Where do I even begin??

We had an AWESOME visit with Amy and her family. The weather was awful most of the week, but we made the most it. On Sunday we had family pictures done, then went downtown and walked around. Benji and Jason took 3 of the 6 to a hockey game, while Amy and I came home and got "makeovers" by Gracie and Savannah. Monday, the guys went golfing while the ladies took the kiddos roller skating. Tuesday was Amy's birthday and zoo! The Zoo was amazing like always, but OMG it was COLD!! After the zoo we met up my my sister at Granite City for Amy's birthday dinner. Wednesday, Katie and Jonathan went roller skating while the rest of us went to "The Keeper of the Plains" Very cool. I hadn't been since I was a kid, and it was much neater than I remember it being. Wednesday afternoon Amy and I got some girl time and headed off to get pedicures. Thursday they left :O(. We didn't do much but try and get Amy's phone fixed(she dropped while she was here). They rolled out about 3:30 and made it back to 'Bama around 4 in the morning. It was a awesome visit. We had so much fun. I hated to see them go.

I did get to take lots of pictures with my new camera though!! With our tax return I splurged and got a Canon Rebel Xsi. LOVE it! I'd have rather gotten a Nikon, but I don't have any one to teach me the ins and outs of one. There is a girl I'm friends with on FB, that is an up and coming photographer who is willing to share her knowledge and since she has a canon I figured I'd get the same. It came with a 18-55mm lens, but I want to get a 50mm when we get the money. Right now all the photos are being taken on auto, but I'm going to start learning this week. It's silly to pay that much for a camera and only use the auto function. I think I may even sign up for classes somewhere. All the pictures from the Wood's visit were taken with my new camera and they are all on FB if you want to check them out.

Monday it's back on the running horse. I'm scared I won't be ready for my 5k. I'm gonna really have to step it up a notch over the next 3 weeks. I haven't ran since last Wednesday. So Monday I'm starting C25k week 6 over. I also think I will run 5 days a week, if I can. I'm so not a morning person!!! Thankfully, I didn't deviate from my eating to badly over SB and I only gained .4 of a pound. Whoo-hoo!

My favorite pics from yesterday...

I LOVE my new camera!!

Olivia Grace

Harri at the antique store

Savannah Grace

Katie Elizabeth

Harrison and his Mim

We had a great day!!

Waiting...

The Woods are in Kansas! Just not at my house...yet! They will be in an hour though. Whoo-hoo!

So excited!

Amy and her family will be here in 6 days!! I'm so stinkin' excited I can hardly stand it. I'm like a kid waiting for Christmas. I'm so ready for a break from work and everything else and just spend time hanging with my friend and her family. We will celebrate her birthday while she's here, I have a cool surprise planned for that! We will also go to the zoo and the drive in. She's going to make Jonathan a skateboard cake while she's here. I think most of you became a fan of her FB page, and know what awesome cakes she makes. When we were in Alabama last summer she made a cake for Savannah, and now it's Jonathan turn. He is so excited!

Here lately I have been in a great mood! I'm working out, the sun has been out, and I have in general been feeling great. I finished week 5 of my Couch to 5k program and ran 18 minutes yesterday!! What a step up from when I could barley run 90 seconds!! I was supposed to run 20 minutes, but whoever thought going from a 8 minutes run to a 20 minute run was a good idea was crazy!! I went 13 minutes than had to walk for a couple of minutes, then finished strong. Tomorrow is week 6! I can't wait to get started!!! Jen and I are doing our 5k in just over a month. So excited and scared at the same time. I've never committed myself to anything like that before. I can't wait. I don't care what my time is, I just want to finish!!

What a week!

This week was a little bit on the CRAZY side. Last week we had 2 of our agents quit, so this we was super busy making sure someone was covering our leads. Not to mention we had 5 contracts come in! Two of them ending up not coming to terms and one of them I negotiated myself! Start to finish :O) YaY me! By mid week we had a replacement for 1 of the girls, and we have another agent starting class on Monday. I hope with these people we will be able to get to our goal of 25 million, b/c if we do I get a company car! Whoo-hoo Me!

The big kids are still doing swim lessons on Tuesday and Thursday. So those days are crazy, not to mention Jason also has class on Thursday, and I keep E and A those nights. I feel like I'm constantly running. No rest for the weary, right? I need to get up and do my running in the mornings. Doing it at night seems to disrupt my sleep patterns.

Yesterday the car started acting up and by last night it wouldn't start at all. This morning Jason and Grampy took it to Sears and sure enough it was the starter. He also said their is a belt going bad, but that's a problem for another day!

