Pictures!!!

Yay! Here are some pictures from our family visit!

This is Jasmine, our little sister, tickling Daniel
Me counting fingers with Jasmine
me, sister-in-law Jamie, Step-mother-in-law Teresa!
Sister Jasmine and brother Josh. Jaz just looks so cute here!!
Me and Jamie in our living room
Whole fam: Jamie, Josh, Dad, Teresa, Jazz, Me, Daniel

Me, mother-in-law Kim, and Jamie
Two Happy Brothers :O) They had a great time together
The siblings: Me, Daniel, Jasmine, Josh, Jamie.
Me and my bunny, Hunza
I will have to put up more another time... there are a lot!

Family Visits

Soooo we had a nice long visit with Daniel's family. I didn't take a single picture, but my sister in law took a ton and so once she posts them online I will put some on here. Anyhow it was my father-in-law (winston), step-mother-in-law (teresa), brother in law (josh) and his wife (jamie) and sister in law (jasmine). I loved having them here-- they were here for a week, with their RV parked in our drive way. Josh and Jamie stayed in the house with us. Josh worked in our backyard for like 3 days on end and: built us a moveable goat shelter, dug a big pond with a pump, and finnished our rabbit hutch, as well as mowing and seeding/watering the yard. He was out there all the time. kudos to him- I am so thankful for his hard work. Our yard looks 100% better and our little farm is much more functional. I will post pictures later. We did a lot of fun stuff while they were here, but the best part for me was just the companionship and quality time spent together. I loved cooking for so many people and having everyone sitting around my house talking and laughing. It was lovely. I wish they were still here-- I cried sunday knowing that they were leaving the next morning. I am still really sad they are gone-- it feels so empty and lonely here now. Sigh. I felt like we all got to grow closer and have a good time. I really love teresa, my stepmotherinlaw (smil)-- she is just wonderful, and we have a great time together. Jasmine is getting so big (she is almost 3) and she talks all the time now. She loves her big brothers. Anyway, I just wish they could have all moved in. They brought us a feezer/fridge full of meat from the farm and soooo we are stocked for a good long while with healthy grass-fed organic meat. I am soooooooooooo excited about that.
Saturday (while they were still here) Daniel and Josh went on a walk and Daniel got bit by the neighbor's dog, a weimer. Here is how I discovered what happened: I walk outside looking for my hubby and see him down the street pulling down his pants while Josh and the scantily-clad female neighbor are leaning over looking at his butt. Shocked by the sight of my husband in the middle of the road in his boxers, I run over to discover him severely injured. He had 3 open wounds with chunks of skin missing. Now it is all a huge, awful looking bruise, about 8" or so in diameter. Well when he went to PT (physical training) on monday and said he couldn't run because he got bit by a dog they sent him to the ER where they started treating him for rabies (the dog wasn't up to date on it's shots.) He got 20 shots in the thigh and some more in his arm. He is still in a lot of pain, poor thing, and will have to go back for more shots until the dog has been observed for 10 days. Isn't that AWFUL???!! He is getting better, but the whole thing still sucks.

Ok well I should go do all the things I am supposed to do today.

