2:1

Just thought I would let you know... In case you like foaming hand soap, and you buy something like this (like we did)

...and you run out... If you send your husband to somewhere like Costco to buy more hand soap.... If he comes back with something like this.... (like my husband did)...

...there is still hope!!! Inspired by a friend's blog... I mixed two-parts regular soap with one-part water, tipped over the container a couple times, and it was ready to go. It works just like buying bottle of the foaming hand soap at the store. You can't tell the difference, I promise...

Valentine's Day Craftiness

Like most of my posts, this one is a little late, but I still wanted to post about it. This year for Valentine's Day, I wanted to actually do something for my husband that was more than a dinner out and a card. If you don't know my husband, you don't know that he's a HUGE sweetheart. He calls me Princess and spoils me and is very romantic and thoughtful. He always does something really sweet and thoughtful for special occasions (birthday, Valentine's, anniversary, etc.). So, this year, while browsing through the Dollar Store Crafts blog, I got an idea to make something for him I was sure I could actually do START to FINISH!! And I was right!!!

I was inspired specifically by this post. Mine turned out just a tiny bit different, but I like it. Here's what I ended up with.

I decided not to post pictures of all of the pages, but wanted to give you an idea of what I did.

It may seem kinda cheesy, but I wanted to actually "make" something, and wanted him to have something that he would actually remember. Plus, it's something he can slip in his laptop bag and read if he's having a bad day or just wants a reminder of just how great I think he is!

An Idaho Update

It wasn't until I was scrolling through some blogs and saw mine on the side (with the little note that I hadn't updated in 2 months) that I realized how long it's been!

I'm sure anyone that cares knows by now that we're back in Idaho!!! {YAY!!!} We found a house on Craigslist and were able to actually move to a place instead of just arriving in Idaho and deciding who's door to knock on and "crash" at for a while... (We are very happy about that!)

Jordan is back in school and doing horribly (at least in Jordan's eyes that is......he got a 97 on a test recently and a 96 on a paper....poor him)!!!! Really, he is doing well and I'm very proud of him.

I am still looking for full-time employment, however I have been in contact with several temp agencies and sent out on a job. It's done with, so I'm ready for that full-time job to spring up at ANY time. I've been on several job interviews, but so far nothing permanent for me yet. (I'm still waiting to hear back on one, so cross your fingers!!!) In the meantime, I want to say a big THANK YOU to all my friends and family who keep sending emails and making phone calls with suggestions for jobs! I'm following up on them, and I really appreciate you thinking of me!!!

And, for a little bit of honestly, as of right now Jordan and I have both been feeling our depression flare up, and we're managing. It's hard being stressed about all the many things in life we CAN stress about, but again, we're managing. Thank you to all of you who are emailing and calling (or even just thinking and/or praying). We appreciate you and your thoughtfulness, and it really DOES help. We really do appreciate knowing that we can turn to our friends and family for that emotional support when we need it. THANKS AGAIN!!!!

Talk To Me PEOPLE!!!

Hello? Hello?? Who is this-is???? he he he.....

Back in December 2005 (I think!!!) Jordan and I signed up with a local phone company in Idaho for our cellular service so we could bundle our home phone, cell phone and internet into one bill. We've been with them since then, cancelling our home phone when we moved to Oklahoma, cancelling our internet when we went to Clearwire, but maintaining our cell phone service since there were no roaming fees (even living out here in Oklahoma), no long distance charges, etc. Well, we got a postcard in the mail from our friendly cell phone company about 3 months ago saying that they were very sorry, but they were going to be disconinuing their current cellular services in October and that we would need to make arrangements before then (and if we didn't, the phones would simply be shut off). WHAT THE HECK???? Yeah, that's what we thought.

So, since then we're spoken with the phone company, and apparently they are going to switch to a different carrier. Right now they're "piggy-backed" onto a Sprint system, and will be going from Sprint to something else in October (they could've just said that in the postcard...it would've created a lot less stress and a few less headaches....). Anyhoo, so before October, we need to decide what we are going to do. Obviously, the cellular plans are going to be different, so we're trying to figure out what option is best for us. HERE IS WHERE YOU COME INTO PLAY.

With all the friends/family/co-workers/enemies/frenemies/4th-cousin-twice-removed/pick your 5/pick your 10/etc. plans out there, we need to know what the best route is going to be for our buck. If we go with a cellular company that most of our aforementioned list is on, we can reduce our monthly minute plan, saving us money. So, if you don't mind, please take a minute (well, more like 3 seconds) to pick where you belong in my newly created poll, and that will help us decide what company to go with! Thanks a ton!!

A Little Bit of Good News, A Little Overdue

Just like the title says, we've got a little bit of good news that's just a little overdue. Some of you may already know this, but we sold our car!

In March of 2000, I test drove a Toyota Camry. When I got into the vehicle, the odometer had 10 miles on it. Yes, that's right...10...like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. I drove that vehicle around, and signed my name on the dotted line when it had 43 miles on it. I put on those 33 miles driving it to Homedale and back. The car has been through a lot with me, and was a great "companion" for a long time. She (yes, it's a girl!) will be sorely missed. HOWEVER, it was time to graduate my little family to a bigger vehicle and would serve our evolving needs.

And no, this is not a pregnancy post.