In good news, Jason did his FASFA stuff and we qualify for max pell grant next year which means less loans!! Yeah! We will need it since VA decided we have to pay back the $3,000 advance out of pocket. Initially they had said they would take it off the back end of the benefits. Somebody somewhere decided that wasn't good enough and they thought they should take it back in increments of $750 per month! WTH? We only get $1,000 per month in benefits! Jason told them flat out if they did that he would have to quit school and he would call his congressman(I still think he should do this). So they "worked" with him(aren't they gracious?) and they are going to take $250 a month from our benefits until it's paid off. What a crock. It can never be smooth with the government.

Speaking of, we are still waiting on our taxes. damn injured spouse form. We have no idea what they are paying to DFAS, if they are going to pay them off, or what. Hopefully it will come soon. My dryer is about to die!!

I'm becoming very...Eh, about my blog. I'm not going to delete it or anything crazy like that. I just feel I don't have much to say anymore. My life is so mundane that who wants to hear about it. And, I'm so personal, and don't want just anyone reading it, so I don't advertise. So, what's the point? I'm fairly honest and straightforward on here and I just don't like everybody in my business. I'm going to "revise" my FB friend list too. I deny ALOT of people, but some I accept then block them from my news feed b/c I really don't care. I'm not trying to be mean, but just b/c we were friends in HS or grade school does not mean I want you in my business now. I have over 100 friends on FB and only interact with 20-25 at the very most. Some people I have approved, and they've never even said anything to me! Losers! They only want to be nosey. There just are not that many people I care about or mean enough to me to be involved in my life now. I'm past the "I'm everyone's friend" stage and have moved on to having my own "circle of trust". More than likely I will never see most of those people, so they are getting the boot! In case you are worried, don't be. If you read this blog your safe on FB!

Couch to 5k

I LOVE this program! I really like to run, but it's been years(a lot of years) since I have been able to do it with ease and distance. When I was trying to find something to get me back in the swing of things I found this program. It seemed almost to good to be true. Couch to 5k in 9 weeks?? Are they serious? Don't they know how out of shape I am?? I am now a believer. I ran 5 minutes straight tonight, and while I was ready to stop when my time was up, I'm sure I could have keep going if I had to. Actually I know I could have if I had to. Over on the right is a countdown to my first 5k. My friend Jen and I are doing it together and I'm stoked!! A 5k! That might as well be a million miles to me. It's going to take training and dedication but I know I can do it. I want this to be 'my thing'. I can't wait to say, "I'm a runner' or 'Ya, I like to run' or 'Oh, I can't, I'm doing a 5k this weekend'!! Hehehehe, good night all~!

If you don't have anything nice to blog about don't blog at all.

The Dark Ages

It's that time again. The time of year I hate. I really used to love Spring. Now I dread it. The months of February-April are my own personal Dark ages. Every year I say they won't be, but they are. I can't help it. I try to not to think about it. Yet years later,here I am thinking about it. Thinking about the days. Counting the days. I'm sick, like nauseous, when I think about making it through these months. This year is really dragging me down. I think it's because there is no sun. Grey everyday. It makes me so tired, I only want to sleep. I want the damn sun! I NEED the damn sun! What's in the forecast? More fucking snow! It's not helping my disposition at all. Jason is on me all the time about being 'to quite'. Can you imagine? Angel Hallock, to quite. The weird part is I'm not thinking about anything. I'm quite with no thoughts. Nothing running through my head except for, "When can I sleep next?" No deep thoughts, no planning for the future, or thoughts of the past. Nothing. Just sleep, I only want to sleep. I felt great for the few hours yesterday the sun was out. No sun today :O( C'mon May hurry up and get here!!

I'm a Crank Ass!

We have a seller that has finally gotten under my skin. He's been nothing but a rude, unhappy, ungrateful, asshole since we put his house under contract. Yesterday he spent 30 minutes cussing at me and telling me what a horrible job Josh has done as his realtor. Today, he started in again bitching about everything. He's a loser who's pissed off at the whole world and I'm so thankful his house closes tomorrow. Im' taking a half day and I know that shit is going to hit the fan about 7 times before all is said and done. I don't care. 99% of the time I love my job, but some times I just don't get paid enough to deal with sellers shit.

I can't believe I'm even thinking about it!!!