100 things about me

1. I love Jesus because he was so good. So loving. He always did what was right even if it was detrimental to him.

2. I love my husband because I choose to do so, and because he is awesome.

3. My favorite color is green.

4. I am short and I like it.

5. I really love being outside.

6. I like warm fuzzy snuggly clothes on cold days.

7. I play the piano, cello, flute, harp, and guitar.

8. I am from Ohio.

9. I like coffee.

10. I can be really lazy sometimes.

11. I don't like going to bed and don't like getting up.

12. I like chocolate.

13. I am more extroverted than I ever thought.

14. This is my first thanksgiving away from all my family (except for my hubby).

15. I really like having my own blog, even if no one really reads it.

16. I get easily fed up with people who make stupid decisions.

17. I think I am funny.

18. I think maybe I am a little stuck up. I think I am right a lot.

19. I really do try to look at other peoples views, though.

20. We don't own a TV.

21. I think the TV is pretty much awful. Sure you can find some good stuff on it, but really, just read a book instead.

22. I wish I had a bunch of cool bumper stickers on my car, but I don't.

23. I love love love animals.

24. I love children too. More than animals.

25. We want to have at least 5 kids-- at least. But we will take more.

26. Boy name for a baby: Asher (happy, gladness). Girl: Bella Lucile (beautiful bringer of light)

27. I only have one brother and I love him sooo much.

28. I love my family.

29. My heart breaks for other people's hurts.

30. I cry alot. About anything sad at all.

31. I love to paint my toenails.

32. I am cheap cheap cheap. I hate spending money on stuff (except books). I buy most of our household stuff on craigslist and get my clothes at thriftstores.

33. I have a BA degree in music and spanish.

34. I hate shaving my legs. The first time I ever did it, I only shaved half of one leg and then quit, realizing what a stupid activity it was.

35. But despite this strong feeling of drudgery, I still shave my legs. Can't seem to break free of that american paradigm.

36. I really need to do laundry. STAT.

37. My husband has blue eyes.

38. I have a pet bunny named Hunza. He is so cute.

39. I have never had a cavity.

40. Haven't been to the dentist in, oh, almost 4 years. I should go soon.

41. I prefer to be barefoot.

42. I've never been a big shoe/purse sort of girl. I use the same purse for forever.

43. My husband and I share a toothbrush. I don't care if you think that's gross.

44. I love christmas music.

45. I love listening to NPR and trying to guess the pieces/composers.

46. I refuse to get rid of my "skinny" jeans.... they will fit again!!

47. I love knitting. I am stuck in the middle of a sock right now, though.

48. I break out with rashes on my stomach when I eat too much sugar. I hope that's not too much information...

49. So..... I try to severely limit my sugar intake.

50. I refuse to buy any food with corn syrup in it.

51. We have a miniature farm in our backyard.

52. We want to be full-time organic, sustainable farmers when daniel's enlistment is up.

53. We are going to farm with Daniel's brother and his wife. Yay!

54. I really miss running around outside barefoot. You can't do that in Texas because of the ants, and it's awful!

55. I have scars on my legs now from fire ants. Grrrr....

56. I really miss Ohio but I doubt I will ever live there again.

57. It makes me sad that generations are so disconnected from one another.

58. I have a quilt that my great aunt Lucy made, and it is one of the things I treasure.

59. I wish I knew how to quilt. I think I will learn someday.

60. We have a world map on the wall in our office and I love looking at it.

61. I really REALLY REALLLLLLYYY hope that RON PAUL wins the 2008 presidential election. Look him up! http://www.ronpaul2008.com/

62. I am so proud of my husband. He is a good good man.

63. I really like learning.

64. I have a sensative nose. I can smell a lot of things.

65. If I could be an animal I would probably be a bird.

66. I've always wanted to go to New Zealand.

67. I wish I knew sign language.

68. I make super good homemade pizza!

69. I enjoy dusting.

70. I grind my teeth alllllll the time. I don't know when I picked up this habit, but I'm trying to stop.


71. I love my husband sooo sooooo much. I think I already said this, but really I do. Our marriage is wonderful. We become closer everyday.


72. I love my volvo station wagon. :O) It has 186,000 miles!

73. Sometimes I have strong premonitions, and then they always happen.

74. Lately I don't want to shower at all... I haven't washed my hair in days.

75. I am a hygenic person, though, really.

76. I find this list difficult to finnish.....

77. I love writing with blue pens

78. my husband and I have a huge box of letters we have written eachother.

79. my eyes are green/blue

80. If I am at home, I always put my pj's on.

81. I love checking the mail. But if it's crappy mail, I leave it outside in the mailbox.

82. I have long hair and I always want to cut it really short, but I am too scared to do so.

83. I bite my fingernails, but I cut my thumbnails.

84. I like making mocha sauce at work.

85. I could play piano for hours everyday

86. I like eggs for breakfast

87. I love that my husband's bottom teeth are slightly crooked

88. my pinki toenail is just a little sliver. Daniel thinks it's really weird.

