12 Years Baby!!

12 years today we decided to begin this wild ride called marriage

it's been hard, fun, happy, sad and so much more

but i wouldn't have it any other way

always you, only you

Carry each others burdens,

and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ
Galatians 6:2

A new family member?

Last night Jason called me freaking out. He thought he had hit a dog. When he got out to check it out, he found this adorable little dachshund. She was shivering, and smelly, and since she didn't have a collar, or tags...Jason brought her home. We took to one of the local vets today and she doesn't have a chip, so on Monday we are going to call the animal control guy at the police dept. If that does not produce her family, then I guess we are keeping her. The vet guessed her to be about 3 months old. She has only had one accident in her crate, and I think that is b/c we didn't listen to her. All other deposits have been outside. Yippee! I can handle a mostly potty trained dog. Anyone who has known us longer than 8 years may remember scooter. He was our "first" baby. We got him shortly after we got married, and had him until March '02 when he jumped off our bed, broke his back, and had to be put down :O(

Doxie resembles Scooter so much!! It almost makes me want to keep her.

First we have see if she already has a family.

P.S. Harrison may be coming reall soon too~

Feel Like Gambling??

Then check out Harrison's Blog :O)

http://landon-olivia.blogspot.com/

I had a great 30th!

One of my very best friends got married! Teresa and I have been friends since 5th grade!!

The Beautiful Bride

Steve-the groom

Notice their accent color!!!
Mr. and Mrs. Sims
Me and Teresa
Pics on the Harley
I also received an e-mail from my long lost friend who lives in Clay Center. April and I have known each other since 3rd and 4th grade!! I sent an e-mail to the only e-mail I had for her. Turns out it was an old one, but she finally checked yesterday! How cool is that?? I received lots of texts, calls, messages, and comments for my day. THANK YOU!!

I'm going to make you fat!!!

I have to share 2 new recipes that I have tried the past couple of weeks. Neither are healthy(at all), but both are ohh so delish!!


Amy's Potato Soup-This recipe tastes EXACTLY like Outback's Potato Soup. It is very thick it's not a brothy potato soup. Oh, and it makes a ton!!

5 lbs potatoes, cut into cubes
3 sticks marg.
1 yellow onion diced
1 1/2 C. flour
11 C. water
1/4 C. chicken broth/ 1 bullion cube
1 Tb. sweet basil
Salt-to taste( I used about a 1/2 TB)
Pepper-to taste( I used about 1 TB)
16 oz heavy whipping cream

**Boil potatoes to soften-set aside
**Boil water, chicken stock, basil, salt, and pepper
** While water is boiling. Melt marg. in skillet. Add onions. Saute until translucent.
** Add flour to marg. mix. Mix well with whisk.
**Add flour/marg to boiling water. Stir with whisk until dissolved.
**Add potatoes and boil for 5 minutes.
** Remove soup from heat and stir in heavy whipping cream
** Place a lid on the pot and allow soup to sit on the stove top until ready to serve( 2-3 hour minimum)
**Serve with bacon crumbles and shredded cheese

So YUMMY! Now once you have had that for dinner. You can make this super simple dessert:

Cheesecake Sopapilla

2(8oz) cream cheese
2(8oz) crescent rolls
1 C sugar
1 t. vanilla or almond extract
1 stick marg, melted
1/2 C cinnamon sugar mix( 1/2 c. sugar with 1 TB cinnamon)

**Flatten 1 pkg. rolls into the bottom of a 9x13 pan
**Mix Cream chz, sugar, and extract. Spread over rolls.
**Place the 2nd roll of crescents over the cr chz mixture
**Pour melted marg. over the top ans sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mix
** Bake at 350 for 30 minutes

Super good as a sweet breakfast treat too. I prefer it warm, but you can refrigerate and serve later if desired.

Let the baking begin!!

Not Much Going On

No big news. Kids got out of school early today, so we are chillin. My Dad came down this morning for a few hours. It was nice to spend some time with him. Tomorrow Jonathan has a football game. Then Jason is supposed to help me put together my scrap area. SWEET! Jason is looking into nursing school again. He's on his way home from a meeting at one of the schools.

That's all folks!!