For for the past few weeks I have been working out with Tiffany, Josh's wife. There is a woman's ministry workout class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. It's hard, it kicks my ass. Last October Tiffany did a 26.2 mile marathon for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. Today she called me and told me she wants me to do it with her this year! What?? I'm up to 90 seconds running non stop, that's a LONG way from 26.2 miles! Even if I walked some, hell, even if I walked it all, that's an insane amount of miles!! What's even more insane is that I'm thinking about it!! I'm actually thinking about it and even a little excited about it! I love to run, I'm loving the the Couch to 5k program. Twenty-six miles though??? I just don't know. I'm scared, excited, intimidated....

My God....

is awesome and amazing. It's VERY easy to forget this. I'm thankful to be blessed with wonderful believer friends. Friends who know what an awesome God I serve. This is very important to me. I know we are to love all, but I have always found it difficult to relate to non-believers. I can't fathom not believing. To some extent I have a blind faith. I'm not overly educated in all things Christian. I know the basics, I have been to many bible studies, and had the pleasure of being able to speak with many people more knowledgeable than myself. However, if some Darwin lover hijacked me and wanted to have a pissing content, I'd lose. All the semantics don't matter to me. I KNOW Jesus died for my sins, I KNOW that he was the son of God, I KNOW this because I have faith, because I believe in my God. I believe that my God loves me, cares for me and always has my best interest at heart. I have been given terrible, horrible, awful trials, and my God saw me through. My God never gave me more than I could handle. He molded me, and taught me, and used me(yes me!) for HIS glory! It wasn't, and never is, about me, or you, it's about Him. How are you going to use this day, this situation, this conversation, this life to glorify Him??

We've never been a "Keeping up with the Jones" kind of family. It's so overrated and totally not who we are. We live a pretty simple life. We buy what we need, when we need it or when it needs replaced. We just got our first game system last year, and it was a PS2 hand-me-down from my brother! Crazy right?

My point:

Last night Jason decided that he wanted to buy a new TV. A thought totally unfathomable to me since our 19 inch TV Jason bought in Korea in 1994 still worked JUST FINE! Was it big? Nope. Fancy? Nope. Did I care? Nope. I had NO desire to go buy a new TV just b/c our TV was old. I was content. Bills paid, money in savings, happy Angel.

However, we all know how men are when they get that bug! He flitted all around, looked on-line, looked on ebay and came to the conclusion that what he wanted was cheapest at Wal-mart(Isn't it always??) So I told him to GO! It was worth the cost of the TV to get him settled and out of my hair.

So, now we are the proud owner of a 32 inch HDTV. It's huge! I can't imagine anything bigger, I'd need theater seats! It's nice to watch DVD's again though. We snuggled up and watched a little 'The Unit' last night.

If he's happy I'm happy...even if we didn't need it!!

Truckin' Along

I seem to have this hump I can't get over, I can do 3 workouts a week. Fitting in that 4th is where I run into a brick wall...It's hard. I have done my 3 for this week. I think I'm going to suck it up and buy the Biggest Loser for working out at home. The Wii Fit Plus game is eh, So far. Maybe it's me, maybe it's the game. I'm going to keep working with it, but I want more results. I'm also starting this tomorrow. I really want to run. I do alternating walk/run on the treadmill at the gym, but I need a PLAN. This is my plan. If I can be running 3 miles by mid-march, I will be stoked!!

I ate out. It's an evil addictive habit. Once you start it's hard to stop. I'm going to start tomorrow again and try to do it again for the rest of the month. It's SO hard for me to make the right food choices while eating out. They say,"oh, just eat a salad". NOBODY wants to eat a salad!!. I truly believe that. And if you do it's covered in shredded cheddar and full fat ranch. Salads are not good. At least not compared to a bacon cheese burger and some fries. Which is way I have a hard time eating out. I'd rather not eat out, than eat an $8 salad. Just me.

I hope all of you are doing well on your resolutions, goals, or whatever it is you are working on this year. I'd love to hear about it on your BLOGS!

Hallock Family Updates

Jason-He's getting ready to go back to school next. He's SOOOO ready. I was concerned about him taking 20 hours, but he seems to be organized and prepared and most importantly pumped up. If only it were over already...I'm read for the increased pay and decreased VA BS :O)

Me-Work is finally picking up again. Praise God. As you can tell by my daily FB activity during work hours, I haven't been busy. Once we get into the swing of things again. I will hardly have time to get on FB. I didn't workout 4 days last week, only 2. I decided to keep track of which weeks I did the 4 workouts, then at the end of the year add up how many I succeeded and how many I didn't. It seems like a much better way to do a resolution then to do it until I fail, and never do it again. I have lost 4 lbs since January 1. It's the 12th and I still haven't eaten out! Wow! Now that is a feat for me :O) It hasn't been hard really, and today was the first day I wanted to stop and grab something.

