Dallas was a no go

Remember last time I wrote, I said that I was waiting on a plane? But it was delayed because of wind? And I'd gotten a "free" day at home? Yeah, that day. I never got on that flight. My boss and I decided to wait until morning to fly. The last I heard was that her husband was looking into flights for the morning. I never heard anything else until I texted at 9am the morning of the flight. She said to rest and that we would go later. Later came and went (in my book anyway) and I texted at 4:30 telling her that I was tired of waiting. So, long story short, I didn't go to Dallas. It's a shame because I was excited for another market trip. But, my weekend turned out wonderfully. I ended up going to Houston with Jason, my in-laws and brother-in-law's girlfriend. That was a mouthful. We went to visit and get some project car things done. Obviously, the boys did the project car work while we women went shopping! It turned out to be a fun, relaxing escape from my work. It was just the peace that I needed. I went back to work refreshed and mentally relaxed.

This weekend, I will be going to Kyle to help a friend move. I am so excited that she is moving so much closer to me!!! Hopefully, this beautiful weather will hold out one more day!

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Happy Friday Peeps!

I realize today is Friday the 13th, but I have no suspicions today! Today is the last Friday I'll ever work at my current job. Tomorrow is my last day EVER. You have no idea how ready I am. I would love to skip out on the last two days entirely, but I just feel too bad about it.

I know, I'm a wuss.

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Doing better.....

Now that Jason has completed his first week on the job and I start my new job in just a week, I have breathed a sigh of relief. On Saturday, Jason and I were cuddling and being snuggly and I something hit me: so much tension between us has been released. Although we love each other with all of our heart, financial troubles are still tough on a couple. For the past year, there was an unspoken tension between us. We were always on edge. This played out in our marriage as shortened tempers and continual stress. Neither of us could relax knowing that we were going through yet another month of no income and no job prospects. There were a few events that we argued about something insignificant, only to apologize later realizing that the argument was pointless and caused by stress. Even though our worries are far from gone, we both feel so much better. We can see an end in sight to our immediate financial issues. Later this month, as we figure out exactly how much each of us will bring home, we will work on a budget to save more money, pay off student loans quicker and give each of us a little fun money. After that point, I think we will both feel much, much better.

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:)

I bet all of you thought this was going to be a Father's Day update. Well, it's not. Yes, I called my Daddy and wished him a happy Daddy's Day. I promise I'm a good daughter. Most of the time.

Sorry for not updating this blog thingie I have here, but my life is just SO DARN EXCITING. It's tough trying to manage sleeping and working you know. Plus, I manage to get in a little gym time which takes up more time. Sometimes I even get to see friends! Hooray!

I actually have no excuse other than sheer laziness. There hasn't been a whole lot going on lately. My brother is here in town working on his Jeep with Jason. I think they are on Day 6 of putting in a lift. This doesn't include the entire night they spend working on it as well. They came home at 6 in the morning that time. Hopefully, they will be able to get the new Mud Terrain tires on tomorrow. Don't worry, I'll post all the pictures and accompanying story with it soon. I know ya'll are sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for this story!

Other than that, work has improved somewhat. It's still a struggle, but I guess all jobs are at times. The only thing that has really suffered is my cooking. Since I get home so late most of the time, I don't cook as much as I did before. I have to really plan to cook a meal in order to make it happen. And since Jason and Houston have been working on the Jeep all week, I haven't cooked a thing since they haven't been home at all. I'll try to find some new recipes to make and I'll post them if they are successful. I mean, it's not like I'd ever post something that didn't go perfectly.

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Passion?