I hate my Nana!

That is what my little girl said today. Now you may be inclined to think 'what a horrible thing to say'! First let me give you some background. When the kids were there(PA) this summer she made some sort of commitment to both of them to send them a DS game when they got home. The kids arrived home the 28th of July, and Jonathan's Guitar Hero game arrived shortly after. I know it was here before school started and that was the 12th of August.

It is now the 6th of October and no game from Nana for Savannah. Savannah asked her about when she was here for her surprise visit and Karen said it should have already been here( apparently it was ordered off ebay) and she would check on it and let us know. Last week Jason sent her a text inquiring about the game AND told her how upset Savannah was. What does she do? She calls back and leaves a message telling him she will let him know what's going on with if he calls her back!!! What! She is using it as leverage to make him call her???AGH! He of course just threw the phone and used some not nice words and said he wasn't going to play her games.

So today I pick the kids up from school, and Savannah asks of I checked the mail box(the PO box) and did her game come?? I have to say for at least the 50th time, 'no honey, it didn't'. That's when she busts out "I hate my Nana". What could I say? I don't blame her. Jason tried to talk to Karen about her favoritism towards Jonathan when she was here, but she refused to acknowledge that there was even favoritism. She made sure Jonathan had his game ASAP, and not only has Savannah been waiting for 2 months to get hers, she wants to play mind games with Jason about it. Sad.

Hospital Update

On Harrison's blog :O)

I'm Home! With no baby!

It was a scary few days, but it turned out well. They were able to get my BP down, for now. I have a feeling it will go back up though. It was a roller coaster for 48 hours as to what was going to happen. They are going to monitor me closely for the next 6 weeks, and I'm to do as little as possible and keep the BP down.

More Later

Guess who's having a baby???

Me!!

I'm sitting in the hospital hooked up to all sorts of crap as we speak. Long story short my BP shot up to 185/95! They are giving me magnesium to keep me from seizing, and steroids for Harrison's lungs. They plan to induce on Tuesday after 2 rounds of each drug.

Baby is doing well and I feel fine. I'll have my laptop, so I'll try to get you posted. If you want to call my number is 316-962-3695.

Love you all!

Have you ever thought about what you'd want written on your tombstone??

This was our dinner conversation tonight. We talked about death, and when my sister died. Jonathan sort of remembered talking about her in the past, for Savannah it was all new, and she took it pretty hard. I think what upset her the most was the fact that Krystal never had anything. Savannah was shocked that she was 0 years old, she never had a bike, or a birthday, or got to play on a playground.

She asked if the next time we went back to Abilene we could visit her grave( thus starting the tombstone conversation). Savannah asked me what I would have put on my tombstone, and I said it isn't up to me it's up to Daddy. So I asked Jason want he would put.....My sweet husband couldn't even spit out what he would put on there. He was able to say "devoted mot.." then couldn't go on. It was humbling. After a few more tries and no more luck getting anything out he decided he didn't want to talk about it anymore!

It's something to think about though. Are you going to leave it up to your spouse or children to chose or do you want to do it yourself? I know we all think we are so young, and it's something we don't have to think about, but tomorrow isn't guaranteed.

Try this one

http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/pg.asp?cmd=display&layout_id=1393302

Staci and I were talking today

and she said that she feels like she never has anything to say. I said just start typing and it will come. We all think were boring, but I don't read my friends blogs to get just the exciting news, I like the mundane as well. So here is my nothing exciting, go with the flow blog post.

The the shock of Jason's mother's betrayal is beginning to subside. I suppose it will take weeks, months, or even years for her to see and feel the full effect of her choices. Savannah brought home her school pictures today. They have super quick turn around time here, they were back in less than 2 weeks! She looks so grown in them, it's crazy. Jonathan is still all about football. His team his 1-2, but he's excited b/c his team last year never won a game! I am well. Just getting the tired bug easier than I used to. Today I did the dishes, did all the laundry, then had to sleep for an hour and a half. I don't think I could have functioned if I hadn't

I'm getting ready to start designing Harrison's birth annoucement. I'm doing to digital so I can have it all ready, and just insert photos and print. I haven't come up with anything I love yet, so I will keep working. I have my maternity photos scheduled for the end of October. I can't wait! She does wonderful work. Here is her website:

http://www.makingsmilesphotography.com/

I'm totally doing the black and white with the color Froggie! She also said she'd try this look for me:

http://www. twopeasinabucket. com/pg. asp?cmd=display&layout_id=1393302

The one with the baby in the woman's abdomen. Too cool!! I also love the wedding rings on the baby's toes!

