turning lane

how firm a foundation

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:46:00 +0000

My hymn of the month, written by John Rippon in 1787. Sung at the funerals of Presidents: Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson and Andrew Jackson, how cool is that?

I love how beautifully strengthening it is..of course the tune is gorgeous too..

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

My second in light of Christmas would definitely be: Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.

I have been listening to newer renditions of hymns with the kids hoping to spark some interest in the oldies, but goodies :)

humble holiday

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:04:00 +0000

This Thanksgiving was my first holiday where I hosted. I even cooked my first turkey and was more than impressed with how it turned out! Having a mom who is an amazing cook definitely comes in handy when I need pointers! It was a humble group of 11 and perfect for my first time! We started the day with a big breakfast while the Philly Thanksgiving Day parade was on TV. I love watching that, or at least the idea of watching it. I have to catch a glimpse of it every year. Sadly this year was the last year for one of the hosts, Dave Roberts--who I remember hosting from when I was a little one.

We actually had a very smooth and happy day getting ready for the company, somehow I planned and cooked very efficiently and it turned out well. The only thing I regret though is that I made people move so I could take pictures of the tables. I know already that when I want to remember my first thanksgiving I will rather see the people than the tables, and now only have the backs of people's heads to remember them by!! Lesson learned.

Today Evie, as usual, took off her pants and diaper. She likes to sit on the potty and pretend to use it. I am used to this and think it's actually funny. This interest has come solely because of her own desire, I still feel she is too young to really try her on the potty. HOWEVER, she was standing on the dining room chair, diaper-less, when she looked at me with startled eyes. I asked he if she wanted to use the potty and she nodded a very large YES. So i brought her over to the big potty and sat her on it: low and behold, it wasn't pretend this time. As I was on the phone with Mark exclaiming the good news, she actually came over to her training potty right next to me, sat on it and went on it again, by herself!!!! So proud!!- but am wondering if she is truly interested for good, or if it's only temporary(as her brother was when he was her age). She is in her crib now wearing underpants...yes, this is wishful thinking.

Something green: I wanted to mention three products I use that I LOVE, that I get at the local food or home improvement store and which are good for the family and good for environment.
The first is my laundry detergent, it's the only kind I like to use and I usually pay about $3 for a 32load container. You probably see it every time you shop: Purex Natural Elements. It's base is made from plants vs the normal petroleum. If anything else, the more people buy products which a made from renewable plant surfactants the less dependency we will have on oil, which is a great thing! Also the detergent is hypoallergenic, but it has fragrance! I first started using it because of this reason alone, most other hypoallergenic detergents are fragrance free, but this uses essential oils...just delightful!! They also have fabric softeners, but I haven't tried them.

Next would be Seventh Generation Dish Soap. This stuff works GREAT! My hands are never dried out, it's a clear hypoallergenic formula with a light fragrance from, again, essential oils. Same thing goes for this soap with the plant bases. I love love love this stuff, I get a container of it for $2.50 but they offer coupons online and often from the store I buy it at. It's worth paying a bit more for in my opinion. We have public water and sewer but these soaps are an even better idea for someone with a septic system because they actually break down. I also use their all purpose cleaner, and love having no fumes.

The last thing I will say(which I may have mentioned before) is when you are painting a room, consider buying Olympic paint(at Lowes). The times I have used it, I have always had great coverage. I used Lowe's Valspar (whichever kind is the best grade of it) and it paled in comparison to the "cheapo" Olympic. It's very inexpensive and ODERLESS. You can paint with the windows and doors closed--so convenient and good for the family

The tree is up...magenta, purple and lime sparkles, have I lost my mind? No, it does look pretty cool, though it probably wasn't necessary to buy new ornaments...

I'll post a pic when I upload them!

One New Message

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:29:00 +0000

Evie is taking a nap in her sunshine-warmed room. Asa is watching Nick Jr. Whats new? I need to get my butt into gear. Monday's are my day to make a grocery list and possibly even shop. It's really important that I put a lot of thought and time into the list though. I shop for the least I possibly can by using tons of coupons and buying basically only whats on sale. I make my meal lists for the week and go from there. It can get tedious, but it's neccessary! Asa says, "Mom! Why do you have to make a list, lets just go shopping!" Right now I wish I could do just that!!!

Christmas is coming up! Not before Thanksgiving though. Which we are hosting this year! My first year to make the turkey. I'm slightly worried it won't be that great!! The sides I know will be good, but we'll just have to see about the turkey. It'll be a crowd of 11, great for my first time!

I think of things to type then try to remember if I've posted them before, then choose not to say them just it case, and later I find out I never did post on them and they are forgotten and lost in oblivion...

I have been on Myspace for over 5.5 years!! Facebook, maybe two years? I wonder how I can find that out. I use Facebook almost daily, Myspace every six months.

Back to Christmas. I am going to be making a lot of presents this year. I'll be posting pics as I make them. Hoping those who are to receive them won't look at my blog(it would be very strange if they did lol) I am going to be SUPER DUPER DUPER frugal this year. Like cheapskate frugal, but I am hoping to do it in a semi-classy way? We'll just have to see.

Evie was watching a commercial today on the couch with me and Asa, and a baby came on. She right away said "Baby! Baby!" I've never heard her say it before!!! She is really starting to talk! She now says "Mama" "dada" "Uh Oh" "Happy Birthday" "Night Night" "Baby" "bug" "Bella" "Monkey(Mun Hee)" "dog" "cheese" "juice" "please" "pop pop" "mom mom" "thankyou" "sorry" and a few more. We've come along way though from the baby she was just two months ago!

