Kids for Kids

Kelly's school has decided to participate in a fundraiser for Kosair Children's Hospital here in Louisville. The school has decided to focus on helping children with diabetes. Here is a little blurb about the hospital:

For more than 115 years, Kosair Children's Hospital and its predecessor hospitals have provided children of Kentucky and Southern Indiana the best health care available without regard to their families' ability to pay. Kosair Children's Hospital is Kentucky's only free-standing, full- service pediatric care facility dedicated exclusively to caring for children and is an advocate for the health and well being of all children.

Anyway, Kelly is really excited to help raise money and they have this neat option where you can create a web page for your child for people to donate (she didn't find this as cool as I did). Feel free to donate if you wish... Kelly would love it and it's going to a great cause!

Here is the link to her donation website or you can just click on the widget to the right:

Donate Now!

In search of....

So... I need an exercise buddy. I've realized that I can't lose any more weight unless I exercise. I can't do it on my own. I'm a wimp to the EXTREME! I'm also a grump. Wow... I'm really making myself out to be a great exercise companion, huh? Anyway, I just finished reading Erin's blog and Keri's blog and they both have exercise buddies that they get up at 5:30 in the morning with to go exercise. I think they are psychotic. But, then again..... Erin,Janelle, and Keri are pretty freakin' hot. I'm going to assume it's because they actually exercise. I guess it's about time I looked in to that. Anyone wanna exercise with me???? (And yes, I do realize that 99% of you reading this blog don't even live in this state......)

Politics Shmolitics.... part 1

So up until now I haven't really said anything about my political beliefs and such. I love discussing politics and I read political articles on a daily basis. However, I do know that politics are a sensitive subject and the possibility of changing someone's perspective is pretty slim. But hey, that's what I love about America. Different people with different ideas -- all of which are valid. So with that said, everything I'm about to say is my opinion and I don't believe to be fact. It's just what I think as of right now and I am in no way putting down other people's ideas. I'm just throwin' mine in the pot.

So on to the good (possibly) stuff:

I've been pretty disappointed with the presidential race this go-around. All of the candidates are so mediocre it hurts. Even though Romney isn't in the race anymore, I wasn't super impressed with him either. I thought his ideas on immigration were outrageous and completely unsound. That's one area that has really bothered me about the Republican party over the years. Why are we so afraid of immigration? What's wrong with change and adding new cultures to our fantastic country? There are HUGE limits on how the best and the brightest of the world can come into America legally. Once they are here, it's even harder for them to stay and thrive. So many are afraid of the immigrants who are here illegally. Most are hard workers who don't ask for much. Sounds pretty nice considering all of the Americans we do have that are lazy and ask for too much. There is a problem that needs to be fixed. Rounding up all of the illegal immigrants is a ridiculous idea that can NEVER be accomplished. Millions upon MILLIONS of dollars would be spent doing such a thing. Then, families would be torn apart -- families where one spouse is a citizen and the other is not. Children who were born here that are citizens may stay, but their parents are thrown in jail and forced to leave. Let's not forget how we would go about finding these illegal immigrants. Should we stop every single Hispanic we see and ask for documentation???? Legal and law abiding citizens who were born in a latin country should have to travel with immigration documents at all times??? It's a proposterous idea that that sending out the police would solve this problem.

It's been strange how over the years I have felt that slowly but surely the Republican party is starting to leave me. I don't really feel that I've left it. When it comes to the economics of our country, I am very much a conservative. Less government is better and a free economy is the secret to our success as a nation. However, I feel that the republican party is going too far to the right socially. Don't get me wrong, the Democrats are going too far to the left as well. I am starting to long for the rise of a quality third party that better suites my ideals and philosophies. The likelyhood of this happening is very slim, but one can hope.

**Update**

Well, apparently a lot of other places got hit pretty hard with the ice storm. We were very fortunate that nothing major happened where we lived. It was actually pretty mild. I don't think the roads ever got very slick.

But anyway, a few of you have asked me about the canned fuel stuff, so here it is:

This is a basic two-pack of Sterno canned fuel. You can buy it at wal-mart for about $3 a pkg. Each can burns for about 2 hours. What's great about canned fuel is that it's a clean burning fuel and it's less likely to spill since it comes in the form of a gel. The reason why I chose this form of fuel is because we are in an apartment that obviously will not let us store propane or anything like that. PLUS, I figured if we ever lost power again, we would be crammed in some small room trying to stay warm. It obviously wouldn't be very well ventilated, and so I could feel safe using this for warming food. Now, it doesn't really "cook" food. You can make ramen noodles, or heat up water for hot chocolate. I also keep a bunch of canned soups that would be easy to heat up. Anything that can be "cooked" on a med-low heat can be cooked using the sterno fuel.

Now, how do I cook with it?????

