I Struggle....

...with this blog because I feel that so many of the other wonderful blogs I read are filled with such inspiring and beautiful words...mine simply don't compare.

I'm mean, seriously how many times can one stand to read about an argument Mark and I had? Or any of the other mundane things that fill up my life?

You know what I realized? Every single blog that I read is written by someone with children! Perhaps that's what's missing from my blog...child-like innocence and cute anecdotes?

Maybe I should hold off on this blogging business till I have something "real" to write about....hmmm...something to ponder. In the meantime, I'll try to liven up this blog with some cute niece/nephew sayings.

•At a recent family party, several of my nieces and nephews were swimming in a pool and became very excited when the neighbor began combining the land next door. The kids rushed out of the pool to watch the big machinery.

My godson Jade (nearly 3) began squealing, "Candy! Candy!"
Apparently he's been to one too many parades.

•Speaking of parades, my second cousin Grant, 3, sat with us at a parade a few weeks ago. He enjoyed dancing as the bands played and kept busy catching candy. He wasn't, however, thrilled with the firetrucks or their sirens.

"Those things," he said pointing with one hand while his other attempted to cover his ears. "are not fun."

•"Where do babies come from?" my 5-year-old nephew Trent asked me one day.
"Where do you think they come from?" I asked.
"I dunno...the sandbox?" - Trent
"Yup, of course that's where."

blah

Yikes! It's been a long time since I posted! I really want to do a lengthy post about Relay for Life, which we participated in on Friday/Saturday, and all the other fun stuff we did over the weekend but I'm simply too distracted to do that now.

Mark and I have had a very stressful fighting time. We're lashing out at eachother for no reason it seems. Last night he was very angry and said (paraphrasing) "Well if we're making eachother so unhappy, why are we together?"

Ugh. It broke my heart. This sucks, really it does. We're talking and trying to get to the root of our arguments so we can hopefully stop having them all together, but it's slow going.

It seems we get on this really bad streak where all we do is fight, then we're really good for a while...it keeps flipping back and forth like that.

I don't really even remember what we started fighting about. I think a lot of it has to do with wanting to get a house and move forward with our plans for a family, but we're feeling kind of stuck with that.

Blah. Oh well, I'm sure we'll be fine. I promise to post some real stuff soon.

FaCeLiFt

My blog got a facelift. Again. Sorry, I simply love to play around with this stuff. This blog will be getting lots and lots of facelifts 'til I decide to be bored with changing it!

Not much new. Went shopping and to a movie with my mom for her birthday and I'm getting things ready for our Relay for Life walk tomorrow.

I've been feeling a bit down. Just frustrated with certain things at work and a few things going on between Mark and I. Doesn't help that I'm starting to feel that restlessness again...that feeling of "wanting something more." I was able to smash that feeling down for a month or so but it's starting to creep back up.

I feel like I want/need something...a house? A baby? A puppy? Something...anything to look forward to. Ugh. It's a sickening feeling to know that I should be so happy with the way my life is (husband, loving family, etc.) but to still wish for more.

It also doesn't help that I'm upset with a friend who volunteers for overtime (even though her family doesn't need the money) and in turn ends up not spending much time with her young kids. Frustrates me because I would do anything to have a baby and I see her taking her children for granted. Doesn't she realize how quickly they grow? That soon they'll be out of that fun baby stage, and into the teenage years where they'll probably want nothing to do with her?

Sigh. Makes me think "if I were her..." But I guess we can't do that because it's unfair to judge other people's decisions. For all I know she could have a really good reason for wanting the overtime. Maybe she's planning a vacation to Disneyland and wants to save up extra money...could be.

Ah, well. This post was pretty pointless but it did help to relieve some of the tension I've been feeling. It's hard for me to share this restless feeling with Mark because he simply doesn't feel it. He's perfectly happy with the way things are and doesn't see the need for change. I guess I'd better do some reflection and pray for peace of mind where all this is concerned. In the meantime, I hope all you out in blogger-land have a wonderful weekend...I know mine will be busy, busy!

Back in the Swing of Things

Wow! We had such an amazingly fun night last night...to tell you the truth I'm surprised I'm up already at 7:45 a.m.!

Last night, we had sky box seats (courtesy of Les Stumpf Ford) for the Timber Rattlers game in Appleton. The group consisted of me, Mark, brother/sisters-in-law Randy, Kris, Dave, Amy, Mary and Dave and my bestest Jenny and her fiancee Jake. We had such a great time...lots of beer, nachos, and popcorn as well as a little baseball watching. We had our picture taken with the Rattler mascot and were able to see a 9-2 Rattler win! I will definitely have to post pics later!