I finished grouting the bathroom floor. It is now just waiting to be polished and sealed. Next I have to scrape the old grout out of the tiles on the walls then re-grout! I don't think it'll be too difficult because it's the the non-sanded grout in the realy narrow joints...we'll see how that goes. The floor looks great! I cannot wait to install this toilet!! Mark removed "Old Blue" two weeks ago and it feels so nice and white in there!

Must get back to creating the oh-so time consuming grocery list!

kids

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:48:00 +0000

I think that having your first baby is traumatic. It was not what I expected and humbled me greatly. Having my second was much less emotionally, but more physically traumatic. Worth it, yet amazingly harder than I though it would be. I am finding now as my youngest is growing more and more independent that I am too. I felt somewhat trapped but in love with my new life, and now its slipping away. A little while ago I would've thought that having children causes all parents to be unselfish. But now I can see how someone who might have not been as attached during the early months, might not get to that point at all. I am already starting to fear the upcoming years where I am not superwoman to my kids anymore. I want them to always love and cherish me. But I know they will grow up and away, and be bothered by me. They'll ignore me, and be disrespectful, and I have to stand firm throughout it all. I also don't want to become a selfish parent, since they "need" me less I don't won't to focus on myself too much. I hope that I can be a good parent throughout their entire childhoods. Having a baby is definitely more accurately described as "having a person". The baby stage lasts for such a short time. I hope this made sense in some sort of way. I have been thinking about stuff like this for a while. I really don't want to be a selfish parent, and I really want to have good kids who obey and are logical and love their mom a lot, though most importantly, even if things are rough I hope they know the Lord and He guides them throughout their entire lives.

chilly

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:13:00 +0000

Or does it? Last week on recycling day, I had to clean my kitchen in a major way. It was full of dirty yogurt cups and apple sauce containers. I kept thinking about how nice it would be to just throw all those recyclables out, versus having to clean them and find a spot in my overflowing recycling container out on the curb. I thought about it for a little too long before I came to the conclusion that I should be a good steward, and not be lazy or wasteful. I cleaned out about 10 yogurt cups and 5 apple sauce containers, and a number of other cans and glasses. I found a cardboard box in the basement and filled it up and brought it out to the curb. Well when the Recycling truck drove up, I realized it was actually the trash truck(which usually makes the rounds after recycling) the garbage man grabbed my box of yogurt cups etc. and effortlessly dropped it into the truck. My heart did indeed sink a little. How much of the things I recycle never make it?

It's so incredibly cold out! Last night I had to turn on the heater! Evie kept waking up crying and when I went in to check on her, she was so cold :( Tonight I will bundle her up really well. I just didn't expect this so early on in fall!

Asa had his four year check up today. He's off the charts for height! He passed all the tests, except hopping on one foot. He told the doctor he would practice it at home.

My hands are literally like ice and I am wearing layers...

I have this addiction to this game called Bejeweled Blitz. I seriously have to play at least once a day, and once always turns into 35 times. I see the game when I close my eyes. I shirk my duties because of it. I need help. lol.

My little brother is getting married next week! I am excited for the wedding. I think it will be beautiful, it's at a park. I am not sure if it'll be indoors or out though..and am worried about freezing.(lol) I can't believe time goes by so quickly..

Well since I played Bejeweled for yes, longer than 35 minutes before posting this, I am going to have to cut it short. Evie is still napping and I can maybe get something done around here!

We have Pioneer at church tonight, I am supposed to teach first grade. Looking forward to that!

October Eleventh Two Thousand and Nine

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:03:00 +0000

Today is a Sunday. I am behind in almost all aspects of life. But I a not entirely depressed over that fact. It's been an absolutely gorgeous beginning to fall. I can't remember a fall beginning this way for a long time. It seems like summer was turned off by the flick of a switch and the cool fall air blew in the next day. The trees are all turning wonderful hues and I am thankful that it's been an enjoyable start to my least favorite season!
The kids are growing fast. Asa turned 4 on August 12th. We had a small family party for him and took him to Target to buy Star Wars Legos (Which he promised he would take care repeatedly) that are now entirely missing. Tyler turned 9 on September 4th and again we celebrated with a small family party. We also took him to the Lego Store....Great Place!!!

Evie has been coming along nicely. She finally has enough hair for me to pin back with clips and she is really into accessories! She has also just started saying a few more words (besides her staple: Happy Birthday, Mom, Hi, and Uh Oh. She signs "please" and "more".

Asa is starting to print letters now. He enjoys learning and is very excited about starting Kindergarten at (hopefully) a local Charter School next year. We do "school" almost everyday and he gets really into it. He likes to use scrabble letters to make up his own words and asks me to pronounce them. It's cute :)

The house projects have been put on hold for a while. That's frustrating, but there's not much you can do when things are so tight financially. I am thankful that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. I am also thankful for a sovereign God. One who I can't begin to understand much about. But a loving, merciful God who loves someone as crappy as me, and repeatedly blesses me and carries me through times when I cannot move on my own. I am also thankful for a church where there are others who encourage and love and, though not perfect, want to learn more and persevere in the faith along side each other. This world is a harsh place, sometimes I wish I could live in a cave. I am thankful for the peace and rest I find in Him, and the help in times of trouble. I am also immensely thankful for the Bible. I recently heard Steve Brown speaking of the Bible in such a cool way. He was explaining how so many think of the Bible as a nice book to make people nicer, or a religious book to make people more religious, but that in actuality its a book full of dark things, of people that are bad, of things we might not like to talk about. But it's all there for a good reason, that's who we are--sinners, and that's why we need Jesus. The best thing about it, is that no matter what horrible things someone may do to me, and how mad I get at the injustice--how much more does Christ forgive? It helps me put it into perspective, even when all I truly want to do is feel angry and bitter. We are all crappy and dark and dirty and bad, any good is from Him and mercy we don't deserve. I could go on and on but....