I've read so many articles about jobs and how to find your "dream job", that job that embraces your true passion. But how do you find that passion? I've read things about this, but I can never come up with anything for myself. I'm afraid that I won't like something in 6 months and will have to start over. I truly have no idea what makes me tick....what makes me want to get up in the morning and go, go, go! Part of this could be that I feel very dejected as far as the job market goes. It seems that I qualify for nearly nothing and am over-qualified for nearly everything. I've done so many different types of jobs and yet none of them were great. I never woke up and really wanted to go in to the office. Currently I work in retail to get some income to keep Jason and I half-way afloat, but it's something that I don't love. It's stressful, since I'm in a commission-only position. It's also hard working around others that are 10 years younger than me making more money than I am with a degree and a master's degree. Does that make me sound full of myself? I hope it doesn't, but that's how I feel. Some days, work is pretty good. Others, it's tough when I know I'm not coming home with much money. It's even tougher knowing that there aren't any more job prospects for Jason and that I am the sole source of income for the time being. It's not a good feeling. But back to the original question at hand....what is my passion? How could I spend so much time in school and still not know where I fit in? It makes no sense at all! How do you figure this out? And how do you find a job that embraces it? I know that the job market is terrible, but I am so freaking tired of hearing about it. What do you do when you were out of a job for 22 months and then took a retail position? Where do you head next? What can I possibly do to change our current situation? I'm seriously out of ideas.

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Bad, bad blogger!

Well, we knew this would happen. I got a job and left the blog in the dust. Where to begin?

In my last post, I left off on the day I got really sick. Damn you Oak Pollen! So the allergy problems made for a crappy first few days at work. I was constantly excusing myself to go blow my nose behind the scenes and stuffing peppermints in my mouth so I could quit coughing for a few minutes. It was not fun at all. Despite that, I did pretty well. My feet believe otherwise as they have major blisters on them. I don't own any really comfortable shoes that are cute and will allow me to be on my feet all day. Where do I find such things? Oh, did I mention I have a narrow foot and I walk out of any shoe that doesn't have a strap? Yeah, this will be fun.

After those first few days at work, Jason & I got a sad phone call. Our friend's father passed away and the funeral was in a few days. Luckily for me, I was off of work. I didn't know how I was going to get off work for a non-family member. Especially since I had just gotten off work for a funeral two weeks beforehand. Unlike the last person to pass away, this person got to live a long, full life. He was known as "Grandpa" to everyone. Jason served as a pallbearer in the funeral because he was pretty close. I'm going to tell a funny story about Grandpa that Jason once told me. But first, a little background. Grandpa lost most of his hearing years and years ago. He can hear low voices sometimes, but in places where there is a lot of background noise, like restaurants, he can't hear a thing. Keeping that in mind, Grandpa and several other people (including J) decided to go to dinner at a steakhouse. Everyone knows that when a waiter/waitress comes to your table, he/she pretty much asks the same thing in the same order. So here's how that conversation went down:

Waitress: What will you be having?
Grandpa: Steak.
Waitress: And how would you like that cooked?
Grandpa: Baked potato. Cole slaw. Iced tea.

And that was it. The waitress had a confused look on her face and Grandpa never knew that he missed anything. Isn't that hilarious?

Aside from that, it's been work, work, work. I'll try and get better at this. I'll have a book and movie review up tomorrow, too!

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News

Well, this is my 200th post! I never thought I would have lasted this long in the blogging world! So, I've been saving up this post so that I could hopefully post some good news. I'm not unemployed anymore! I'm not making what I really want to make and the commute is long, but I'm excited about the opportunity anyway! Now we just have to get Jason employed, too..........

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Random Things and Thoughts

• A few days ago I made Chicken Chile Verde. It turned out really good and looks just like the picture in the link. I decided to make brown rice to go with it and burned rice for the first time EVER. At least it was only the bottom layer. I had so many pots going on the stove that I had forgotten to turn the rice down and I cooked it on high the entire 40 minutes. It smelled a little like slightly burned popcorn. We had peas and corn with it which is what Jason chose as the veggie. Kind of a strange combination, don't you think?
• I did much better in BodyAttack this week. By better, I mean that I kept up for the most part. There's still one turning move that I just can't quite master. I even did pushups! Yes, they count even if they're done on my knees. 
• We bought paint for the kitchen. Hooray! Now to figure out when to actually START the project.....
• It's freaking cold today. What's up with this weather? If it's going to be this miserable, we should at least get some snow. Just saying....
• Rented A Night At The Museam: Battle of the Smithsonian and it was so-so. It felt like the writers just threw a script together for the heck of it. I'd save your pennies and see something else. Although Hank Azaria's character was pretty funny.
• Believe it or not, Jason & I are going to two parties in the next two days. We're coming out of our hermit crap shell just a little bit at a time.
• Finally discovered the local library. I've forgotten my love for books. It's been over a decade since I've been to a library other than a college library. Awesome.
• Made my stuffed peppers tonight using quinoa instead of brown rice. Jason & I agreed that it was a good substitute worth making again.
• Other than the gym, I've pretty much spent all day upstairs in the loft watching tv, reading and catching up on blogs. I live an exciting life, yo.
• We don't really have any Valentine's Day plans. It's a little late to make reservations anywhere and we're trying to be recessionistas right now anyway. :)
• I really like bullets. A lot.