89. Daniel and I met at summer camp when we were teenagers.

90. Most of the time I would rather make music than listen to it.

91. When I am cleaning the house I like to listen to Handel's "Messiah" and Mendelsohhn's 4th symphony.

92. We have family coming to visit on sunday and i have a lot to do before then! Ah!

93. Our garage is a mess.

94. I like having our own house but it's so much harder to keep clean than just an apartment.

95. I have a chapstick and a coffee mug fettish. I always have at least 4 chapsticks in my purse.

96. I used to have really vivid dreams, but I don't anymore.

97. I wish I still did.

98. We sleep on the floor. We don't have a bed. We like this arrangement.

99. I am thankful for good friends.

100. I am done with this list!!!!

YAY DANIEL!!!

Daniel went to his promotion board today and passed with a recommendation!! YAY!!! This is a big burden off his shoulders- he has been studying for weeks and weeks. I will get to pin him with his new rank at the promotion ceremony. I am so proud of him!

Baby Bunnies

One of our rabbits, Flaxie, was pregnant and started "nesting" last night. Well, this morning when I got home from work I checked on her, and there in her little nest was a baby rabbit! But, very sadly, it was dead. I know it's just a rabbit, but I am really down about it. I don't know if it was stillborn or if Flaxie just neglected it or what, but here we are with no baby bunnies. Our other rabbit, Linsie is pregnant too, and due next week. So hopefully that will turn out better. Sigh.

I am working on a "100 things about me" list, so check back soon! It's almost done.

Our baby chickens are doing well. I should post some pictures. But not now-- too much to do today. Daniel goes to the promotion board tomorrow! YAY! That means more money for us. But, it also means more responsibility for him, soo, eh. He will be relieved to have this all over with, though.

Oh, daniel's mom came home and seems to have calmed down. Said she's sorry for the mean things she said, and said she still wants to live here. Things are ok for now....

ok I really need to go!

A sad day

Oh I am just soo sad right now because I just read an e-mail from camp sychar's president, Gary Campbell, saying that Dr. Buswell has died. If you are a sychar person, then you understand how sad this is. I mean it's great because he really loved the Lord and he got to go home, but it's really sad for his family and it is a loss for camp. I remember listening to him talk this year and thinking about him passing away and how camp would be changed because of that. And now it has happened. And poor Dr. Campbell already lost his wife durring (or shortly after?) camp this year. I just don't want good people to die. There are some people, that when they die, I feel like the world will just no longer hold any good. I know this isn't true, but it's so sad for good people to go when we live in such a crappy world that needs them. My heart is just grieving.

Well I am so sad about that, but there is also a lot of stuff going on in our lives right now, so I got on the computer to write about all that but somehow now it feels akward to write about my life after learning this sad news. But I still want to write about all of it sooo...

Today is the day before thanksgiving. Well, a few days ago daniel's mom really freaked out on us (she lives with us) and so we are having a rough patch. I don't want to go into a lot of details, but it will suffice to say that we were (are) trying to help her get her life straightened out, but it's been difficult. Anyway I guess I am most worried because she never came home last night. I haven't seen her for 3 days but I could at least tell she had been in the house (dishes in the sink, stuff moved around, I would hear her come home after we had gone to bed, etc.) I looked in her room/bathroom for a note and it looks like she packed up her essentials. No note, and we haven't heard a word. Daniel isn't too worried and pretty much fed up with everything, but I am a little worried. I wish she would at least call to tell us if she is staying with a friend or what. You can pray for her. and us.

Meanwhile, Daniel is going to the promotion board on tuesday, so he is studying ALOT. And working incredibly long days-- 12-16 hours, and then he comes home and studies. It's awful. But after tuesday things will get better.