...my daughter obviously doesn't want to take a nap right now. ( i can tell by her shrill screams and jumping up and down on the crib sounds)

Lauren
**the pic is of Evie back in July** too cute to pass up though...

still pursuing...

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:02:00 +0000

I am almost 25. I like that number--though it feels somewhat mature. I'll probably be saying that when I'm 50. My birthday will be uneventful. Nothing planned other than dropping my car off at the dealer for some maintenance. Which is fine. I do want a vacation soon though. This weather has been the icing on the cake for me. The rain seems to never end and some of my flowers-my saviors from winter's depression-inducing gloom-are rotting. I'd like a day to clean my house as well. I feel so behind in my work! Today was however very beautiful. The sun was shining between quickly moving bursts of large fluffy white clouds and the breeze was very pleasant. The weather forcast anticipates rain for the rest of the week though. I find it harder to do my daily jobs when it's raining.
Asa's allergies have been so bad lately that I feel somewhat helpless when I look at him. I never thought there could be so much suffering from allergies. His eyes were swollen so much the other night I kept feeling like I needed to take him to the ER. I usually under-react to that stuff..maybe it's a pride thing. In fact I know it is. I don't like to be wrong. It's pretty stupid to be like that when it involves your child's health. I am taking him to the Dr's tomorrow. He is medicated constantly with something or the other. Now his Eczema is coming back and his nodes are swollen. His Asthma has been so bad lately. All that I've listed is nothing compared to the attitude change in him. He is impossible to deal with. I know he doesn't feel well--but I almost think something else must be wrong with him for him to act the way he's been acting. He SCREAMS about everything, like at the top of his lungs. I know how he gets when his allergies or asthma is bothering him and his behavior becomes unsettled..but lately it's been off the charts. Mark is even freaked out by it. He will barely listen to us. I don't know what to do sometimes. It feels good to write it down though.

I am sure my next post will have some more positive about that subject.
I made a bowl the other day using repurposed magazine pages cut into strips and pasted together. It took a while, but the results were awesome. I am going to make more, and have been working on some vases as well. It's fun. Mark even helped me with it. It was a father's day gift for my FIL and I lined it with saran wrap and put four freshly baked chocolate chip walnut cookies in it, then wrapped it with some pretty ribbons which pulled colors from the paper in the bowl. I was very impressed with myself, and when I get my pics up I will post them on here!

Time for some relaxation time.

HR 1207

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:33:00 +0000

I am so excited about this bill that Ron Paul has written. I am very hopeful it will get passed, and have been tracking it for some time. It's amazing how much support it's gotten! Sometimes I feel that people aren't waking up...but this bill gives me hope that I am wrong. Check out how many Co-sponsors, and see the bipartisanship!

slightly sunny

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:57:00 +0000

It's been raining too much lately--at least for my taste. The frequent thunderstorms have made it a bit more interesting than just steady rain, but I'm tired of it all. I think that even my plants are sick of the saturated ground.

Last night two of my little bro's graduated! It was exciting and happy and sad. Life flies by so fast once you graduate high school..or it did for me. I can't believe the little kids I used to babysit are all grown up and graduated. I hope for the best for all of them. I hope they don't have to go through too many trials to grow up and mature. I had to go through my share--not to say I didn't put myself there. Life is hard, it seems easier to accept now that I am getting older though. I will be 25 in a few weeks...as in less than 2. I guess it will feel like tomorrow that the classes of 2023 and 2025 are graduating and I am watching my babies turn into adults instantaneously.
My husband graduated college last month. Not sure if I put that on here. He is so amazing to be able to do an accelerated course and work full time and still have time to be a dad. His grades were amazing too.

Speaking of him. I received my birthday present from him early this year. A camera..and it shoots great video..so I'll be putting more things on here eventually!

I have been giving a lot of thought to which school I will put Asa in for kindergarten. I have contemplated homeschooling too, but at this point I am going to try out the charter school(if we can get in) and see how it goes. I can always home school if public school doesn't work out for us! We have been doing preschool at home though. He loves learning about letters and really picks stuff up well! After just a few weeks of going over a few letters, he picks them out of whatever sign or book or anything he see's which has letters on it! He is also obsessed with marine life. He could tell more proper names of fish than I could. He knows facts about them too. I really want to take him to the Baltimore Aquarium, I know he would love it!

I had Evie to the doctors the other day because of her incessant cold/sinus infection. I was sure they'd give her an anti-biotic...which they did not. They did however say that she was wheezing and prescribed some albuterol for her to take in the nebulizer. The doctor said that she would probably use it again...meaning the outlook didn't look so swell....meaning she could possibly develop asthma like her brother. I hope not. I REALLY hope not. It's such a hard thing for me to deal with mentally, because I don't like thinking my child is struggling to breathe and not getting enough oxygen, especially when you can see it in his face. I do realize however, that it could be WAY worse. I just pray that Evie doesn't have to get what her brother has.