Can't Sleep, Must Vent....

Jason's mom stopped in for a surprise visit. Quite literally. He walked out of work today and there she was standing next to his car. As anyone who has been my friend for more than a day knows, Jason has never had a great relationship with his mom and it's only gotten worse over the past year and a half. Jason rarely returns her calls, and doesn't have much to say to her.

She flew all the way here "b/c it was killing her they weren't talking and she wanted to set things straight". When in all actuality she made things way worse! She basically chose a relationship with someone Jason despises over a relationship with Jason. He said she literally looked dumbfounded when he told her that pursuit of that relationship would have consequences.

In past few months she has refused to acknowledge Harrison. Today Jason asked her why she isn't excited about him. Do you know what she said?? She gave some lame ass excuse about reading on the blog and not hearing it from him. Did she find out from the blog? YES. Did Jason try to talk to her about him? YES. He talked to her the day we found out he was a boy , did she have anything to say? Nope. Since then he has mentioned "getting ready for baby" to which she promptly changes the subject.

But the real kicker is this:
She wanted to take him back to PA and put him in a treatment facility, b/c she thinks he is so depressed and off his rocker. She said nobody in their right mind would cut off family the way he has. Well, if your family is disloyal, secretive, conniving, untrustworthy and refuses to acknowledge your wife and the child growing in her...well I say you'd be crazy to stick around.

She had the opportunity to stay and watch one of Jonathan's football games, but she chose to go back to OKC early so she could meet up with her new best friend! Priorities, priorities!!

It bothers me more than it bothers Jason. He says he's used to it and almost expects it from her. He's never felt he was #1 in her life and the trend is just continuing. I love Jason and my children so much that of course I want to protect them and keep them safe. The children will be affected. They will no longer go to PA in the summers, she will have to come visit them here. And if she continues to ignore Harrison it could get worse. She will not be allowed to send gifts to only 2 of my 3 children. As much as Jason says he's used to it, it still has to hurt to know that your mother is picking a relationship with someone else instead of a relationship with you and your children. She is the one who is missing out, but it still makes me sad for Jason, Jonathan, Savannah, and Harrison.

I feel a little better now, maybe I can get some sleep :O)

And we're back!

Despite the children's protests of the laptop getting dropped...the only thing wrong with it was the hard drive was shook lose and wasn't connected properly. Which means I didn't lose anything from my hard drive!! Whoo-hoo!

Not much going on right now. Lots of football practice and games. We finally got info on girl scouts for Savannah. I'm trying to rest as much as possible, but it doesn't ever seem to work :O)

I have a few things to vent about, but since I posted a HUGE blog over on the baby's blog I'll wait a day or two. It's nothing big, just the in laws....

DEAD

That's what our laptop is. For now anyway. I have to send off to get a reboot disk to try and get it fixed. Tech support sucked. I'm so upset that 4 days after finally getting the net it died. I think Jonathan and Savannah killed it, but no one is admitting anything. It worked fine before they got on it though.....

Long time no blog!!

We FINALLY got our cable and net hooked up yesterday. This means you should be hearing from me on a much more regular basis again!! I will be posting house pics tomorrow. I have 1 last thing to take care of in the master/nursery! I even have my own little(messy) SB area!!

Jonathan's football games start this weekend. 8 weeks of pure gridiron! I got Savannah signed up for girl scouts. Now we are waiting for them to match her up with a troop. Hopefully we'll hear something soon. Jason's federal aid audit at work is over. This has greatly increased his mood!! I am getting settled back into this SAHM mom thing. I forgot how much I love it! It's even better living here. I go shopping and to lunch or breakfast with my grammie at least once a week. The house is always clean :O) I love that!! I have read more in the past 2 months than I have in the past 2 years! My friend Amy got me hooked on an author named Jodi Piccolt. I have already read Nineteen Minutes, and I'm over halfway through My Sister's Keeper. I have 3 others I checked out from the library just waiting to be read.