We also got MORE chickens. So we have our 3 egg layers, and now we have 29 new chickens. I know, 29 sounds like a lot. But it's really not. I should put up a picture. They are only 2 weeks old so they are still little yellow fluff balls. They have been in a box in the kitchen, but we just put them outside yesterday. They have a 5'x7'x2' moveable, bottomless shelter with chickenwire walls and a roof over half of it incase it rains. When they are 8 weeks old they will be full grown, and we will "process" (ie kill) them and put them in the freezer. Wahlah-- our own, homegrown, pastured, totally-organic, better-than-free-range chickens. Thankyou Joel Salatin!! We have done this once before in our backyard, and it was absolutely the best chicken I've ever eaten in my life. Really, if you have a backyard you can do this and it is a great way to get healthy and affordable meat. We certainly can't afford to buy "organic" chickens at whole foods, and we don't want to because they are filthy with oil--- shipped all the way from california. ANYWHOO I could go on and on.... read "You Can Farm" by Joel Salatin. He is one of our heroes!!

SPEAKING of heros, we found someone to vote for!! We were really dissapointed with all the presidential candidates until we found Ron Paul. Google him, or look him up on youtube. Anyway I will write about it more but I need to go cause daniel needs the computer. There you go, a new blog.

cluckity cluck cluck cluck!

We got chickens today!! Here they are. Oh they are just so cute.

We found them on craigslist, which I just love by the way. We drove to the north side of town to pick them up from this adorable little asian woman who has all sorts of different birds she keeps. These ones are some sort of particular bantam (ie small) breed. That is why they don't have feathers on their necks. Pretty ugly, but they lay eggs!! We have them in an enclosed area right now, but in a few days when they learn that this is their new home we are going to let them go all about the yard. I am sooooo excited about the eggs. They should each be laying an egg every day or two.

And here are our pygmy goats! The grey one is Pepper and the tan one is Coconut. Pepper is full grown! They are both girls, so we are going to breed them when they are ready, and then we are going to milk them and we will have our own milk!! Until then, we are joining a raw milk co-op and I am oh- so excited. We will get our first gallon of organic raw milk on wednesday.

This is a crazy spider living in our back yard. I normally hate spiders but I think this one is so pretty that it doesn't scare me. Actually I've seen quite a few of these out in the yard, either bright orange or yellow.

This is one of our tomatoes! It just looks so pretty. It still has a bit of growing to do. This is our first successful garden ever!! If you really want to garden and do it well without a ton of weeding then you should read this book called "square foot gardening" by Mel Bartholemew (sp??). It's a really really really good book.

Ok well time for bed!

New church for us

Well we have started going to a new church. It's kind of sad in many ways for me, but very good for my hubby and exciting for us both. I guess I will explain. When we moved down to TX, we started going to a nice, very very very small (ie like 30ish ppl) non-denominational, wear-your-jeans-to-sunday-service type of church. the "contemporary" type, I guess. One of the best things about this church was the very enveloping people-- as soon as we started going we were invited over to ppl's houses for dinner, we recieved help moving into our house, etc. Very welcoming and loving. Well I attached pretty quickly and started playing cello every week in the worship team, and pretty soon I felt a little overly-committed since we hadn't visited even one other church. Daniel was overall discontent with this church even though he liked the people. I should mention one other thing: through our 3 miscarriages this summer, a few of the women in the church were very supportive and loving towards us, helping me get through that time. They prayed for us a lot, which was wonderful and encouraging. Anyhow, in the meanwhile daniel stopped coming while I was still going. he finally said he wanted to find a new church, so there we were in this situation where I had all these emotional ties and friendships, whereas he didn't feel so strongly. So I went for a few more weeks working up the guts to tell my friends I wasn't coming anymore. I finally did this sunday. It was sad and depressing, and I hated to do it because this church has lost a lot of ppl. But it was best for our family in general and daniel is really excited to try new churches. We will keep in contact with some of our friends from there, too.