Since she has been sick lately, her sleeping patterns have deteriorated and she is having a really hard time falling asleep. Which means I am tired quite often now too. Today was sunny when I woke up though, and that helped to wake me easier :) I better try and get some stuff done while Evie takes her nap and Asa's occupied with the babysitter(noggin)

almost summer

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Sat, 23 May 2009 13:59:00 +0000

Evie turned one recently, May 2 to be exact. She is quite the amazing little one. She learned to walk flawlessly by 11 months. She began walking at the end of 9 months. She is so much fun and really girly.

The weather has been really warm lately. It's like we just skipped spring. I like it warm though, I get more done when I am not cold. I washed my car yesterday, that hasn't been done in...should I dare say?...more than a year. It feels good. I've been exercising too!! It's a miracle!!! The kids and I walk a mile every other day here around the neighborhood..I would do more but the kids want to get out of the double stroller.. It feels good to move around though.

I have a lot of weird dreams that feel like real life. Random weird things that seem like they would just be a part of my everyday real life.

Mark had to get a new car at the beginning of April because the green car needed too much work to pass inspection. It's not new, but new for us and awesome! Its very sporty and fancy inside. It's an VW Passat and I am very sure we'll go for another VW when the time comes!

I tried to paint the kitchen the same color as the hallway...that kinda tan leather color. It doesn't look the way I wanted it too and I stopped before finishing the edging. The problem with this is when I repaint I am afraid that the edging will appear much lighter since the paint will be going over white. The new color I want is Behr's Royal Breeze or Seven Seas. The cabinets are going to be a reddish mahagony color and we'll have orange accents...we'll see if it actually ever pans out. If it turns out the way I want I think it will be awesome!!!

Right now I am sitting here trying to think of the past 4 anniversaries Mark and I have celebrated. We've always followed the traditional/modern anniversary gift lists. I can't remember all that we've gotten for each other though, or how we celebrated the day. It's pretty frustrating! I basically can only remember all of the first anniversary and some of a few afterward. This year will be our fifth and I want to go somewhere for the weekend. We'll have to get something made out of wood for each other. Maybe furniture? Not in these tight times.

Things I am thankful for: My almighty Father God, My loving, beautiful family, my house-a work in progress, two cars that work, Albuterol, the healthcare industry, my new cheap cell phone, flowers, colors, clothes that fit a little less tight than last month, my couches that wipe clean when they're spilled on, people who are real with me, pretty music, my cool leather bound journal that i got for my anniversary three years ago--and the same journal that Daniel Faraday uses in Lost: Wendy's small chilies, Livestrong.com's Daily Plate, and many more things.

February

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:20:00 +0000

I started this new thing at home. Instead of never knowing what to make for dinner, let alone lunch and breakfast, I decided to make a complete plan of meals for the week. This includes snack time between breakfast and lunch and lunch and dinner, with an evening snack thrown in for the man of the house too. It is helping me realize exactly how much I need when I write it down, because I remind myself of the days when different people are here for different meals and buy the exact amount at the grocery store. This also helps me stay motivated to cook and start dinner at the same time each day. I thought of doing this when I changed my bi-weekly grocery shopping schedule to weekly, and so far so good.

We've only skipped one meal this week with take out. Believe me thats better than it was! I made this amazing Ciabatta Pizza the other night. Wonderful!

You can now make out two small white teeth in Evie's mouth. She's so cute with teeth! She is also saying "Uh oh" and "hi". The doctor was shocked that she could say "Uh Oh" this early, so the proud parent that I am felt I should report that! She should be walking any day now. She can easily stand up from a sitting position without holding on to anything and can bend down and pick things up as well. She even bounces up and down(dances) steadily on her own! She has taken a few first-steps, but nothing more than one at a time.

Asa's asthma has been bad. The medication helps his lungs....I guess, but it also makes him a monster. I can't wait for this flare up to be gone :(

I am ready for spring now! I wish we could have solar tubes installed in our house. I would want one in our kitchen, master bath, master bed, and both hallways.

Asa is beckoning me...

fire and water

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:20:00 +0000

It's been a while, but that's not new. One of my "resolutions" was to post more often. I guess I failed before I even started.

Last Saturday Mark and I were able to use our coupon for babysitting and go out for dinner. My parents came over and took charge while we had an amazing Italian meal and shopped for a new camera. It was really fun and refreshing. I did feel a little awkward though, when we were out shopping, like I didn't have enough to do with myself since I had no kids with me. I have no purpose without them. Actually it'll come back gradually as they become more independent I'm sure.

When we got home it was around 9:30---we watched some TV and we're just getting ready to retreat for the night when I heard this really loud engine outside the front door. I got up to look and saw about 5 huge fire trucks lights flashing and all. Mark and I were puzzled. I ran upstairs to look out our big window and saw that they were congregating around a house 5 down from us on the same strip. I came back down and Mark and I went outside to see smoke billowing into the frigid night air. By this point it was 11:30. I was so scared. I watched as the fireman broke the windows and doors in. They carried out a dead dog and we heard word of another that had died. Thankfully the owners of the home were out. The neighbors to their right, and closer to us, had to leave their home as well since their home was full of smoke. I kept wondering if it would spread. I didn't think of anything else but whether or not I should go in and grab my babies and bring them to the car. I just kept waiting and shivering. I would come in the house every once in a while, but Mark stayed outside the whole time. The fireman got it under control but the house is now condemned. I had a hard time sleeping that night. I saw smoke coming from the rooftops of a couple houses and although the fireman seemed totally chill I was freaking out inside. Praise God that no one was injured and that our home wasn't damaged. Evie woke up during all the craziness and I had a hard time getting her back to sleep. Her crying woke up Asa and he started crying as well. This was around 1 when the excitement finally started to die down.