Be sure to check out the baby's blog. I will be updating after dinner!!

I'm still alive

I'm just exhausted! The whole house is unpacked and put together. Tomorrow I begin the baby's stuff! Woo-hoo! My camera batteries died, so I will post pics soon. I promise! Other than that life is the same. Jason is working, Jonathan has practice 3 nights a week, and Savannah is signing up for girl scouts on Thursday. I enter my 3rd trimester on Tuesday. While I FEEL like a whale, I do not look like one. I still have my waist and even though I'm not puking, my weight has dropped another 4 lbs. I'm down a total 19 lbs so far. We are re-thinking the boy's name. We love Forrest, but no one else seems to like it at all. I'm trying to convince Jason to go back to my original fave. Anyone remember what it is??

We're working on it

Today we got the kids room done. And made a good start on the living room and kitchen. Don't know if we'll be able to stay there tomorrow...we haven't even started our room....

All moved in!

All of our stuff is at the new house. We were able to get it from storage in 2 trips. We put everything in the rooms where they belong(for the most part), and came back to Grammies for the night. Tomorrow we will head back over there for a day of unpacking. We are hoping to stay there starting Sunday evening :O)

Our House, is a very, very, very fine house :O)

I love our little house. It's small but cozy. With the Derby market like it is(think Southlake Texans) it's a steal. It has a huge back yard, fenced in. A big patio looking into the backyard, a DEEP tub, a double oven, yes, you bakers heard right a double oven!! I can't wait to start moving in :O)

First Day of School

I'm officially the mother of a 1st and 4th grader! Yesterday was the first day of school and both kiddos were so excited. Jonathan has his own locker, and Savannah has a "real desk" instead of sitting in centers. Oh, the simple things in life!

Savannah Grace

Jonathan Jason Lee
My babies!! They are growing up so fast!
Jason and kiddos!!
On Friday we start moving into our house! Deposits are going to be the death of me, thankfully most everyone will split it and put it on your first few months worth of bills. The other lady finally got her crap out so hopefully I'll be able to go over today and take some pics of the outside :O)

We have a house!

We are moving into our own house next weekend!!! We found a cutie 3 bedroom house about 3 blocks from my Grammies house! It's totally in our budget, and adorable. The baby will bunk with us of course, but we have always planned on that. It has a HUGE fenced in backyard, with a patio. There is no basement or garage :O( which totally bites, but you can't have it all. I will post pictures soon.

Friends!

On Sunday we hung out with Teresa and Amber. Talk about some good times! We we had a blast. Sunday morning met Teresa and her family for breakfast at the only place in town that serves breakfast besides McDonalds! I told ya'll I was from a small town! We ordered WAY to much food, but had a great time hanging out!!

Me and Teresa-Friends since 5th grade!!

Savannah, Jonathan, and Katherine(Teresa's Daughter)
Katherine, Steve(Teresa's Fiance), and Teresa.

They are getting married on my birthday!

What an awesome way to celebrate 30!!

After breakfast we went to Amber's house and hung out for a few hours. The kids had a blast. Savannah played with Tailyn(who told her mom "that girl can't leave!") I think Jonathan was a little smitten with her older daughter Tennessee. He chased her around with the camera trying to get a pic!!

Me and Amber. We were laughing at Jason, he was having serious issues getting a good photo! Tennessee Dawn

Tailyn Augusta

Savannah and Tailyn playing with perler beads

Codey!!

of course my nephew is the cutest sweetest thing ever!! He's so good. He hardly fussed at all both times we were with him. He coos and smiles and pretty much perfect!

Codey Nathaniel-6 weeks

Sweet baby

Jonathan, Elizabeth, Savannah, and Codey

Aunt Angel and Codey

Love this pic
Savannah giving Coey his paci upside down
Finally! Jonathan isn't the only boy!!
Uncle Jason and Codey

No Naked Dancing

We had a great time at Jen and Steve's house. Now that we have a combined total of 4 children we figured naked dancing should be a no go! What kind of example would we be?? We BBQ'd, played cards, the kids swam, and just hung out.