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So when people ask what I do for a living....

....this is going to be my new response. Ha!

image credit

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Oh my gosh

I just realized it's January 27 and I haven't bought a planner yet. Holy moly. What has happened to me? All is not right in the world.....

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Cleaning For A Reason

I haven't revealed much in my blog about my family. Many of my own friends don't know how my family has been affected by cancer. I lost my Uncle to Melanoma in 1992. He was only 33 at the time and I was a few days from turning 13. As I'm about to turn 31, I realize that his life was barely able to unfold. Since 1992, my family has been extra careful about the sun and we use a TON of sunscreen. I had a "rebel" phase that I went through a few years ago where I used a tanning bed, but it was so much work and my skin just doesn't tolerate it well. My skin is just naturally pasty white. In 1996, I lost my Grandfather (my Uncle's dad) to throat cancer. I was just a senior in high school and to this day, I wish I had been more proactive in getting to know him. I think there's so many things that I could have learned from him. As a kid, I just didn't realize how important it was to find out about my family history. Not too long after he passed away, my Grandmother (his wife) was diagnosed with breast cancer. My Grandmother was a very healthy woman...especially after losing a son and husband. Even though a lumpectomy was recommended, she decided to have a mastectomy instead. It was the choice that saved her life. She recovered and lived many more years after that. I currently have a great Uncle who is paralyzed from the waist down from an inoperable tumor on his spine. Watching someone fight cancer is hard. There isn't much you can do other than offer your support. It never feels like enough.

I think every one of us knows someone that has been affected by cancer both indirectly and/or directly. I received this email from my Mom. It was meant to go to a friend of mine who is currently battling breast cancer. It's about a service for women suffering from cancer. The service will clean a woman's house once a month for 4 months while they go through chemotherapy.  I forgot it was in my inbox until tonight. And tonight, I sent that email to every woman on my email list. This is exactly what the email read, including my note:
__________________________________________________________________________________
Subject: Cleaning for a Reason

Sorry for the mass email, but this is such a neat service. I think all women know someone who this could help. Please pass along if you wish to do so. I hope that 2010 has treated every one of you great so far and that this email reaches you in great health. Even though I don't see or talk to many of you often, I still think of you. Thanks for being there!

Steph

Cleaning for a Reason  
If you know any woman currently undergoing Chemo, please pass the word to her that there is a cleaning service that provides FREE housecleaning - 1 time per month for 4 months while she is in treatment.  
 
All she has to do is sign up and have her doctor fax a note confirming the treatment. Cleaning for a Reason will have a participating maid service in her zip code area arrange for the service.   http://www.cleaningforareason.org
Please pass this information on to bless a woman going through Cancer treatment. This organization serves the entire USA and currently has 547 partners to help these women. It's our job to pass the word and let them know that there are people out there that care. Be a blessing to someone and pass this information along.
____________________________________________________________________________________

I received a reply just a few minutes later from a friend telling me that I had impeccable timing. Her mother had just been diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer. My friend lives several states a way from her mother and she said it was hard to take care of things because of the distance. She was thankful for this service because it would be one thing her mother wouldn't have to worry about while going through this.

I was truly touched that this could help someone. I know that most of you probably got the email I sent, but just in case there are a few of you who read this blog who don't know me, I would appreciate it if you could pass this on. If it helps just one person, it's done some good. Thanks so much for reading!

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Unproductive/Productive Day

Ever have one of those days where you've gotten a lot accomplished and yet still felt unproductive? For some reason, that's how I feel today. I've done all of these things so far today:

• Had an awesome legs workout at the gym
  
• Did all the laundry
• Changed the sheets
• Cleaned the litter box
• Planned some dinner ideas for this week
  
• Shopped for groceries
• Washed the dishes in the sink
• Took the trash out

Okay, so maybe this list wasn't that long, but I still got all of it done today. I just hate feeling so unproductive!