The next morning I woke up late. We missed church. After lunch Mark went downstairs to let the dog out when he noticed the basement floor flooded and the sound of gushing water. What a sad discovery as the floor cannot take flooding, and isn't even completely paid for yet. Thankfully it was a pretty quick fix with the plumbing and only cost $5. My dad is so helpful and came over right away to assess the situation. They cleaned it up relatively quick. I called our homeowners insurance co yesterday and found out that it would not be worth it to report the ruined floor.

On top of all that I had a little screamer attached to my hip. Evie was cutting her first tooth and very screamy(if that's a word). She is however, sleeping amazingly.

I started sleep training I guess a week ago. It's as if I have a new baby! She take two naps a day at the same time for two hours each, and she sleeps basically all night, every night! Such a difference! I feel way more organized in my life with her schedule.

Last Saturday I also painted the hall way, and the weekend before I almost finished the powder room. We just have to put down new flooring and replace the toilet.
BEFORE:

AFTER:

economically friendly

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 16:46:00 +0000

I found this site and thought it was a good concept for saving ink, therefore saving money, all the while masquerading as someone VERY concerned with saving the environment.

Now for another cool link. I have been contemplating which type of flooring I want for my kitchen. It has to be inexpensive, easy to install, clean, add to resale value and if possible be "green".

I love tile, but its expensive, work to install and not very fun to clean.

Wood floors aren't good for kitchens unless they are finished after installation and that is too much work. (I'll put cork and bamboo in this same line)

Linoleum--although it doesn't add much value to your kitchen--is inexpensive, easy to install, clean and according to this website (and this one)is very "green". Something to think about. Maybe when we sell we can play the "green" card and list all the environmentally friendly items in the house and profit off of it. Am I cheap? Yes, but thats what green can be about, having less waste, wasting less money etc. Although it's not always cheap to be green.

If all Cheapo's save money and all Lauren's are Cheapo's, and all Lauren's are Green does this mean that all Green saves money? Yes! BUT All Green does not equal Cheap. I failed.

Also even if we choose not to go with linoleum, we currently have it, and that link assured me that the landfill is the best place for it when we tear it up!

Laminate is what we have throughout the house because of ease of installation, and its pretty! Apparently even laminate isn't harmful either! Though not a good idea for the kitchen as it's not water proof.

I'm having a good day!!!

christmas

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:37:00 +0000

Christmas is quickly approaching! We are all but finished shopping and only slightly in the hole!! I wasn't able to decorate for the holidays as much as I would've liked but next year I'll do better! I bought these pretty cool solar powered light strings for the front bushes. It works out well since we have no outdoor outlets and they have built in sensors/timers AND no extra amount on the electricity bill! They are white(bluish) LED's so they have a unique look!

On the green tangent we are doing really well recycling. I have to purchase another bin from the township building as our current bin is overflowing constantly. Our waste is really diminishing. Even when I shop now I check the packaging and either try to get things with no packaging, or ones with a recycling symbol. One example would be that I stopped buying bottled juice and now get concentrate--except orange juice. A lot less waste and space taken up. Some people may think that I am to into recycling, but at this point it has really become a way of life! I don't give it much thought at home and I love not having mounds of trash going to sit at the landfill forever, but rather smaller amounts of mostly organic materials. Although I was told by an answerer of a question I posted on Yahoo Answers that her community offers organic bins for anything from food to tissues. They take the stuff and compost it and make it available to farmers and such...awesome...

Our water bill was almost $100.00. Our toilets all leak. After much research of dual flushing low flows I have however found some low flow, single flush Kohler's priced very well--which we will purchase when our taxes come back. So much for being green; 11,000 gallons in a month. I am more concerned with conserving water for financial reasons than green ones--although financial reasons are also green!

The kids are doing well, finally the thick fog of chest and head cold that has been lingering for almost 2 months is lifting. Evie has started to say "ma ma" which is a delight! She's making her way all the way up the stairs now and enjoys eating anything we have for dinner cut up small.
Asa has been as busy as ever. He likes making "drinks", concoctions of gross sorts, that I find in the mornings sometimes. Today it was: juice, a whole clementine, cereal cheese, an egg--with the shell mixed in, and butter. He also has been getting into christmas presents. I definitely need to keep my eye on him constantly.
Tyler has been getting excellent grades this first part of third grade. He also made a friend on our street which has been nice for him.

Oh, and Bella. Bella is a black four year old pomeranian that we have opened our home to. A close friend is moving and can't bring her so she now resides with us. The dog is pretty perfect. She doesn't shed, bark, chew things up. She's very friendly and loving and easy and CUTE!

I hope everyone has a great holiday season this year! I most likely won't blog again until the new year comes!

ok

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:36:00 +0000

I feel like I am actually getting my work done now! I mean I still have so much to do, but I feel so much more motivated seeing a lot of things done. Evie is pulling herself up to standing and already cruising. She is amazing, although I am her mom--so I would think so!!

Christmas is going to be low key this year, but I think it'll be a great one. I still don't have decorations up other than the tree. I want to buy some garlands and a wreath and maybe some outdoor lights since we actually have things to put them on out front.

I am thinking about putting some baby items on Craigs List but am a little worried about letting strangers know where I live. I am not typically a paranoid person-but this just makes me feel a little uncomfortable. I was thinking of telling whoever may possilbly want my items that I would put them in the middle of my circle by the mailboxes for them. I guess I sound crazy. Maybe I should just see if anyone would want the stuff through someone I know.

