in linen (light cream). I think my husband would approve of this one, but I would definitely have to invest in some throw pillows to spruce it up a bit.

This would be a nice alternative to spending a lot of money on new furniture. I’d still be able to update my living space, it just won’t cost me an arm and a leg. I’m thinking it shouldn’t cost more than $200 total, which is way better than $1,000+!

For weeks now I’ve been falling behind on all things related to the internet. This not only includes “work” related things on the internet, but also things like emails and designs (whoops) for a few people. Thankfully I’m nearly finished with the latter, so I can finally move on and start catching up on everything else. Talk about overwhelming.

Speaking of designs; I’ve decided to open up a new site, where I plan to sell premade themes (Wordpress and Blogger for the time being). I’ve gotten so many emails, and comments too, over the last couple of months that I just think it’s the best thing. Usually when people request a theme, they just let me run loose. By that I mean they let me choose the color schemes (on most occasions), and rarely ever provide anything beyond their color selection. The premade thing should tackle all of that. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep up with it. At this point, I have several designs ready to role. The only thing, hopefully, that I’ll have to change when they’re purchased is the blog titles in the headers. I’m pretty excited about it though, and look forward to launching it in a couple of weeks.

I’m also looking forward to my new laptop, which I’m hoping will arrive any day now. Since making the purchase, I’ve been like a kid on Christmas Eve.. only it’s been every night since! I’ve never had a laptop, but always hoped to have one. It’s going to be so convenient, especially for when we travel.

Despite having a horrible migraine right now, I’m on a mission. I’ve been itching to redo our bedroom. I think it’s that whole “Spring” thing, because I really want to make the room a bit more cheery, but I’d like to keep it on the modern side - funky and fresh, that’s it. See, Jo prefers things a little more modern than I do. I still love the style, I just tend to lean in other directions a lot too. Jo says as long as I leave the “country” side of things, he’s OK with whatever I pick out.

I was going to check out eBay at first, but then I recalled browsing through some gorgeous bedding at Overstock.com.I think I’ve found exactly what I want too. It’s featured in the photo to your left there. It’s still feminine, but the colors and patterns aren’t too overly feminine. I think my husband will appreciate that because he hates anything decorated too girly. The only thing I’m worried about with this particular bedding is that there’s a lot of white. Having two cats, one of which has dark fur and the other which sheds a lot (she’s right fluffy), I worry that it will be smothered with their fur. It’s still top on my list, my favorite bedding list that is. I’m going to think about it a bit more before I commit to the purchase though!