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New Look!

After almost a year and half of the same format, I finally got brave and decided to try a new look. As you might have read in this post, I screwed that up royally. Blogger help forum still hasn't come to my rescue, so it's a good thing that I'm really, really desperate smart. While I couldn't edit in Firefox, I found out that I could in Explorer. So I reloaded the template, edited my heart away and voila! No more Lorem Ipsums on my page! Hooray!

And while I'm at it, all of this blog business let me discover the Updated Blogger post stuff. I always wondered how people scheduled their posts. Awesome! And while I'm at it, I signed up with Feedburner and found out that I had 19 readers on there! Who knew? 19 may be chump change for some of you, but for me that's awesome! You readers should come on out and comment more. It makes my heart all full of puppies and rainbows and kittens and stuff. Really...it's bursting at the seams. :)

If anyone still sees any boo-boos on my page, please let me know. Otherwise, tell me what you think about the new look! In the meantime, I'll be working on my New Year's celebration post. Thanks for reading!

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Confession

So last week Jason & I began the process of getting our alternative teaching certificates. He's tired of working as an engineer in manufacturing and I'm tired of..........well........sitting at home. The economy is so awful that a freaking MBA graduate can't even get a job. What gives people? Thank you Mr. Obama for "fixing" the job market. And I mean that in the most sarcastic way possible.

Anyway.

So apparently Jason is best apt to teach either high school math or - wait for it - technology. Who the heck ever heard of a technology class? Back when I was in school, it was called shop. And I stayed waaaay away from shop. You wouldn't have caught my fingers coming anywhere near that messy, oily, dirty old shop class. Yuck. But these days, shop has transformed into technology. They go beyond working on engines; they delve into computers and technology and stuff.

So Jason immediately tells them "No way, Jose" (or was her name Rae?) to the technology class. He wants to stick with math and math only. Meanwhile, I'm told that there are no marketing classes taught in our school districts (is this a surprise?) so based on my undergraduate degree, I'm best suited for high school science.

Awesome! I'm totally going to be teaching biology and doing dissections and chemistry experiments and taking physics trips!

What? YOU didn't get to take a physics trip to Houston to see cool stuff? Too bad for you!

Teaching scares both Jason & myself, but we both think it will be a good option for now. Our time off will be the same, we can work on other ventures (i.e. Arctic Concepts) after school and in the summer and we found out that school districts like to hire married couples. Our classes start in late January, so we won't be able to be hired until August by a school district. We both need 30 hours of subbing or observation before passing the final test. I'm starting to get excited about this new path, but at the same time I'm nervous. We both need to find some sort of income to get us through August. Although we have savings that we've been living off of, August is cutting it pretty close. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. You'd think finding a simple job would be easy, but I'm always over qualified. In fact, I was just told that today. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them. Please wish Jason & I luck on our new adventure together. :)

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Job Scam

Has anyone ever heard of Career Network? I had applied for a couple jobs earlier this year that were routed through this company. I had a suspicious email from them afterward that prompted me to do some research. I found out through a consumer advocacy group called the Ripoff Report that I wasn't the only one who'd been scammed. It seems that Career Network was just a marketing scam to get addresses, but no one knows what they planned to do with them. There was absolutely nothing I or anyone else could do except write the legal board in Florida. You can bet your sweet hot cheeks I did. Here's my letter, written last January, that tells the story:

Dear Mr. McCollum,

My name is Stephanie M and I reside in San Antonio, TX. I am writing in reference to a fake job placement agency, Career Network, which lists itself as residing in Orlando, Florida. However, upon a Google search, I can only find an office in Jacksonville with a non-working number.

This so-called job placement agency is putting fake job ads on many websites including, but not limited to HotJobs, Craig's List and Myspace. The user is asked to continue their application on their company website at www.careernetwork.us.com. I admit, I should have realized that this was a scam right away when they asked for my cell phone carrier and whether or not I would like to further my education. But, like many others, I was looking for employment in an economy where unemployment is rising. I applied for an Event Planning position specifically, but I have only realized my mistake after applying to a few others. I am happy to provide you with log in information if you need it so that you can see the specific jobs I applied to.