I need to watch a good movie..it's been a while. Our electricity bill was 160.00 in November, up from 120 in October and 65 in September. That makes me feel bad. I know that our home is insulated poorly. When we work on the basement walls I want to put more insulation in the walls and on the ceiling over the patio. When we do the kitchen and remove the soffet I want to insulate through the ceiling (which is our bedroom floor) over the front patio. Both of those places where the floor is above the outside are sooooo cold. I need to price how much it is to use that spray insulation. I was also thinking of pricing the cleaning and sealing of our tiles in the bathroom. The tiles aren't cracked but some of the grout isn't as pretty as it once was. I know they can fix it and make it look beautiful again, I just wonder if it's other worldy expensive. Someday these things will get done!!

I really want to get one of those HP touch smarts. I love the fact that it is so streamlined. I don't like a lot of wires going every which was on the desk. It'll fit great in my built in desk that I am going to make :) Maybe someday. The basement is SOOo cold though. AH I can't imagine being down there on the computer.

I read a lot about seafood recently. Monterey Bay Aquarium has a lot of interesting information about what fish we should eat. Personally it sometimes goes a little overboard in the enviromentalism issues--but nonetheless there is good info among them.

Anyway I better go finish my scrabble game, this dude who is destroying me really wants to end this so his rating can go up!!!!

Monday

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 03:00:00 +0000

I wish I had a creative hobby. Actually I wish I was motivated enough to just get everyday things done let alone creative fun things for myself! I love creating things. It feels so fulfilling to make something that looks nice. My house is my project now I guess. And I can't even keep it clean!

I want to purchase an area rug for under my dining room table since it's in the living room. It collects so much dust under there and I am constantly sweeping. While it's probably cleaner to have no rug, it looks cleaner to have one! It will need to compliment the new beautiful area rug I bought last week. I stopped at a store since they are going out of business and saw some berber area rugs for about $30 so I couldn't pass that up. I had my brother with me because he was working on my bathroom and we needed to run out and get some hardware at the store. I asked him if he liked a particular berber I had pulled out. He didn't seem very impressed, he was meandering over to the expensive rugs with cool colors and prints. He pulled one out and said, "I like this one!" I agreed that it was pretty but it wasn't in my price range and I headed back over to the berbers. He said that the one he was looking at didn't have price tag on it and brought it up front to the cashier. They said to him that they would give it to us for $30, even though it was obviously not the size, or style of those of that price. I saved a bundle! On sale that rug should've been $120.00!!! After I paid the woman said to me that I got the deal of the night. I am still so happy with it, it's cool blues and browns and tans in like a checkerboard four square style that has a Japanese floral print going on in the squares. Very nice, and looks awesome with my floors, couch and wall color! So glad I brought him with me! There was another rug in the "cheap" bin which actually complimented the one I bought and I was thinking maybe for the dining area, only it was pretty thin and it might get really wrinkled when the chairs are moved back and forth on it.

We all lost our voices today. And I thought we were getting better!
I think we should all buy soaps and cleaning detergents that are made with plant bases versus petroleum product bases, it'll help lessen our dependence on oil. Recycling plastics DEFINITELY helps as well. I am trying my part. Moving out here has been a real gas saver as well. I spent $37 in the last two weeks. Usually I spent upwards of $140...because I drove further and because the gas prices were higher. Right now they are about $2.29/gal and when we were in Strasburg last week we saw some for $2.09/gal.

Mark has been playing Fallout 3. It's pretty interesting I guess. He will be done his degree at Eastern this February. I can't believe how quickly that went. It will be so nice for him (AND US!) when he doesn't have anymore schoolwork to do. Although he was mentioning his Masters with another school. This online program has really been awesome for us though. He has done so well and has been home with us!

Christmas will be here before we know it. I am not looking forward to the financial part. We'll see what happens. This year I wanted to do something different regarding family gift giving. In past years we've bombarded our kids with gifts and emptied our pocketbooks doing so(and it still didn't compare to what some of there friends got!). They in return seemed overwhelmed and unappreciative. They didn't see the value in the little things. So this year I wanted to get them involved in the giving even though they are so young. I figured that if each of us buys a gift for each of us then everyone will have a gift and have given a gift to everyone. I think it'll be more special and we can focus on giving rather than receiving--and MAYBE not spend as much.
I threw out our Christmas tree when we moved. It needed to be chucked because we had kept it in the mold infested basement and it had a yucky smell. It still worked though, so that was hard. We didn't have a lot of room either so I had to part with it. Last year after Christmas at Home Depot they were selling gorgeous fake trees pre-lit and tall for $10-$30 I almost did it, but I didn't know where I'd keep it and didn't even know our moving situation, but BOY I wish I had one now :) It'll be fun to put lights up this year on the bushes in the front. We had a sterile concrete patio at the last location and I could only decorate with pots.

I need to go to bed :)
Goodnight

THe WhoLE StoRY

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 22:42:00 +0000

So for the past few months life has been busy, crazy and fun. We are chipping away at house work. Mark is just about finished the floor in the basement. That makes all the flooring in the house done, except the kitchen, which we are re-doing in the spring and the upstairs hallway which just needs to be re-situated >>? Evie just got over he first stomach virus. That was really tough for me. Asa had the same thing a few days before. She has mastered the army crawl and can crawl "for real" for short periods of time. She's getting really big too at 6 months she's 16.14 lbs(50-75%) and 27.25 inches(90-95%) tall.

