My Saturday Project

Gutters! I just decided that I was sick of my flowerbeds being eaten up by the rain/water that comes from the gutters. Well after climbing up on the ladder to take a look I can see why now. They were so full. I just had to take a picture to remind myself to never let them get this way again. Naturally Markus said he would clean them, but I decided I didn't want to wait anymore. I mean my poor flowerbeds were suffering from the laziness. Who knows when the last time was they were cleaned out. We certainly haven't done it since we bought the house in September.

It's Official! I have an announcement...

Pottery Barn is coming and soon.  I actually saw it in the mall.  They aren't going in the Boulevard.  It will be right at the main entrance to the mall though.  They even had a we're hiring advertisement.  I'm soooo... tempted.  Maybe for Christmas.  My boss would kill me if she knew I wanted to get a second job.  Hey maybe I'd get a raise (now that's just wishful thinking).   Of course I wouldn't work there for the money.  I would work there to go broke of course.  Just want everyone to know it's coming summer of 2008.  So the first official day of summer is June 20th.  I hope it's open by then.  Oh and the Williams-Sonoma across the way from PB is like the biggest thing I have ever seen.  Whoa.  And did I mention how excited I was?!?

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

He would have been 60 today.  Big 60.  That would be a fun party.  I love this man.  He was always the light of the party.  This picture was taken in 2003, the last time we went to  New Orleans (I didn't even have a digital camera then).  He'd always request to visit his grandma's house and this time he insisted on taking this picture.  He would have a story to tell every street we went down in the Quarter.  His mind was amazing when it came to telling stories.  As his health failed him, his memory did too.  But his stories live on forever as I remember his Birthday.  May 27.  My favorite number 27.

I remember his laugh and how loud it was and how often he laughed at the dumbest things.  I remember his sneeze and how much of an impact it made when you heard it and how you would get annoyed to hear it.  I remember his snore and how funny it was (especially as a child).  I remember his hair and how soft it was and how I wished mine were like his.  I remember his poor taste in clothes and how he'd put the funniest things together.  I remember his silly jokes like, "you can call me jay or you can call me ray, but don't call me late for dinner".  Like how funny can that really be??  I remember the pink shirt he loved to wear and only when it wasn't cool anymore.  I remember he always had a camera in his hand and that camera is now in my hands.  I remember, I remember.... I mean gosh I could go on for hours.  That is not what this is about.

But I miss him and I am happy he will know my babies before I do.  I guess I couldn't ask for anything more.  Happy Birthday Daddy.  I would be the first to call you today if I could.

A Day of Memorial

You ask anyone who was in the military and they could probably talk your head off for hours about their service.  They have all witnessed death firsthand.  That is one thing most of us probably haven't and won't in our lifetime.  On this day as I get ready to go to work (Boo) I'm just grateful that I even have a job, but more importantly that I live in a country that people are willing to fight and even die for it.  Not that that is what they planned to do when they entered the service.  I'm proud of this land that I live in and just want to remember the families who are suffering and missing the loss of a loved one who gave up their life for this great country we live in.  More and more as the days go on, I'm truly blessed to be an American and what a great land we live in.

IN YOUR FACE

It never ceases to amaze me how the Lord blesses a couple with a child.  It's such a beautiful thing.  Something I wanted (and still do) for so long.  As a matter of fact, that is all I would talk about, especially if I would see a baby in sight.  I think it started when I was working at Gap.  I worked on the Gap Kids/Baby Gap side for years.  I loved every minute of it.  I wanted a child and wasn't even married.  Oh and when I got married... Well I just knew it would come and quickly.  I secretly hoped that anyway.  

Almost 3 years later Markus and I don't have any children.  That is shocking to a lot of LDS couples/people.  I can't even begin to count how often we are asked that ALL the time.  It's almost like that is the only thing people talk about when you get married and don't start on a family right away.  As written in a previous blog, I have come to grips and peace with the reality of not having kids or any on the way.  I'm happy with what I have now... a husband and a wonderful marriage.  Who could ask for more??