Jonathan- Can we say emotional pre-teen? AGH! He has so much attitude and mouthiness lately. He's still doing well in school, so far. I'm scared of when that will stop, or become more difficult for him.

Savannah- Her attitude is improving daily. Sometimes I still have to inhale/exhale deeply before responding, but it's getting better. She has decided she wants to do competive swimming. I spoke to the swim team coach and enrolled her in lessons so she can improve her technique before the summer season starts. She is pretty stoked!

Harrison- He's a BRAT! Where did my perfect baby go? He was sucked into the terrible 2's!! Why? Why did that happen to my sweet baby boy? He's getting fun though. He has about a 7 word vocabulary. He can be really fun, when he's not throwing himself down on the ground, or screaming b/c you are changing his clothes...LOL!

It was nice for one year...

Last year I wrote this post regarding News Years. Blah. I am weak. That 63 lbs did not stay off. Thankfully it didn't ALL come back on, but about half of it did. Agh! So that means this year I have weight loss on the agenda. Sucks. It's not really a new years resolution b/c I've been working on it for a couple of months now. I want to keep it up in the New Year, so it's going on the list. One thing I have learned is 'out of sight, out of mind' when it comes to stuff like this. So I'm posting it everywhere! By my desk, on my mirror in my bathroom, on my mirror in my bedroom, one my desktop, my blog. There will be no forgetting!! This is pic of me from last Christmas, I'm printing it and putting it everywhere. It's my inspiration.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Friends!
I hope that your day was as wonderful mine.
This year was great Christmas. The lids got spoiled, I got spoiled, even Jason got spoiled.
It's always nice when that happens.

Savannah helping Harrison unpack his stocking

His favorite was this little peppermint straw from his stocking. He carried it around for an hour!

Jonathan checking ut his WWE puzzle

Me sportin' Savannah's new shades

Jason and his new coat

Lordy, she's excited about that hair dryer!

He doesn't look to excited about his Froggie dishware...

This is a horrible picture of me! BUT, It shows how excited I am about my ipod. Jason did really good this year. He got me new sneakers, the orange ipod, orange ear buds, an itunes GC, and an ipod armband holer thnigy, a cd, perfume, face wash, and then little goodies in my stocking :O)

I'm pretty stoked, I can't wait to hop on the treadmill :O)

Jason has been wanting this book for 6 months, at least!!

Jonathan helping Harrison open a gift

New Glasses :O)

Who needs to play with the toy when I can climb on the toy!!

Seriously Mom, you want me to get down??

Where is Harrison?

There he is!!

Pretty much the same as last night.

Checking out the craziness

Harrison dancing while Savannah sang

Beat those drums!

My guitar Hero!

Cause you belong with meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Harri in his new jacket from Grammie

Harri in a Santa hat :)

Did you notice what his shirt says??

I have to brag on my brother. He is a spoiled little turd most of the time. However he really surprised me this Christmas. Since he turned 16 in May he has been working part time for my Grampy. This Christmas he bought a gift card for the whole family for $100..with his own money!! I was shocked! My lil bro his growing up, and thinking of others. I'm so proud!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Remember this post?

That was way back when the colored ipods first came out! I was happy they didn't have an orange one b/c my white one was only 6 months old. Then they came out with an orange one, but I still didn't need it b/c I had a white one. For Christmas jason got me an orange ipod though! Amost other things, but I'm most excited about the ipod!!

Christmas Eve Jammies

Miss Me?

I've been busy! We have had Ashrya's C-mas concert, Elize's C-mas concert, the KW C-mas party. I feel like we are doing something all the time! I can't believe it's only 3 days until Christmas!! WoW, times flies!

Harrison is going to be fun this year. Not as much fun as he'll be next year, but funner last year!

I finished up my shopping tonight. Jason was one only one I had left and I stopped at the mall and Target, and now I'm DONE! Whoo-hoo! It was tough at the beginning, but thanks to the VA overpayment we are going to have a good Christmas. Which I am very thankful for, b/c last year sucked! The kids didn't feel it, but we did. money was so tight, it was depressing. I hate Christmas like that.

I'm super excited that I get C-mas Eve and Day off with PAY! Whoo-hoo! I'd be hating life if I didn't since those 2 days and NYE all fall on the same pay period.

Guess that's it for now I have a couple of posts floating in my head I'd like to get out, but I don't have the time right now. Maybe tomorrow at work :O)

Don't get lazy and not leave comments. I'll stop blogging again. You know who you are!