After the game we stopped for drinks at one of our favorite bars, Jeanne's, and got way more than we'd bargained for. My brother and sister in law know the owners very well so we're always treated to drinks on the house at some point. It just happened to be Amy's birthday...sooo we ended up each doing four or five shots! Eeek!

I decided to stop drinking around midnight and switched to water because I really didn't want to feel icky today, plus sometimes it's just as fun to watch the other guys having a good time. Mark and Randy didn't stop, however and are definitely paying for it today.

I'm so glad that Mark forced me to go along. I'm not a big drinker and actually prefer to stay home knitting/reading/cleaning/baking/watching tv etc. But after last night I feel so alive! It's so great to be able to go out and have a good time, share laughs, create memories.... it's been a long time since I've gone out. Probably since my bachelorette party last year! It's not something I enjoy that often, but I'm glad for the opportunity to kick up my heels and have fun because I know we won't be doing that crazy stuff when we have little ones.

Anyway it's great to get back into the swing of things...I fear I was becoming a little too antisocial. Easy to do when you're content to be at home. Till next time.... Party on Dudes!

To Serve and Protect

While our vacation was very relaxing, we ended up having a very busy weekend that's left me feeling just as tired and run-down as I was before we went away!

On Saturday we were in a miniature bowling competition with a bunch of my aunts and uncles...it was so fun! I've never done anything like that before but it turns out I'm a good mini-bowler! We played three games (teams) and I ended up with a 260, a 248 and a 198. The last game wasn't so good, but it was still fun. Nancy, my aunt's partner, ended up bowling a perfect 300 game!

After bowling we went home for an hour or two then headed to my brother/sister-in-law's house for a going away party for our nephew Troy who left for Basic Training yesterday. They had a corn roast and the younger nieces and nephews went swimming. It was great to catch up with everyone again, but there was a sadness about it in knowing that everything is changing with Troy leaving. On a bright note, my other nephew Craig - who is stationed with the Army in Afghanistan - was able to email home and send some pictures.

When Mark and I were ready to leave the party I gave Troy a big hug and told him to promise me that he'd stay safe. He told me not to cry and asked me to take care of our Godson Jade while he's gone. I barely made it to the car before I started bawling. Troy and I have gotten very close over the years - I'm going to miss our little talks so much!

After we got home, I sent him a Facebook message telling him that even though I broke my end of the deal (crying) he'd better not break his (staying safe.) He messaged back, which was wonderful. I miss him so much already. The good news is, he'll be back from Basic in six weeks. The bad news is he'll be around for a short time (a few weeks) and then he'll get his placement and be gone for however long, only able to come home for holidays every now and then.

Don't get me wrong, I am so very proud of both my servicemen nephews...it's just so hard to watch them go. I know that without the willingness of thousands of young men and women to protect and serve our country I cannot even imagine where we'd be. Both Troy and Craig believe so much in what they're doing - the work and service they are doing for our country.

It kills me to hear people spouting anger and resentment against the War, our President, or the American Troops fighting for our country. Reality: Supporting the troops means supporting the War. The service men and women in the Army, Air Force, Navy etc. truly believe in the cause and know they are doing what's best for the safety of our country. Saying that the war is pointless or whatever, is a slap in the face to our soldiers. Yes, I pray for peace but I also pray that our country will continue to have the foresight to help other countries in need. It's so important to our future.

Anyway, suffice it to say I'm very proud of my nephews and miss them terribly.

Yesterday we went to a local parade and party and spent a lot of time in the sun. Don't worry, we wore lots of sunscreen. It was a very long, exhausting weekend and it was very, very hard to get up for work this morning! We've got another busy week coming up - we're going to a Timber Rattlers game on Tuesday (box seats thru Mark's work), and Wednesday I'm going with my dad to donate blood, Thursday is my mom's birthday so we're going to run to Appleton for shopping/lunch/movie (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants II), and Friday night/Saturday morning is the Relay for Life Cancer Walk! Through fundraisers, our team has tallied more than $850! On Saturday, there's a Gospel Festival in a nearby village that my mom and I always go to and on Sunday Mark has his work golf outing and my aunts are having a party at their house. Whew! I'm tired just thinking about all we're going to be doing. Oh well...we'd better take advantage - summer is almost over!!

Hope everyone has a very sunny day!

8-8-08 .... and Vacation!

Wisconsin Dells ~ Mt. Olympus 2008

Even though I'm so very tired and have tons of laundry to do, I wanted to sneak in a quick post mainly because its 8/08/08! I look forward to this day of "same numbers" every year! How fun!



I'm thinking that my mom is a little sad today...right after Mark and I got married she told me we should start trying to have a baby so that I could deliver on 8/8/08 because she thought that would be a great day for a birthday. Sorry mom! Lol.