I'm reminded of the reality of no kids, none in my belly or on the way anytime soon by one person, well 2 persons in my life.  They are a couple.  Happy I think.  At least you would think so.  She has 2 kids, stays at home with the kids.  He has a job it pays pretty well and they get along ok.  They feel the need to constantly throw this in my face.  Things like... you don't have kids so you wouldn't understand, or you think you're busy, try having 2 kids, I could go on.  These comments used to all be pointed towards me because that was all I truly wanted, until they realized (I guess) that I'm quite happy with my life right now KIDLESS (if that's even a word).  Then they started on Markus.  I just don't get it.  I told Markus the other day that it was bothering me.   It just doesn't stop.  I can't imagine them purposely wanting to hurt us.  I guess I just wanted to get confirmation from Markus that I wasn't being hyper-sensitive.  I tend to get that way when it comes to children.  I can get REALLY defensive.  But with good reason... I want kids!  I mean I could have a few right now if that was how it was supposed to be.  DUH!  Markus agreed with me.  He had noticed it more too from them, but why?  

Well I guess I'll never know.   But for now, I will just sit back and take it, which isn't like me at all.  I just haven't gotten made enough to explode yet.  I guess when I have twins then I can throw in their face that they just don't understand.  I don't know about the twins thing, they just tend to run in my family and don't skip generations.  My family thinks I'll be the one to have the twins.  Yikes!  We shall see.

The Shreveport Weekend Matchup

Well Markus had to play quite the guessing game when putting his team on the court and didn't do so well the first day we were there (Fri) and they lost both matches.  They had to win at least 3 courts per match (if that makes sense) and it just wasn't happening.  Saturday was a little better, but not much.  Nonetheless, I'm still very proud that him and his team got to the

State Tournament.  

We really had fun.  It was so nice to get away from the office.  Pete's friend Rocky took the whole team out in his RV to Bossier City, Louisiana Boardwalk to eat on the river.  Let me tell you that place is gorgeous and I really want to go back.  It's not really somewhere you would go have a vaca or something, but it's beautiful and I wish we had one in BR.  Oh well.  Silly me didn't bring the camera so I of course have no pics to show if off.

I did get some cool shots of Markus playing tennis that I will share.  He is so cute.  I'm glad he's not a professional tennis player, because he seems to be playing in a tournament just about every month.  

Markus and his killer serve.  The look on his face cracks me up.  He ended up losing this game and had 8 deuces.  

Markus was playing doubles here.  He made a great shot.

Just about to serve.  I was peaking through the fence on this match.

Another serve.

Shreveport Here we come...

It's almost here.  The tournament Markus has been looking forward to, the State Tennis Tournament in Shreveport, La.  We leave tomorrow and frankly I'm so happy to finally take a "vacation" day from work.  Who better to be with than my wonderful husband and his parents.  Markus has been working so hard for this and has hit a few bumps during this Spring League, but he made it.  He has been having shoulder trouble lately and started to demo a couple rackets to see which one he likes.  He found one that actually relieved his shoulder pain.  I know right??  As far as I was concerned if it meant him not being in pain and belly-aching I was desperate to do it.  So we got him 2 new tennis rackets that so far he still loves after almost 1 week with them.  I can't wait to see how the tournament goes.

A few pics of the last tourney he played in.  My MIL finally sent us some pictures... yes that's right somehow I managed to leave my camera at home.  How could I?

The Highland Open

Here is Markus and his partner who won it all for the Men's Doubles 3.0

Dessert time

Bogey absolutely loves to do this when we eat on the couch.  He will crawl/walk on the back of the couch much like a cat would and then blop down right on our shoulders.  It's funny because he gets closer and closer.  One time I was trying to put my spoon in my mouth and Bogey's tongue was right there waiting for me to feed him.  My mom thought it was the funniest cutest thing.  So I made Markus take a picture of it.  As  you can see he has his eye on my dessert.  We love this dogey.  P.S. the Pineapple upside down cake was like the best it has ever been.  I'm so happy it turned out for my mom.  She was so happy I remembered her love for this cake.

Happy Mother's Day

For a change, I decided I would have my mother over for dinner instead of going to my MIL's this year.  It's funny because my MIL usually cooks anyway, which I don't agree with on Mother's Day, but anyhow we're going to visit them today.  So my mom was surprised that I asked her over for dinner, but I figured my sisters wouldn't be doing anything, so I wanted her to be with us instead of alone for Mother's Day.  Here's our menu for tonight:

Mother's Day Dinner

Spinach Balls

appetizer

Citrus Spinach Salad in a Parmesan Frico Cup

salad

Chicken Cordon Bleu

main course

Garlic Bread

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

dessert

My mom's mother would make her pineapple upside down cake and after coming across this recipe (yes from scratch) from the early 1900s I made it for my Mom's Birthday.  She later told me that it was very close to how her mom used to make it and told me to add more pineapple juice and it would probably taste just like her moms'.  That of course was cool to me because I never knew her mom and thought that was neat.