Anyhow, so we went and visited a church this sunday. It is literally a half mile from our house. A few weeks ago some women came through our neighborhood to invite ppl to come. And then when we looked up "spirit filled church" online for our city, this was the first one that popped up. When we went we were made very very welcomed-- a million ppl came and talked to us. OH and one of my favorite customers at starbucks (she has nine kids!!) just so happens to go to that church! We were just smothered with hellos and welcomes and "we're so glad your visiting"s. And the preching was really good. Very bible based and honest. The music was ok--- a little too loud, but I think that about nearly every church. I only knew one song, and I liked that. We also went to a bible study on wednesday and the ppl were just great. Really. They were all older than us, in their 30's and 40's, but honestly we really fit into that age group better than in our own, and I like being around people older than me because I can learn alot from them. So we are feeling refreshed and excited about this church. We will see where it goes. It would be prudent of us, I think, to visit some others, too, but we really did just feel at home at this one. They even brought homemade cookies to our front door on monday night! I guess the most important thing to do would be to pray about it. Anyway, it's exciting. I am excited to find a church that is changing people's lives. I want to be involved in a community of believers that really love and serve people, you know?

Anyhow it's refreshing to be in this transition. And I am so happy because it is the weekend!!

knitting a sock!

I am knitting my first pair of socks! Here is a picture!!

So far it is going ok.... the ribbed part is the ankle, and now I am working on the heel (ie the hard part!) We will see how it goes.... I've never done socks before and I am learning from a book. Hopefully i can make the second one look like the first. :O)

This is a picture of our rattle snake's rattler.... ewwww.... the penny and mint are for proportion, and they make a smiley face! Anyhow, our neighbor's dog got bit by another rattle snake last night.... So now I really don't like going out in the yard. I think this is a funny picture.

Here is Daniel right after he killed it.... and there it is, on the ground. (Please excuse the mess.... our yard is a work in progress.....)

Anyway I am excited that I know how to post pictures now! This is us at buffalo wild wings for a cowboys/bills football game last week with Kyle and Sarah- Notice the bills jerseys, and remember that we live in Texas.... everyone loved to hate us that night...

Ok that's enough pictures for now. Well, I have my first cello student this week! I am so excited! He is supposed to come on wednesday... we will see how it goes. Nothing else very exciting is going on. Oh, wait, I am taking a belly dancing class! That's exciting. My neighbor teaches it, every tuesday night. It is a lot of fun, just a few people in the class. I like it. I think sarah (above) may come with me tomorrow.

Well..... I mentioned our goats before, and so I think I should write a little about them and why we have them. We are trying to the best of our ability to achieve some food independence, and so, we got 2 miniature goats (pygmy goats -at full size they are knee-high) so we could have a fresh supply of milk (and learn to make butter, ice cream, cream, goat's milk soap, etc...). Well, before they milk they have to be bred and ahve a baby of course, and so we are waiting until they are ready to breed..... until then, no milk, just goats in the backyard. We also have 3 rabbits for breeding and eating. We have one pregnant rabbit, and so after she has her babies and they grow up, we will have fresh clean meat- we will know where it came from. I am so excited! Not to kill rabbits, of course, (I don't even want to be home when daniel does that) but to have acess to good meat. I can barely bring myself to buy meat at the grocery store, much less eat it. When I eat beef from the grocery I am really sick for at least a day or 2. It's awful. And of course, having access to our own food means we are lessening our dependence on foreign oil and the agricultural/food industry (which, may I say, is horribly corrupted) and that is something I am happy about. At first it was very hard for me to accept that yes, our backyard looks like a farm, and yes, we are different than all our neighbors. But I feel good about it now, because it is something positive we are doing for our lives-- taking charge of our own food source. We also have a garden (2 tomatoes so far) but it's not the greatest... it's only our 2nd one, and the first was a flop. It's mostly tomato plants, one corn plant, some raddishes. There is one other plant but we don't remember what it is... a carrot, maybe? Anyway, to complete our plan we want to get 2 egg-laying chickens, for fresh eggs. That's a substantial amount of food coming from our back yard. I can't wait to get the chickens. (We also want to get chickens to raise for eating (you get a different breed for that) and we have done that in our yard before, so really that isn't so daunting. BUT we haven't done that yet.... there is enough going on right now, and if there are more rattle snakes I suppose our chickens would be picked off pretty quickly.) ANYHOW, I could practically type a book about all the details of what we are doing, but I will refrain. If you have any questions I would love to answer them!

Rattlesnake!