Jonathan and Katlynn singing their hearts out!

Noodle Fight!
Belly Flop!
Savannah and Carter
Jonathan singing..singing..singing..
Father and Daughter duet
Playing spades..the girls whipped up on the boys
Me and Jen at the fair

Staycation

It's here, the only vacation the Hallock family will get this year!! I'm not complaining. In fact I'm pretty darn excited!!! We left Derby about 2 this afternoon and headed to McPherson. That's where my Dad lives. I haven't seen my Dad since February 2004, yup, 4 and a half years!! We didn't get to spend much time, only a couple of hours, but now that he's close again we will see him a lot more!!

Savannah, Grandpa Wes, and Jonathan

Same people, different pose :O)
Me and my dad :O)

Because we stayed so long in McPherson we are running late getting to my good friend Jen's house. I have known Jen since elementary school and we've been friends since high school. Jason and her husband Steve used to be stationed in the same company at Ft. Riley. I was in her wedding, she was in mine, you get the drift :O) I haven't seen Jen since November 2004 when I came to Kansas when my grannie was sick. I can't wait to hang out tonight!! I can't even imagine how much fun we are going to have. I still have pictures of Jason, Steve, and a few others doing a naked macarana in the snow in our front yard. Oh those were the days!! I wonder if there will be naked dancing tonight???

Tomorrow we are heading to Abilene to visit my family. I will get to meet my new nephew Codey!! I hoping to see Teresa too(another friend from school!). Then tomorrow night is FAIR NIGHT! Where I am from Fair Week is HUGE. Everybody goes to the fair. People come back home just for the fair. It's the cool thing in a town of not very many cool things. Sunday we are hanging out with my friend Amber. I have also known Amber since elementary school. I haven't seen her since one of the trips home from Germany when Jonathan was itty-bitty!!

Here's to a great weekend!!

The End of an Era!!

As a child I spent many a summer weekends racing with my grandparents. It is some of my happiest memories. It was so neat to brag that MY grampy was a race car driver! We would arrive at the track on Fridays, they would do qualifying runs, then there would always be a big BBQ sponsored by the SCCA( sports car club of america). Then Saturday and Sunday were always HOT, with lots of last minute fixes and tire changes to be done. I always had to hang out at the RV or in the stands b/c you had to be 15 to go down in the pit. By the time I was old enough to go down in the pits I was off living my own life hanging out with my friends on the weekends instead of my grandparents. My Grampy didn't stop racing until 2001, but by then I was in Texas, having babies, and being a wife.

This weekend Grampy took the car out of the garage, loaded it on the trailer and took it to David's. For as long as I can remember I have been able to open the garage door and see the 'ol MG waiting to be prepped for the next race. Now the garage has a new occupant.
Now that the MG is out of the garage, it leaves room for Grampy to park is new love.... For the past few years the porche has had to sit in the driveway. No more! It has it's own home in the garage now protecting from the children(mine) who will be riding scooters, bikes, and skateboards in the driveway :o)
If want to or have time to sit and try to visualize me in my daily life. Here it is. This is my home. Now matter how far from Kansas I am. Grammie's has always been home. I am soooo happy to be here and to know that even when I'm not living here anymore, I will only be a short drive away!!
Tomorrow I go pick up my babies from the airport!! I can't wait. I'm SOOOO ready for them to be home. I enrolled them in school yesterday, found out who their teachers are, and got a feel for the school. I have already purchased all their supplies(so much less than what the TX school districts wanted). I feel like I actually purchased for my child, not all the children sitting around them. It even stated to place your child's name ON their supplies! In TX they specifically said NOT to place your child's name on supplies!! I need to get Savannah some shoes for school, and Jonathan needs a few more things, but for the most part they are set!!

Annoyed

It's kinda petty,

but important to me.

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Okay, vent over.

I feel a little better ;O)

Happy Saturday!!

Gainfully Employed!

Yup, Jason has a job!! He starts on Monday!! The pay is good. Benefits are great, but we have to pay out the nose on the premium!! It's more than double what we paid in TX. Instead of 25 and 40 dollar co pays we have 10 and 10. Sweet! Plus $3 generic RX's. You can't beat it.