I bought this folding stove that can be used with the sterno canned fuel. It only costs anywhere from $5 - $14 (depending on where you buy it). I tried it once and my water started a light boil after 10 minutes. Not too bad. These things are VERY compact and fold flat for storage. I'm thinking about buying another one so I can have two going at once if I ever needed it. I have to assume that my neighbors have no emergency preparedness stuff, so if there ever was an emergency they would have to come to us. That's why I want another stove or two so I can have a couple of things going at once. Anyway, so that's how I would take care of basic cooking if we were to lose power. Nothing fancy, but it'll do since we are in an apartment.

I'm actually pretty proud of everything I have for emergency preparedness considering we are on such a tight budget and a cramped living space. We have enough water for us and our neighbors for three days. If we don't include our neighbors, we could last for a couple of weeks. I also have bleach to clean the water and the proportions on how to clean it. I also have a water purifier. Don't forget koolaid and such -- bleach water tastes NASTY!!!! You gotta add something so you can atleast drink it. Yuck! Am I the only one who has had bleach water???

But anyway, we also have tons of matches and lighters, 60 hour candles, flashlights (the kind that you shake to recharge), field knives, first aid and appropriate first aid books, anti-viral masks for us and the kids (remember the bird flu scare??? Yeah.... I got masks that block out viruses JUST in case... I'm so paranoid), more body warmers than we could ever use, can openers with the emergency stuff, those thermal blanket things, hand-cranked wheat grinder (for the almost 15 giant cans of wheat we have), two emergency radios -- one has preset emergency broadcasting stations, a strobe light, a cell phone charging station, and a hand crank (the other is solar powered), and enough food to last a good while.

I'm a total nerd when it comes to emergency preparedness. I can't wait until we have a house so I can do even more. I feel very lucky that I took a lot of survival classes in college so at least I know/remember some basics of what we could do in an emergency situation. Doesn't mean I'd come out alive, but at least I'm not ill prepared.

So what do all of you guys have in the way of emergency preparedness???

Ice storm strikes again!

So apparently we're getting another ice storm. It's 11am right now and they are already dismissing school early. Apparently in other parts of KY they already have about an inch of ice on the road. What makes ice storms so dangerous is how fast they come on. In just a matter of minutes, a road will be fine and then all of a sudden it freezes. Our roads in Kentucky are not designed to handle this kind of situation (we are not blessed with big open roads like the west). I'm hoping it won't hit Louisville very bad. About 5 years ago there was an Ice storm that hit Lexington, KY. We were living in that area at the time. We were going over to a friend's house to babysit for just a couple of hours. It was raining outside, but nothing bad. We arrived just fine and our friends went out on their date. About an hour later they came back and told us we wouldn't be able to leave tonight. The roads froze over so fast that they were actually unable to get up the hill to their house. They had to park farther down and hike up. Our car was covered in almost an inch thick of ice. We were stuck (Kelly was about 18 mo. at this time). So we thought we would be there for just the night. Oh no -- we were there for 3 days! It was actually a good thing that we were stuck at their house because our apartment lost power and at the time we had NO emergency preparedness stuff. Our friends were lifesavers! I felt really bad for them though because we were pretty much zombies the whole time we were there. Kelly for some reason was really scared at night and wouldn't sleep. I literally wasn't getting any sleep while we were at their house. I remember one time where my friend had made us a great breakfast and then was starting to load the dishwasher. I remember thinking to myself "Get up and help her load the dishwasher", but I physically could not move I was so tired. lol... I'm so surprised they remained our friends after that!!!!

But yeah, this time I'm prepared. I have canned fuel just in case the power goes out so I can heat up basic foods (ramen, canned soups, hot chocolate, etc....) I also have tons of candles, matches, flashlights, body warmers, water, etc etc etc....... if the power goes out this time, we'll be better prepared. It won't be fun, but we'll survive!!!! Wish us luck and hopefully it won't be bad at all!!!!

Day of Love

So I saw this on Christa's blog and thought I'd give it a whirl. I "know" Christa (I use that term lightly... I've only met her briefly a couple of times) through my sister-in-law Tracy. Apparently they are best friends. I am trying to sever their ties and make them both dependent on me. I'm pretty desperate for friends -- and quite frankly they are the coolest people I know. I have not shared this plan with either of them, so if you guys could keep it under wraps, I would really appreciate it.

Anyway, on to the goodness:

1. How long have you been married?

7 LONG years....... I mean 7 BLISSFUL years! lol!

2. How long did you date?

We dated for about 5 1/2 months before getting engaged. Then we were engaged for a little over 2 months before getting married. WHAT WERE WE THINKING?????? :-)

3. Who eats more?

Until 2 weeks ago it was me. It was actually kinda scary how much I could put away. Shane eats like a bird anyway. When I'm old and fat he's still gonna be a little rail.