Daniel just killed a 3 foot (at least!) rattle snake in our back yard!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHH!!! It was right by our back door..... I can't believe it! It's so big and gross. I took pictures... I will have to put them up later. I'm still in shock. Wow!

A Thursday

Well here I sit on this lovely thursday. This morning was so nice-- it was a crisp 66 degrees out when I went to work. AAhhhhhh..... Anytime it's below 69 or so I put the seat-heat on in my car and so that was nice. I love seat heat. Of course now it is quite hot out again, but at least the nights are cooling off some now.

ANYWAY I guess we are having a nice week. Daniel has to go to some mandatory military drinking game party tonight. What the heck is that? Who knows. Anyway, I am enjoying my much cleaner house and baked pizza from scratch last night and bread from scratch today. I'm on a roll. I even had time for a short snooze on the couch this afternoon, and I just love those.

Well there are ppl at our door-- better go!

Robbery!!??!!

Our neighbors got robbed today! What the heck, in the middle of the day!! Daniel and I were home, napping after work. I just can't believe it. Someone just walked right into their open garage door and tried to walk right in the house. Bill (the neighbor) heard the door jiggling and went and opened it and there were 2 mexican guys right there! They stole their stereo out of the garage. Bill had a fake gun which he was pointing in their direction. i just can't believe this happened. THe other night a few cars got broken into as well. But I must say that really these robbers are picking the wrong neighborhood to mess with because nearly the entire neighborhood is military and they nearly all have guns, and are good shots too. (You should have heard the conversation taking place out in the court with all of the angry neighbors.) It's really sad. We've seen suspicious vehicles driving around, and now i am very uncomfortable. I mean I don't care if they steal our stuff, and we really don't have a lot of nice stuff to steal. It's just scary to think of someone literally walking into my house. In Texas there is a law that if someone is breaking into your home or on your property after dark you are allowed to shoot them, or so i hear.... we plan to look that law up and see what it actually says. Anyhow I certainly feel safe with my husband home, but what if I was home alone? What would I do? It's jsut weird because we live in a nice neigborhood. It is next to a bad neighborhood, but they are separated by a woods and a stream, so I never think too much of it. Oh well.

We canceled our weekend getaway. We are still going ot go up to fredericksburg tomorrow for the day, but no staying for the weekend at a bed adn breakfast.... it would just be too much considering that we ahve to hire a lawyer. I had expected to hear back from a lawyer i contacted today, but didn't, by the way.

Ahhh well other than the robbery i;ve had a really nice day. took a nice long guilt free nap after work which i love. daniel got home early, too, so that was nice. And I think we are going ot go rent a movie which was recomended to me by my favorite customer at work.... it's called "the ultimate gift".... I hope it's good. Sounds like a cheezy christian movie title to me, but I could be wrong.

Well I had better go now. :O)

Sued

Ok well, we are being sued. I mentioned it the other day and so now i will share the story...

Daniel was in a car accident almost 4 years ago (4 in January) and unfortunately at the time did not have insurance. (He was 18 at the time and had been on his mom's policy. She dropped him off of it without telling him, and so at the time of the accident when he thought he had insurance he didn't. pretty much sucks.) Anyhow, so now out of the BLUE we get a freaking court summons saying we are being sued! And we have to hire a lawyer which looks like it will be at least $2000. Geeze. Honestly I have so many emotional reactions I don't even know where to start. First of all I am incredibly depressed about it because we have worked so hard for our savings (we scrape up as much as we possibly can every year to put in our IRA) and it could possibly just be taken away from us. Then I am angry because how unjust is this? My hardworking husband who is serving his country and is the most honest, upright, just man you could ever find, being sued!!?? Thirdly I am overwhelmed because I really have no idea what I am doing. I spoke with a few laywers in kentucky (where the accident was) today and that was disheartening. Sigh. There is one glimmer of hope, though. There is a servicemembers civil relief act (AKA soldiers and sailors relief act) which could possibly dismiss the case (???). I will speak with one of the lawyers tomorrow to see what he finds out about that. Plus the accident was nearly 4 years ago and let me tell you, it was a minor little fender bender. MINOR!!!! the other guy's car was completely fine. And please excuse me if you take this comment as racist, but I don't think it is: the other guy was middle eastern and my mother (who has worked for lawyers for years) told me that a lot of foreign ppl in the US view car accidents and law suits as the way to get rich in america. I don't know if that is valid or not. But interesting, none the less. And of course I have all sorts of conspiracy theories running through my head, but I will spare you. Anyhow you could pray for us because ultimately this is an attack from satan who the bible says comes to steal kill and destroy. A thief. But Jesus came that we could have abundant life. So I am trying to be hopeful.