With our family now consisting of Jordan and I, 5 dogs and 2 cats, we knew that if we EVER want to travel anywhere again, and still be able to bring our luggage with us, we would need a bigger vehicle. So, we advertised the car on Craigslist, and on June 9, we got the verbal "we'll take it" from a young couple here in Norman. On Wednesday, June 10, we met them at their credit union, signed some papers, got a check, promptly cashed the check, and then frantically said to each other, "We REALLY have to find us a new car!" By the way, THANK YOU SO MUCH to Chase & Meghan who let us borrow their car for a couple days while we were transportation-less. :)

Here's our LAST few moments with the good ol' Camry. And notice that little piece of paper we're holding....?

It turned into a few of these....

Ashley and Richard, the new owners...

After looking around, we finally found a couple vehicles we wanted to look at, and decided that we would look at the ones the farthest away first. So, after I got off work on Friday, June 12, we headed off to Tulsa. After a long drive (2 hour little joyride) we made it. One vehicle was already sold (even though we called RIGHT before we left Norman and they said it was there) and the other one turned out to be EXACTLY what we never knew we always wanted! he he he...

We ended up purchasing a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee (Limited edition). WE ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!! It's got leather seats (we're putting seat covers on so the little kiddo nails don't damage it, wood trim on the dash, 10 cd player, separate driver/passenger air controls, power seats/locks/windows/sunroof, folding down back seats, and much more. We really couldn't be happier with our purchase. We also even had enough money left over to buy 8 new spark plugs (which were BADLY needed...we found out AFTER we began changing them), new seat covers (I don't like them though, so we're going to see if we can't find something different), new oil/air filters, oil, and enough to pay the excise tax and all the title and tag fees that go along with it. We really didn't even expect to break even on our sale/purchase, but we couldn't be happier.

Now all we need is a fake license plate (vanity plate??? not sure what they're called) to replace the one that was on the front....BSU sounds good to us!

A View of My Own

For those of you who are just regular readers of my blog and not members of Swap Bot, here's a little info on http://www.swap-bot.com/ (according to their website):

What is Swap-bot?
Do you like sending and receiving snail mail? Do you like writing letters, making crafts, or putting together fun packages? You should try swapping! Swap-bot is a online service that organizes group swaps and a community of creative individuals. Swap-bot takes the hassle out of participating in group swaps by organizing all of the participant information and doing all of the partner assignments. On Swap-bot, you can host swaps, join swaps, and chat with other swappers from all over the world. Give it a try!

So, I thought to myself, I LOVE getting things via snail mail that aren't bills, so why not up my chances of getting something good in the mail??? So, I've signed up, and while this isn't an actual snail mail swap, I still wanted to participate.

The swap I'm referring to is called "A View of My Own" were you take pictures from around your neighborhood and share them with your swap partners. I figured an email would be a little long, and I wanted to have my description right next to each photo, so naturally I thought my blog would be a good place to do it at. Hope you enjoy "my view"!

December 2007 brought with it an ice storm to Norman, Oklahoma. This is the first ice storm that Jordan and I have ever experienced! This is what the ice did to the trees in our backyard.


This sign cracks me up...It makes me wonder just how you're supposed to tell someone where you're at... "Meet me at the corner of Jones Avenue & Main Street & Abner E. Norman?....."


Oklahoma is the only place I've seen that has "Speed Humps". Everywhere else I've been they're called "Speed Bumps."

Norman has a couple different wall murals painted, so I thought I would take a pic of a couple.

This is one of my dogs, Jack, who REALLY did not want to be sitting here. He did very well though. He was happily running along, not a care in the world....

...that is until he realized there was a "person" in the ground. He got scared and ran over to me. (That's why he didn't want to be on the foot.) This is on the University of Oklahoma (OU) campus.


This is also on the OU campus, and no, it's in Oklahoma, not Europe. I told my husband that this probably isn't even a phone booth anymore, it's probably just used as a rain shelter now and then since so many people have a cell phone these days. I still thought it looked cool though.


Here is the performing arts builing on the OU Campus.


Here is a lone flower....


...on a wall of green.


This statue is in front of the Art Museum on the OU campus. While it looks sorta cool, it's really kinda creepy to me. Not during the day, but at night when the eyes glow BRIGHT RED. I thought it would be better served on the Boise State University campus rather than the OU campus since Boise State's mascot is a Bronco and OU's 'mascot' is the "sooner".



Here's a house(???) across from campus. I'm pretty sure it's a frat house, office, or something else other than a house though. If you look at the fence on the left, you can see just how tall the fence is.....

...a close up view shows that there is a DOOR in the fence. Yes, the fence is THAT high...there is a standard-sized door in the fence for access!!!

Norman has a "table" near the railroad tracks/downtown that has a model of the old town on it. I thought it was pretty cool. (BTW, we just live about a mile OFF the table to the right/East.)


Apparently James Garner was born in Norman, or was from Norman, or something to that effect. I'm not really sure. I DO know that they're pretty proud of him though. This statue is downtown. Standing next to it, I probably come up to his knee, maybe a little higher (I'm 5'6").

This is someone that I KNOW is from Norman! This is me and Christian Kane back in December at "Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill".

This is where I spend 40 hours a week. (Then, I typically go home and at least several nights a week I dream about being here. It's exhausting!!)

This lamp is in a window of a second-story building downtown. It cracked me up.