So Happy Mother's Day mom.  I love you and hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day.  You have taught us girls so much and I sure hope you're proud.

Pictured below is what I got myself for Mother's Day.  I love love it and knew as soon as I saw it that I had to have it.  I'm not sure about the bright green yet, but we will see.  It's still so new I don't know if I want to change it yet.

The Eagle has Landed... and the call from VISA

After about 100 checks of our online banking, the stimulus money has come in. Of course we have been anticipating its arrival all week. I've made several lists as to what the money would be spent on, etc. I've gotten a few things that I've wanted, Mother's Day is now covered, you now those kinds of things. At 8:30 this morning my phone is ringing. I start running for it to find it's an 800 number. Let's just say I immediately knew what that was for. A courtesy call from Visa to make sure I still had possession of my card. After we went through all the charges made yesterday, I told her thank you for calling and how secure I felt. I must say I would've been a bit annoyed had I not been awake, but nonetheless how awesome is that? I know it's standard and everything, but I'm glad to see they will still call you early on a Saturday to make sure everything is ok.

Show Me the Money

So I heard the IRS started sending out the "Economic Stimulus" Checks. Suddenly my project list is running wild. I have all of these wants and wishes and ideas of what to do with it. It's really driving me crazy. I've been running around on these websites trying to figure out what I want to do next with the house. AHHH...

DEAR IRS,

I'VE BEEN A GOOD LITTLE GIRL ALL YEAR LONG. I'VE PAID MY TAXES AND YOU EVEN GAVE ME $20 BACK THIS YEAR. I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW, I'M WAITING FOR MORE. FEEL FREE TO SEND IT MY WAY ASAP. I PROMISE I WILL WELCOME IT WITH OPEN ARMS.

JENN

It really is pitiful that all of the sudden I'm depending on this stimulus to get things done around the house. Who knows by the time I receive it I'll probably have to end up buying our season tickets with it or paying for Markus' summer school. But for right now I'm thinking about the house. :)

P.S. HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!!

Transplanting & other fun garden stuff

After such a down pour of rain last night/ this morning I walked outside to find the four o'clocks had a line through the flower bed. That would be from the water. The roots were all exposed and one of them was even slumped over. In an effort to save them, I decided they need to be moved somewhere else. I grew them from seeds and I really wanted to see them flower, not die. So I sat in wet to pull weeds to make room for a new bed. I hope they don't get beat up by the rain again. Four o'clocks get their name from the flowers that bloom only in the late afternoon (4pm) and die before the next day generally.

I also realized this week that this variegated bush in my yard was in fact what I thought it was... a HYDRANGEA! Here's a pic. It's not the mophead kind (what most people think they look like).
This is what they call lace cap hydrangeas and the one I have in my yard (variegated) isn't very common. How cool is that? I'm really excited, because I love love love hydrangeas. I'm going to get a pretty pink one to put on the other side of this one.

Bogey goes to the Dogey Park

Markus and I were bored this afternoon and were trying to think of something to do to get out of the house. He had the bright idea of taking Bogey to the Dogey Park. I must say I was a little hesitant because he's always so scared of other dogs. So I figured we would just try it. Well... it was a success. I really want to go again and again. He was so good with all the other dogs there. One of the people who goes all the time said that she hasn't seen that many dogs there in a while. Everyone loved Bogey. They thought he was so cute and were trying to guess what kind of dog he was. I can't wait to go again. At first he was staying glued to our sides. Once Bogey realized he could have fun he really let it all out. Anyone want to have a dogey date at the dog park?

Look What I Found

Bogey and I were watching Divine Design last night. He loves to cuddle and I just love it, but he's worse than a person in the fact that he get uncomfortable so quickly. He's constantly changing his position. Well he got up and went to the foot of the couch and starting scratching at the laundry basket full of clean clothes. Next thing I knew he was climbing up into the basket full of clean clothes. If I throw a pile of laundry on the couch that is the first place he wants to sit. I thought by putting them in the basket surely he wouldn't climb into it, right? It was funny to me so I ran to grab my camera and he got up. Then I found myself wanting him to hop back in JUST so I could get a pic. Well this is what I got..

Sock it to Me

Is there anything better than getting yelled at by your boss? Umm... Yeah let's just say I was very close to quitting. Oh, before I did my mortgage reminded me it was due today. Thanks mortgage. Guess I'll keep working.