We are on the wait list for a town home in a nice apartment complex in town. We plan on staying here in until November 1. We want to be in our own place when Forrest is born. The kiddos come home next Friday, then we are planning a trip to Abilene to see family and old friends. Everything is coming together :0) God is Good, no, make that Great!!

Almost Employed :o)

Jason's interview went really well! They called him back within 2 hours to schedule a 2nd interview! When we went back today they talked to him about a totally different position than want he applied for. An accounting position instead of an admissions position! Craziness! They are willing to start him between his starting and ending wage at RR. Which is awesome! Insurance begins after 60 days!! He's really excited about the opportunity. He is still going to follow up with David about Cessna. We are pretty sure his starting wage with this other job is higher though.

I haven't heard back from the insurance agency about the position I interviewed for. I suppose they are still doing the checks. We'll see. I'll be excited if I get it, and OK if I don't. I love being home again, and being lazy!!

Update, Update, Upadate

We are here. We are alive. We are ecstatic!

Friday was stressful!! The penske place wouldn't take Jason' Gma's CC. Soooo...we had to go to U-haul and pay 100 dollars more! We got a truck and that's all that matters. Jason loaded the truck Friday and Saturday morning. Staci and CJ arrived after lunch to load the heavy stuff, and Thank God they did! They were LIFESAVERS!! We left Texas about 6:45 on Saturday evening. Whooooooooooooooo-Hooooooooooooooooooo!!

We ran into a bad storm in Oklahoma that had be praying out loud to my Lord above. I couldn't see the road, it was coming down so hard. My max speed was about 25 mph. It was awful. We rolled into Grammies at 1:30. It only took us 45 minutes longer than normal with the u-haul.

Yesterday Jason, Grampy, Grammie and I unloaded the uhaul. It came out alot faster than it went it!! Then we hung out here at the house, and grammie and I made Jason his birthday dinner of choice. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!!

Today I had my interview at 10. It went really well! it lasted and hour, then they called me an hour later to have me come back and fill out the paper work for credit and DMV checks. Sweet! I went to the Dr. today to. All is well, he seems nice.

Tomorrow Jason has an interview at 12. Hopefully that goes well, and my uncle is going to try and get home on at Cessna. I plan on being completely and totally lazy tomorrow, except for going to the library to print some stuff out.

I'm leaving in a mini van...don't know when I'll be back again....

We are up and at'm!!! Jason just left to get boxes and breakfast. I'm about to hop in the shower and finish up this bedroom! Jason loaded 90% of the boxes last night, so today is big stuff and misc crap that we find as we clear out each room.

Can you believe it???

I'm leaving Texas today!! Wooo-Hoo!

Jason's Grandma gave him her CC number, now lets hope the truck rental place will accept it......

Update

So HR said that since my last day was before the paydate my information was deleted and a check mailed. He paid it was mail 2 days before the paydate which was Wednesday. Ummm, I was still employed there on Wednesday so why was it mailed?? I had already changed my address, so the check is on it's way to Kansas. Doesn't do me much good here in Texas. So I'm waiting on a call back from his manager and in the mean time Jason is calling his Grandma to see about borrowing the money. Agh!!!

A test-and I don't lke

So I was supposed to get paid today. I didn't. I wasn't my last paycheck, so there is no reason to hold any of it or to mail it or any BS like that. I have another check coming after this. I NEED this money! I tried calling HR, but they don't open until 8. I have 27 minutes to stew and get angrier than I already am.

Sooooo...

Yesterday I applied for 5 or 6 jobs online. I didn't put any time or effort into it. I just searched career builder and applied for what sounded interesting, even if I wasn't qualified. I didn't even submit a cover letter with any of my resumes.

Today I got a call!! It was from one of the insurance companies I applied at. I applied for 2 different positions, so I'm not sure which one they are calling about, nor do I remember what they are for. Note to self: Go back to Career Builder before returning the call....

Now the bad part. I feel HORRIBLE! Jason has been job searching for 2 months with little feedback and I half a**ed apply for some jobs and get a call, and I don't even want to work!! AGH!! Either way we need the money so pray for me!!