Well the house cleaning is going well and I am happy about it. Unfortunately we aren't going to spinning class tonight bc daniel has to work late. Poor husband. He is in a 6 month something-or-another for work and can't take any leave and is putting in at least 60 hours a week, although by the time fridays roll around it usually is closer to 75ish. He works so hard.

I am getting really excited for out little getaway weekend in Fredericksburg. It will be so nice! I will take the camera and post some pictures!

Still really hot out. Today it was 94. But next week the high is only 88. Yay fall.

Ok well I guess I'm done for now. Oh no wait--- I have a girl name for a baby. Whenever we have one that is (read: I am not pregnant.) Here it is: Bella Lucile Pike. "beautiful bringer of light" is what it means. And we will call her Lucy!!

Ok well i should get going now. :O)

Today

Mmmm I just got up from a nap and I feel oh-so-much better than yesterday. Opening at work has been getting to me lately-- I usually open 4 days a week and I get very tired by the time I'm off, I think just because we get up so early (3:45a.) Anywhoo, I am glad to say I did my 2 hours of cleaning yesterday and it was ever-so productive. It was great. I am about to go start my time today.

Well this homeless guy came into work today to get some coffee and how can I possibly charge him when he is just handing me some sparse change, and so I gave him a cup free. Well later i go to take my lunch and he is outside there still, and so I offered him half my sandwich because surely he must have been hungry. Well he takes it, and then he meanders around a little, and then comes and sits down at my table and starts to talk. And he was pretty much crazy, but it was sooo sad and what are you supposed to do for someone like that? He kept talking about pot and cigarettes and how he needed a wife and all sorts of crazy "metaphysical" stuff (if you can call it that.... because, he was crazy). I'm telling you it was weird and so sad, and what was I supposed to do? I listened to him and tried to tell him that God is good and wants him to have a good life free from all the bondage he was in. He also kept talking about God and church. It was sad. His name was Carl. I am slightly concerned that we will continue having homeless people come into work because a different one came yesterday to get a "sample" of coffee. I have qualms with giving them free coffee because we have hard-working customers who come in every day and pay for the exact same thing. It sure seems unfair. But of course I have no idea why these ppl are in the position they are in. And of course the bible says to give to those who ask. It doesn't say determine if they deserve it or not. But I guess if it becomes some sort of problem our manager will tell us to stop giving them coffee.

Lately durring my after-work naps someone keeps coming and knocking on our front door. And of course I don't answer it because I am napping! Who is this mysterious individual? It wasn't ups because there was no package. No note. probably just a sales person. But still i am curious. But I'm just not going to get up to go get the door. Maybe they will come by again tomorrow. I always get this knot in my stomach every time someone comes to the door because we have miniature goats in our backyard and we aren't supposed to (we live in a normal neighborhood with a home owners association). I always think its someone coming to complain. Anyway our goats are so cute-- at fullsize they are only knee high!! They are called pygmy goats. We got them so we could have fresh raw milk. But we need to breed them first so that they start lactating, of course. And we did check with our immediate neighbors before getting them and they were fine with it. So really we should be fine. Their names are pepper and coconut. They are cute and they like us. And we like them.

Ho hummy my poor tummy

Ok so I drank too much coffee today and now my head hurts and I feel all weird and so I am trying to feel better but I think the caffeine just has to wear off. I get so mad at myself because i know how much caffeine I can take before i feel all crappy but no, what do I do but get a double tall latte on my way home from work after my 3 shots earier. OW! Grrr. At least they are free and I am not spending money on feeling crappy. Anyway.....