Well, we just got back from our wonderful vacation. We had so much fun! I'll post a few pics for now and do more of a post tomorrow because I really need to get those chlorine-soaked clothes in the washer and Mark needs a nap...big time! For now enjoy the pics!



Mark got pulled up on stage during the Tommy Bartlett Show to help with a trick!

Me at the Moose Jaw...yum!

~Pirates Cove Mini Golf...love those waterfalls!~

Successful Tourney, Vacation, Wedding Bands

Volleyball

Well, we survived the volleyball tournament. It was a busy, but very rewarding weekend and everything went very well considering it was our first year running the tournament. We spent the entire day Saturday setting up the nets, poles and courts. It really takes a lot more organization and planning than I ever would have guessed to set up!

After a long, sweaty, sunburny day we headed home to shower and get ready to go back to the church grounds to enjoy the picnic. We grabbed some supper (our only meal of the day because we were so busy) and shared a couple of drinks with the other committee members.

Sunday we were up early so we could get things ready. The first groups started showing up around 9:15 a.m. as we had the first matches scheduled for 10 a.m. The brackets all worked out well and everyone seemed to have fun with their match-ups. We were so happy that all the teams showed up! (Some of them hadn't paid in advance as they were supposed to and all of a sudden rain was forecasted so we were worried some wouldn't show.)

In between our running around to keep the teams and matches on schedule, we were able to spend time family who stopped by to watch the tournament...and of course taste some yummy food! The championship match got underway around 4:30 p.m. just as storm clouds started rolling in from the West. Thankfully, the teams were able to finish up their match and we got the nets and poles down with about 30 seconds to spare before the thunder, lighting and pouring rain hit.

We had a very successful tournament, with close to $600 raised in entry fees and approximately $90 raised in water and Gatorade sales. We also had a couple teams donate their prize winnings back to the church and of course most of the teams ate/drank/participated in the silent auction/had kids play games etc. so they were donating money to the church. That's the whole point of the tournament - to get people on the grounds, spending money. Looks like it was a very successful picnic overall!

I'm sure we'll run the tournament again next year, now that we've got our feet wet and have a taste for what it takes to get things organized. It was a nice experience and felt great to be giving back to the church - we had lots of thanks and compliments from players, so that encourages us all the more to do it next year! Here's some pics....

We had 10 teams in Class B and three teams in Class C....

Mark enjoying a walking taco during a quick break from his running around!

Randy and Kris' team.

Vacation

We not only had a busy weekend, but Mark's had a busy couple weeks at work with EAA in Oshkosh. He's had so many rentals to get organized and lots of stress with it. He put in more than 50 hours last week and went in this morning to work at 6 a.m. I've had my usual stresses with work and long hours, so we're super excited to be going on vacation!!!

We leave Wednesday morning for Wisconsin Dells and will stay till late Friday. I can't wait to relax and spend time with my hubby! The Dells are very special to us - we went there to celebrate "One Year Till we Get Married," we stayed for a weekend for the "Brother/Sister Outing" last year and we went there on our honeymoon. Now we're going in early celebration of "One Year of Marriage" We also hope it will be our last vacation just the two of us. (Wink, wink.)

Wedding Bands

Though things have been fine with us lately - very little fighting - I was a little upset to learn (as I was getting ready this morning) that he "forgot" to wear his wedding ring to work today. Argh. It may be a stupid little thing, but it bothers me. He "forgot" twice last week and a couple more times over the last two months.

Mark takes his ring off before bed because too often he was sleeping on his hand and cut off circulation to his ring finger! I'm fine with that and give him a little reminder to put in on every morning when he kisses me goodbye before work. I reminded him this morning and he said he would grab it...but there it was on his nightstand when I got up for work!

If he had a job, say, in a factory or working on a farm where it would get very dirty or be very dangerous for him to wear the ring I wouldn't mind if he didn't. The fact is, he works as a Rental Agent at a Car Dealership and does nothing dangerous or dirty unless you count occasionally scrubbing bugs off cars. So, I think he should wear it every day not only as an expression of our love but as a reminder of the promise we made to each other.

I rarely take my ring off...in fact I think the last time I did was when we went white water rafting and I didn't want to worry about losing it. That turned out to be a mistake though, because apparently I've developed a habit of "adjusting" my ring with my thumb and that day every time I went to do that and remembered my ring was gone I got a little panicky. Anyway, point is - he should be wearing that ring. I'm going to have a chat with him about it though I'm sure he'll get all defensive and accuse me of making a big deal out of nothing. Oh well.

Hope you all have a great week..I'm sure I won't be posting until Saturday or so when I'll (maybe) share some pics from our fun vacation! Ciao!