After applying, I received an email requesting that I visit their website, log in with the provided information, and fill out some additional information. The email had a person's name on the bottom, but no phone number and only a P.O. Box address was given. I have a copy of the latest email should you need it. Again, it asked about furthering my education (which I am not interested in) and asked me to provide up to 5 personal or professional references. I referred 3 of my past friends/coworkers and each of them received an email almost immediately. I also received a phone call a few days later asking about my education. The caller informed me that I requested this information (which I didn't as I just graduated with my MBA in May) and wanted to tell me about opportunities. I replied that I didn't request this information and asked if he could tell me about my job application. He had no idea what I was talking about so I hung up frustrated.

Now, after seeing other reports on www.ripoffreport.com, I realize that this is truly a scam and that I have been duped. But, I am swallowing my pride in hopes that you can address this situation. Please help in shutting down this company. I am concerned that my personal information is being misused and I would like it to be removed from their list. Thank you so much for your support. I truly appreciate it and I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Stephanie M


Although I never heard back from Mr. McCollum, within a few months, the job postings disappeared. So, why am I telling you this now? Because I was about to apply for a job for a company called Buzzgrub. It routed me to the same page as Career Network and asked the same questions. Of course I simply closed the page rather than go through this mess again. I did some more research and found this blog telling more of the story behind these companies. It's pretty bad. Please follow the link to learn more.

Lesson of the day/year? Be EXTRA careful when giving out information. I haven't had any problems that I know of, but you just never know. Be safe!

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I'm on top of technology

Yup, you read that one right. For once, I got something the day it came out. Jealous? You probably shouldn't be. Jason & I got a new HP computer complete with Windows 7 on it. I would like to say it's because we're hip and cool and totally into all the hot new technological stuff.

But alas, I'd be lying.

The fact is, we HAD to buy a new computer. You see, I bought my old Dell laptop in February of 2005, my first semester of graduate school. It was a really good computer when I bought it and I even invested in the 4 year warranty plan because I knew my brand-spanking-new laptop would have to get me through school while I was poor. Nearly a year and a half after graduating, Jason & I were still using the slow beast, cursing it's molasses-like page loads and start-ups. But it worked so that meant we didn't have to spend money.

And then on Tuesday, the old Dell tried to commit suicide. We think the fan stopped working and in essence, the motherboard was frying itself like my eggs over easy. After calling some computer techies and finding out that they were nearly cursing me for calling about a dinosaur of a laptop, I informed Jason that we were going to have to buy a new computer.

I had no idea how much laptops cost these days. I spent about $2,200 on a great laptop almost 5 years ago. We were not looking forward to investing that kind of money again. We just wanted something that could get us through the tough times we're having. So, after researching a few places, we trekked to Best Buy and found this computer for $499. Not too shabby! It wasn't the most expensive computer, but we knew the brand name and it had a gajillion times more memory than my suicidal Dell.

The problem was that we had to wait until Thursday until we could take it home. Microsoft had their "hard release" of Windows 7 that day and there was no way in hell I was taking home Vista. I'm an XP lovah for life, yo. The day and a half that we were without the Internet was horrible. We didn't realize how much we depended on it and how many of our important files were stored where we couldn't access them if the computer were down.

Now we've had the computer for a few days and as Mickey D's says "I'm lovin' it!" This thing is fast and fun! I'm still figuring out the differences between XP and Windows 7, but I'm making progress. I just used the SD card reader on the laptop and it was so much easier than hooking up the camera and reinstalling its software. The only problem so far is that I've found my old printer circa 1998 isn't compatible anymore. I guess that shouldn't come as a surprise. Oh well, we can't be on top of everything these days can we. I guess that only leaves one question to be answered now.

Is it dumb that our laptop has HD but our TV doesn't?

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Happy Blogiversary!

Exactly one year ago today, I put my fingers to the keyboard and started blogging. I can hardly believe I even made it a year! Looking back at my first post, I wanted to start this blog to hold myself accountable for the things I do in my daily life. I think I've fared somewhat well. I've fallen off the map the past month because of my self-induced depression due to my jobless-stay-at-home-wife situation and my now nearly-jobless-stay-at-home-husband situation.