I am so glad the election is over. No more hoping or caring. Now we know and don't need to discuss anything anymore. I didn't vote for Obama but I am at peace with him being our president. God is ultimately in charge anyway. I voted for a Libertarian who I thought would be an excellent choice for Auditor General, but he didn't even come close. I blame that on ignorance more than anything. I think a lot of people vote straight party because they haven't researched the candidates. I am actually guilty of this in the past. Enough of the political talk though!

I still haven't hung anything on the walls yet. Evie's room no longer has a lamp either( i knocked it over and broke the glass) We are still kinda camping, but really settled in as well. I want to get a sectional for my basement and two bookshelves. There is a built in book shelf down there and I want to turn it into a office space, like a built in computer desk and my files can go above it in the shelves. It will be very streamlined and space conscious. I am excited about that. My brother came over and helped us put the light up in the powder room. Now all we have to do to that room is patch the drywall, sand and paint. The flooring in that room will be replaced with the kitchen floor.

We had Empire Today come and put our carpet on the stairs. They did it as quickly as the ads say and at a better price then a local carpet store with remnants, I was impressed!

Our family had some fun outings as the pictures suggest below. Last weekend we went to Strasburg Railroad for FREE!! We got tickets from a friend and some more from my mom and some other tickets for the Choo Choo barn. It was a perfect day for the trip and maybe we can make it an annual event.

The week before that we went to Highland Orchards and also had a great time. I bought this hummus called Bobbi's, I have to say I think it's the best I've ever had! They also had milk there with re-useable bottles. I wish my local stores sold milk like that. I wish we never stopped being so less wasteful like in the past. Everything is about convenience now--but I believe that really comes at a bigger price!

My township just upped their recyling program and will now take plastic #'s 1-7 and all kinds of papers and cardboards and even empty tin cans and aerosol cans plus all the regular stuff like glass and aluminum. Last week we had only two kitchen bags full of trash to throw out. I was so proud :) That is definitely my new goal to have 2 or less bags of trash a week.

Tyler had his hair dyed for the Phillies if you are wondering from the pictures. He got to go to the parade too. Sounded like a lot of fun! Very excited about the phillies. But I am kinda a bad fan who only watches them when they hit the World Series. Oh well!

Thats All for now!

fall

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 22:00:00 +0000

First we have hiking behind our new home. It's a truck graveyard and very interesting place to explore.

Then We have our new home. Evie's room and the color on the Living Room Walls. However I know I need some better pictures, both quantity and quality-wise.

Then We have Highland Orchards and Strasburg Railroad mixed together. Good Times.

And a random picture of Evie in her Halloween Costume: pink bunny. I need to get pics of Asa and Tyler(or should I say Obi Wan and Darth Vader)

your input is needed

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:17:00 +0000

Could someone give me advice on the color of my powder room?

We are running low on funds, so I am trying to cut corners while still making the place look nice!

Here is my dilemma:
I bought 3 gallons of Valspar Lyndhurst Castle Sand for the living room and only used just over one. I LOVE the color and am thinking about putting it in the powder room too, since i have so much and haven't bought the Behr Fountain Spout yet(which I also love) Is it a faux pas to have two rooms on the same floor painted the same color? I was even thinking of doing the same flooring in the powder room as well. Maybe I am over thinking it?

almost in

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:32:00 +0000

We move in in 2 DAYS!!! Very excited and overwhelmed. I am almost finished packing, running a little low on boxes when I thought we had too many!

We still have to paint the kitchen, powder room...hallway upstairs and entryway, but those things can even be done when we move in. I changed some of the colors from my earlier post: Living room is Valspar's Lyndhurst Castle Sand. Kitchen is Olympic color match to valspars: morning sunrise. Olympic makes zero voc paint, thats why i chose it!

I need to lose some extra pounds here, about 12 to be at a comfortable weight where i can actually fit into my clothes instead of pry myself into them. It's still not my pre-pregnancy weight from before Asa, but it's a fine weight. I hate the changes that happened to my body from pregnancy. It's so irritating to see people survive pregnancy and childbirth virtually unscathed. I did not get those genes. I don't want to make it overly important to me but it does upset me, some days more than others. Even if I can't make myself look good underneath, I can shed some extra weight and get in shape. It's so hard to find the time to exercise these days. This is a crazy time of life, i know, sometimes i just want to go drive somewhere and hide. I am a wimp. Things will be easier when we are moved in and settled--I hope. It will be nice to be closer to friends and family.

I got another bug bite last week. A large ring formed around it and I went to the doctors. She is treating me for Lyme's again. The first blood test they did came back negative though(like last time). They are also testing me for different kinds of Arthritis. I have MUCH joint pain.

Evie and Asa are doing well. Evie just pukes a lot, all over me(like just now) and Asa is really into calling me names. If I never get called a "punk", it'll be too soon. Today he was being very rude to me so I told him I didn't want to talk to him anymore. He got very upset and kept saying, "Please forgive me Mom!!" I said, "You don't even know what that means!" and he said "Yes i DO!". I said, "Well how come you don't change whenever you say you are sorry and ask for forgiveness?" He said "I will be a good boy!" I said, "How?" "I will change my heart!" I thought that was pretty cute!!!

I scrubbed his rug in his room yesterday, but am pretty sure the stains which I couldn't get out will be the cause of the loss of some of our security deposit. Oh well!!!!!

I will post some new pics of the progress at the house when they get emailed to me! My camera is not flashing twice, so all the pics come out black...:( I have to read the owners manual, which is somewhere in box stacked in a pile of major confusion.