4. Who said I love you first?

I did. He was my first love and I just couldn't hold it in any longer! I totally freaked him out though!!!!

5. Who's taller?

Shane. He's almost a foot taller.

6. Who sings better?

Me, but only because I actually sing on key. That does not mean I have a good voice. Yikes!

7. Who does the dishes?

Me. Shane works too much. That and he loads the dishwasher completely wrong every time and then all of the plastic cups and bowls flip over during the wash and fill with nasty grimy dishwater. Yuck.

8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?

Shane -- and it will be that way until we buy a new bed. On both sides of the mattress there is a huge indentation where he sleeps ('cause he never moves). So no matter how many times we flip and rotate the mattress, he always leaves his mark.

9. Who pays the bills?

Me. In the entire 7 years we've been married our bills have only been late twice -- Once when Kelly was born and another when Isabelle was born. Both times I was in the hospital and he forgot to pay. Spoiled boy!

10. Who mows the lawn?

No lawn to mow.

11. Who cooks dinner?

Me. Shane used to be the cook in the family until I finally learned how. Now it's been so long you would have never known he ever knew how. Currently he can only cook a handful of things -- frozen waffles and pre-cooked bacon. If he's adventurous it will be regular bacon instead of the precooked variety. It just doesn't happen that often.

12. Who is more stubborn?

Shane. I totally thought I was the most stubborn person on the planet until I met my match 8 years ago.

13. Who kissed who first?

He did. We were at his apartment at Ricks hangin' out in the kitchen when he leaned in to plant one on me. Then he looks at me and says "Wow... it's been a long two years....." Best kiss EVER!

14. Who asked who out?

Shane always asked me out. Every single date. That's pretty impressive given that I almost always asked all other guys out first.

15. Who proposed?

Shane did. But only after I told him he had to. He likes to put things off. LOL!!!!

Actually, It was pretty cool. We were both working for a Salvation Army summer camp near the Tennessee border (yeah, weird) and he proposed on a boat at night under the stars. Sooooooo sweet!

16. Who has more friends?

If Shane tried very hard to make and keep friends he would beat me 'cause he's way cooler and funnier. But he doesn't try. So I win all the way!

17. Who has more siblings?

Dead even.
Shane has four: Amy, Loren, Tracy, and Brtiney
I have four: Josiah, Louis, Guy, and Steven

I've dyed and gone to Heaven

So here is my nerdy-ness in all its glory! Wool yarn is soooooooooooooo nice and sooooooooooo very expensive. Like a small ball (and I mean small) of wool yarn is about $8.50 - 12.50. You can't even make one sock with that amount -- so you can pretty much forget about a sweater! So I found out that you can undo wool sweaters that you find at thrift stores that have either never been worn or hardly ever warn (meaning the yarn is still good). I bought this lovely doo-dad at a local thrift store for 3 bucks. Smashing, isn't it? I had already taken apart the first sleeve when I remembered to take a "before" picture. It took a LONG time to unravel --- long long long.



So after many hours of unwinding, this was my beautiful bounty:

That's about $50 worth of yarn


So now I want to change the color -- 'cause you know, I can. I figured since this was my first time I would use just a small ball as my test subject.


So I loosely bound it together to prevent it from tangling and then rinsed and "washed" it (you have to be careful about washing wool because it will felt)


Then I put it in the dye bath. I'm using America's favorite -- Berry Blast Koolaid (minus the sugar)



Then it's on to rinse.... wash.....rinse again.... rinse one more time.... there you go.....


Hang that beauty to dry.....


And Viola!! Strawberry success!

It worked!!!

So since June/July I have been putting on some weight. Okay, a lot of weight. I gained a little over 20 lbs. Yikes! So after about the 10th time of someone asking me if I was expecting, I thought it was time to do something about the weight gain. I decided to join weight watchers and give it a try. I love it! It's only been one week, but it's really helped me with my portion sizes. Yesterday I went in for my weigh-in and I lost 2.6 lbs!!!!!!!! I'm sooooo stoked! Anyway, just thought I'd share with you my excitement!!!!!

It's a purse!

So I was talking with Emily the other day and I realized that I forgot to post what my last project was. From the poll it seems that most of you guessed correctly -- I won't say anything about those that guessed wrong! ;-) But anyway, I actually finished knitting 2 days after I posted the poll, but I got lazy and never finished the purse. All I had to do was put a button on and a purse strap, but I just kept putting it off. Well, I finally added those things last night and I think it came out really nice. The purse strap is actually an old belt I found at goodwill. It was a lot harder than I thought trying to sew that thing together. I bent 2 needles and broke one. Finally, I took a knife to it to make big enough holes so I could hand sew it together with yarn. I guess we'll see how it holds up!