It's been tough. I haven't blogged much about it because I don't like to admit how unhappy I can be at times. But aside from that, there are lots of positives in my life right now. To make myself feel better and just because I feel like it, I'm going to count them:

1. I have a wonderful husband who loves me more than his truck. Ha!
2. I have a great family support network that also loves me so, so much.
3. I have friends that are amazing. Thank God for them or I'd go crazy sometimes.
   
4. I have a vehicle that runs great even if the paint job is looking shoddy. I've put all 119,000 miles on my Sunfire myself!
5. I have a nice home. I may get irritated that it still needs a lot of paint, but it's still a nice home that I love.
   
6. I have a decent amount of savings that is keeping my husband & I afloat right now. Sure, it hurts to see the bank account drained slowly, but we are able to pay our bills.
7. I am still able to make my gym payment and can slowly see the results of my hard work when I look in the mirror.
   
8. Even though we have cut back on our spending significantly, we still eat well and healthy every day.
9. I have a good education.
10. I still have my Uverse and DVR. That is a blessing when I'm home with nothing to do!

As you can see, I use this blog as my own motivator. Has it made me money? No. Has it made me famous? Most certainly not. Do I intend to become either? Not through this blog!

Although I don't have any special give-a-ways, I do have a request for my blogiversary. I would love to challenge each of my readers to write a similar list of the positives in your life. Let me know you've done so through the comment section. If you're feeling extra sweet, link back to me in your blog. If you don't blog, leave a comment with a positive in your life. I'd love to see how many readers I can actually get to do this!

Thanks again for reading me and I hope the next year brings great things!

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Updates

Because I love lists, I'm numbering my updates. No need to thank me. :P

1. First and foremost, I've been feeling under the weather. I keep stalking the "In The Air" portion of the WOAI website to see what the heck is making me sneeze. Unfortunately - or fortunately - it's nothing that I'm officially allergic to. What the heck?

2. In other news, we've gotten the garden planted. With our abundance of 100+ degree weather this summer, our garden suffered a major heat stroke. Even though some of the plants looked okay, they just couldn't produce any fruit. We ended up turning things under and starting anew a few days ago. This year, we put in one cherry and one regular tomato plant, broccoli, cucumbers, 4 different types of squash and carrots. I know that carrots are not typically a South Texas crop, but I thought it would be fun. The four types of squash we planted were acorn, butternut, spaghetti and something I've never heard of. The seeds came in a mixed packet and we are hoping that we planted at least one of each. I guess we won't know until harvest! We also left one of our red bell pepper plants in the ground because it seemed to do well and had several peppers on it. We hadn't gotten a single usable pepper off either plant so we are hoping that it likes the cooler weather better.

3. I tried a new recipe last night for stuffed cabbage rolls that I will not be posting any time soon unless I am begged. Let's just say that although I followed the directions and it came out picture perfect, the flavor combination left a little to be desired. In other words, not too tasteful. It wasn't bad, but it was a lot of work for something that I didn't love.

4. I should have some pictures of our newly remodeled half bath soon! We're waiting on this humidity to go away before we attempt to paint and cut trim. This is exciting news people!

5. Jason took a part-time job in the beverage industry as well. Please wish us luck as he starts this new endeavor.....it's a brand new company with a brand new product. We are VERY excited about it!!!

And that's it, folks. I've got nothing left to say unless you want to hear about my grocery shopping excursions. :)

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LOL!

You must visit this site. It is freaking hilarious! If I had known that such a sight existed, I would've snapped a pic of the shirtless, stinky man my mom and I saw in the Portland, TX Wal-Mart. And let me tell you people, the "No shirt, No shoes, No service" sign is actually state law. Way to go Wal-Mart for ignoring that one!

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Cuteness!

Look what was in my in-law's tree!!!!!

Baby raccoons! Aren't they the cutest things ever?!? I just wanted to pick them up and snuggle with them. These two seemed to like to hang out together while this guy was kickin' it by himself pretty far away in some branches:


I'm not sure how Jason spotted either of these. The first two were well above our heads. Jason said he just saw something move out of the corner of his eye. When we realized how small they were, we started looking for the mama in the tree. We never found her, but Jason spotted the third little guy REALLY high above us. You can tell how hard it was to see him since we only got one eye in the picture. He was a sneaky little thing!

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