PRAY FOR ME. Sometimes I don't think I'll survive the day.Wow this post title should be titled: Crybaby!!!!

paint colors

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:32:00 +0000

I have chosen some paint colors:

Living Room:
Behr Contemplation
Behr Pinedale Shores

Kitchen:
Ralph Lauren Lafayette

Powder Room:
Behr Fountain Spout

Master Bedroom:
Behr April Mist
Behr Lion

Boy's Room:
Behr Carribean Coast

Evie's Room:
Behr Pink Amour

Upstairs Bath:
Behr Aqua Smoke

and now it's gone..

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:37:00 +0000

I feel so guilty for not keeping up my blog. Where do I start?! We bought the house. Settlement was easy and fairly quick. We started cleaning up the house the next day, all the carpets were ripped out and we began TSP-ing the walls. I love the house, despite all the work that still needs to be done! After only a week of trying to clean her up we accomplished tearing out all the rugs and staples and cleaning 80% of the walls and ceilings. Then came vacation on August 23. We had a great week at the beach. Great weather even when poor weather had been for casted! Evie had a great time and loved the beach! She was so good all week. Asa had a hard time because his eczema flared up terribly and caused him to be irritable, I felt so bad for him. In fact, next year we are going to break our 6-year streak of beach going because of how Asa reacts to the sun, sand and salt water :(.

On the third night of being there we went out on the beach at around dusk. My brother Andrew and Dad and brother Ben were all fishing. I was watching them when all of the sudden far out over the water appeared this bright cluster of star-like lights--maybe 10 of them. They didn't move and didn't fade for 15 seconds or so. It was bizarre! They vanished just as quickly as they appeared. I ran to everyone around me asking them if they had seen it. Most had, and then it happened again, just slightly to the south. WEIRD! We were thinking it could have been an emergency flare. Unfortunately after the second set of light disappeared we pulled the camera out and they never came back. A while afterwards we saw the coast guard fly out to where we saw the lights. They hovered there for a while and then kept going.
In the midst of all of that Andrew caught a shark! It was amazing to see! It was about 3.5 feet long over 20lbs in weight. I got a bunch of pictures. A cool experience!

So vacation was great, and we got home and started working on the house again. We picked up the flooring, all 6000 lbs of it. It looks beautiful, I can't wait till it's all laid out.Mark's parents have been working at the house a lot, replacing floor boards, cleaning and spackling. All we have left to do is, finish cleaning the kitchen ceiling and walls, and the upstairs bath as well. Some more wall paper needs to come out of the eating area and Evie's room(quite a chore). Tonight we are going to start painting the ceilings upstairs, because we have to start the floors this Saturday! I think we are also going purchase the appliances for the kitchen!

Asa turned 3 on August 12th. We took him to Chuck E Cheese with his brother and cousin, grandparents, and some uncles :) I took all of the pictures on his grandma's camera so I haven't gotten them yet.
I have a sore throat again, very strange and Evie and Asa have colds!
Tyler turns 8 today! We will have to have a party for him this weekend.
Lots of pics for you!: Living room

the summer is flying by...

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:30:00 +0000

real quick:
Mark turned 31 over a week ago.
We visited with family from Canada last weekend.
Our 4th anniversary is tomorrow!
Evie has been using the walker - but basically just to play with the toys on it's tray!
Asa is fully potty trained!
We make settlement in just over 2 weeks!
We received a free washer and dryer!
Tyler is super tan.
I still can't get anything done around here...although--
Scrabulous was deleted - I'm waiting on the new Scrabble application to work right!
...time to watch Lost--nevermind it's too embarressing of a movie to mention!

so much is happening...

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:24:00 +0000

A lot has been going on around here lately. Sometimes its good to be busy, other time there can be too much happening at once. I wish I could blog more. We do a lot of fun things as a family, and I take a lot of pictures. I don't post them all because it feels too late. Evie has been good. Asa's been slightly sick, but happy. The weather hasn't been great. Life is so fragile. Someone is always sick or hurt or dying. I like to think about all the "what if's" in these situations, but it doesn't matter what if, because things are supposed to happen this way in life. Maybe to teach us how to deal better for situations to come or maybe just to make us feel less comfortable in our temporary location: earth. Somewhere is these packages of sadness, is joy, although a lot of the times it seems hidden--especially lately.

Mark is going to see the new house tonight. The inspector is coming and will go over everything with him. I asked him to take pictures and do some measuring.

The house is 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. It's got a finished walk-out basement and backs up to an open field and beyond that, woods. It needs a lot of work as the owners were extremely heavy smokers. We're going to take about a month and half to fix it up, new floors, new appliances (hopefully new cabinets) new bathroom sinks, bathtub and shower...lighting.. new paint throughout. It'll be a lot of work but we are blessed with many people having offered their services. I absolutely love the location of the townhome and am so thankful it opened up and we were able to get it.

We had a carribbean party for my mom's 50th last saturday. It went really well and was really pretty! I had the task of bringing exotic fruits...yum. Although as we were leaving things went awry: Asa scratched his eye with sand and it was horrible looking, Tyler was throwing up and Evie was crying for food. I was so tired and stressed when we finally got into the car. All I could think about was how I had nursery the next morning and how tired I would be. BUT all the kids fell asleep on the way home and we were able to go to sleep early and wake up on time for church! WOO HOO!

FINALLY!

noreply@blogger.com (L) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:16:00 +0000

Our offer was accepted on the townhouse we wanted! Praise God. It's been a long haul, but I think the first phase of relocating is over! We'll end up being here until probably the end of september--to give us time to fix up the house. More to come...