So I am turning over a new leaf of keeping my house clean. (while cleaning I like to say to Daniel, "honey, do you hear that noise? (pretending to listen intently) thats the sound of leaves turning over!") I am going to clean 2 hours every day (except for wednesday which is the day i picked to take off) instead of (trying) to clean pretty much everything on the weekends. I started yesterday. I have yet to do my 2 hours today but let me tell you I am determined! Daniel and I are both kind of messy by nature and yesterday i spent nearly my whole 2 hours just cleaning up our closet. come on. I wish I was a neat freak but I'm not. Anyway trying to make good habits. I also bought cod liver oil to take every day and so that is another good habit I want to form. It's supposed to be super good for you (especially if taken in conjunction with high-vitamin butter oil from grass fed cows, but whole foods did not have this substance) and so here i am trying to be healthier. I am also trying to start cooking a good solid 3 meals a day for my always-hungry husband. I am also going to start excercizing. I was going to start today but considering how crappy I feel from the caffeine overdose I think I may pass on going to the gym and just count going up and down our steps as excercize for today. We are going with some friends to their gym for a cycling class on wednesday and soooo we will see how that goes. It should kick my butt because i am really really out of shape. Hm.

Well I can't really think of anything else except for that i really miss the season of autumn as it is still above 90 degrees in this awful place. GRRR. I want to wear cuddly sweaters and drink hot spiced cider and smell pumpkin candles. It just doesn't feel right when it's still 92 degrees. Blah. Oh well. Oh and we got a lawn mower off of craigslist but low and behold we get it home and it only mows half the yard before it breaks. It was just $35 but still. Oh and we are being sued. I don't feel like writing about that right now though. Maybe next time.

Ok well michelle since really i think you are the only person who reads this, I miss you. :O)

OK

Ok, so I am finally going to start using this--- yay! I think it will be fun. Well today I am going to go to the grocery and then come home and clean a little and then go to work. So exciting. We've had sort of a rough week and I'm glad it's the weekend. Geez this is harder than I thought it would be- whenever i'm not trying to write a blog I can think of all sorts of fun things to write about. But now I can't. This morning was nice because i was home to cook daniel breakfast (whereas normally I am already at work) and we got to sit and chat a bit, ant the end of which i got a little grumpy because I am not feeling so well (poor Daniel) but it's ok. This weekend we are going to hang out with our friends kyle and sarah who are just great. We went bowling last weekend with them and kyle got 7 (!!) strikes!! WOW!! He was pleased with himself. I think my score was 52? 47? Somewhere around there. I took my knitting to work on between turns, so that redeemed the poor bowling skills, plus the fact that we always have so much fun with kyle and sarah. They are from wisconsin. I swear everyone i meet from the northern midwest states are super nice people. Anyway I am looking forward to doing more stuff with them.
Next weekend there is a green energy/sustainable living festival in Fredericksburg that we want to go to!! how exciting! I think we are going to take a little mini vacation and stay at a bed and breakfast or something; it will be so nice. Fredericksburg is an adorable town anyway with all sorts of quaint and local shops, full of german culture (in the middle of texas?) and a whooollle lot of peaches and peach related things. I will have to take some pictures. It will be fun. And who knows what sort of things we will learn-- how exciting.
So I am currently reading "the omnivore's dilema" which is just EXCELLENT. I highly recommend it. It's full of all this great information and very well written, and I am just so excited about it. I can hardly wait to finnish it-- i can't decide if I want to read it again or just start lending it to everyone I know. Of course Daniel still needs to read it. Once he's read it we will have all sorts of interesting conversations because he is always telling me about the books he is reading. Anyhow, it's all about the (incredibly messed up) american food system, and it puts into words everything i always want to tell people about food but can't seem to condense into one short-but-sweet conversation. There is just too much information. So go read it! We rarely buy books (normally just have the library order them, or read them while in the bookstore) but we bought this one. A whole whopping $20 and it was well worth it.
Ok thats enough for now.

I don't know what I am doing

Ok so I don't really know how to use this yet.... lets see....