Lazy Weekend

Nothing too exciting to report. Friday evening a storm blew through right as I was getting Bubby out of daycare. The wind was very strong and the rain was coming down very hard. Several trees were blown down and power lines were knocked out. Thankfully our part of down just flickered off and on. From what I understand there are still homes in other parts of the city without power this morning. So after sitting around watching the storms pass Friday night (one of my favorite things to do by the way!) we had some friends over. It was a casual night just hanging out watching movies.

Saturday we did what has became our usual routine of heading outside around 10:00 a.m. and setting up the sprinkler and kiddie pool. Jake will play all day long outside if I let him. I have never in my life seen a child that loves water as much as my little man. So while he plays in the water I try my best to catch some rays. Normally I am interrupted by Bubby spraying me with a squirt bottle or water gun. Sometimes he'll even go as far as using the hose or picking up the whole sprinkler itself and aiming it at whatever adult appears most vulnerable. If you prefer not to get wet he knows it and makes it his mission to attack. I rounded him up around noon and took him in for his nap time. Since I had predetermined this weekend as being a lazy one I went ahead and napped right along with him. After nap time we had company over again. I like to think these are my friends stopping by to see me but in reality the only person of interest in our household is the Jake man himself.

Later that night after Bubby gave it up and passed out (well after 10:00 p.m. I must add) we decided to head out which I was thankful for as I was getting cabin fever at this point. We drove around for a while as my friends wanted to check some things out. Afterwards we ended up looking for a thrill. We had talked the night before about a place in Memphis that has a reputation dating back to the 60s. This place is called Voodoo Village. The history is too much to go into detail about here. Everyone living in Memphis has had their stories and we needed ours. It took us a while to find it as they had removed the street sign. Finding it was more thrilling than actually driving down the street itself. We actually drove down it once without even realizing what it was! Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, there were no thrills to be found. Nothing crazy came after us and we weren't blocked in as rumors have said happens. We actually didn't see a single soul and the crazy paintings and sculptures were so overgrown with woods that we couldn't see them without using a spotlight. So eventually we wandered back home and decided to call it a night.

Sunday morning brought another round of thunderstorms. It was so nice sleeping to the sound of a heavy rain. Bubby gave in and slept in to a decent hour as well.

Like I said all in all it was a lazy weekend. I am not the lazy type so today I am halfway regretting it. I didn't make it out to the barn which means I didn't take a check out for the farrier who came this morning. So my horses feet didn't get trimmed (think a big fingernail being filed). Last time I forgot it made my horses sore when they finally got done. Oh well, there are worse things in life to fret over.

Random thoughts for today as I sit here bored at work...

I really want to visit Ireland one day. At this point any vacation would do but I think going to Ireland will be one of my need to do in my lifetime goals. It's absolutely stunning. The movie P.S. I love you brought this on. In reality I can remember being a very young girl and dreaming of Ireland so it's not a "new" dream but one I need to embark on at some point.

I'm a goal type person.. A new goal I set for myself a few months back is to be moved out of my parent's home by the time I turn 25. That is a little over a year away. Very realistic goal. However, I will not settle for an apartment or neighborhood home. I MUST have property so that my horses can be there as well. Financially I cannot pay board and a house note. My hope is to find somewhere with enough acreage that I can bring an outside horse or two in and make some extra income that way.

If everything works out another long time goal will be reached in the next few weeks. I am hoping early July to take my horse Sandy in to have a full out lameness exam done. I hope to finally find out what is wrong with her and determine if she will ever be sound enough to ride or if she will live the rest of her life as a pasture pet. Either way she'll be with me until the end of time.

Not much more to ramble about today. It's a typical blah Monday counting down the days until the next weekend!

Where oh where....?

Did I leave off?! November?! That was oh only 7 months ago. I'm a spontaneous blogger at best. What's happened in the last 7 months? Bubby celebrated the big 2! Yes my baby is now a terrible two. Truth be told he joined the terrible twos months before he actually turned 2. He's started the potty training process. He goes all day at school on the potty and throws it all out the window at some point on the way home. But hey at least he is going somewhere right? He's figured out how to climb up onto the counters, open up the refrigerator doors, open up the gates that once confined him to his outside play area, and no door is too difficult for this kid to open. If he wants it he's getting it. He just recently received his very own room. What?! Yes bubby went the first two years of his life deprived of having a "bedroom". He was forced to sleep with his mother every night and while she stuffed all of her clothing into one armoir he had to take over every drawer in her dresser. Fortunately he kicked his aunt out in the recent weeks and he now has his own bed and his own dresser. Not to mention all of his toys now have a safe haven instead of strolled all over the living room floor. Next step would be to actually allow him to sleep in there right? Don't tell momma that though. I don't think she can justify why he needs to sleep in his own bed just yet!

What is new with Amanda? Well somewhere in that goal list I posted was something about buying a new truck right? Consider that one acheived. I'm now the proud owner of a 2005 Chevy Silverado 1500 Z71. Extended cab of course so Bubby can hang out in the back and pick up chicks. It's my favorite color... green. Dark green. It appears black at night or if it's real over cast. I love love LOVE it. I've been working real hard with my main man Gator...the horse. We're trying to hit the show trail as often as possible. I'm pretty proud of him and hope to continue sharing updates as we progress.

For now I'm over and out. Maybe I can get back in the groove of this thing they call blogging.

Check it out.

MckMama has a new contest going on. Visit My Charming Kids to enter the Small Fryday contest yourself. Even if you do not enter please take the chance to check out the blog itself. It's filled with MckMiracles and an absolutely beautiful family. I am hoping to take the chance this upcoming Monday to finally join in on the "Not Me Monday" posts!

See I told you I'm a procrastinator. Here it is Saturday and I'm just now telling yall about a Fryday contest!

Be on the lookout for Saturday morning pictures. If you hadn't noticed I'm not working this morning and I have several pictures to upload and share from the last week or so and maybe a few from this morning if Mr. Grouchy pants will lighten up. Apparently Mr. Lion isn't cooperating at this moment...

Basketball, Fever, and Goals. Those totally go together.

Bubby went back to school today! His temp was somewhere b/w 99-100 last night so I crossed my fingers and he didn’t appear to have a fever this morning. I say he didn’t appear because he didn’t let me keep the thermometer in the full amount of time! I think it stayed in long enough but truthfully I was running so late I went with no fever and threw his clothes on for school. My mom is picking him up early today so we’ll see how the new teacher report goes. Poor baby. I’m sure he was so confused this morning.

Well, it’s that time of the year again. That’s right people. It’s Tiger basketball season! Yeah, yeah, yeah it’s basketball season for everyone but when you live in Memphis it is “Tiger Season”.

Recap thus far:
11/4/08 vs. Christian Brothers, Home, W, 83-52
11/15/08 vs. Fairfield (Puerto Rico opening game), Home, W, 90-63
11/17/08 vs. Massachusetts, Home, W, 80-58
11/20/08 vs. Chattanooga, Puerto Rico, W, 83-71

That brings us to today 11/21/08 vs. Seton Hall, Puerto Rico at 6:00 p.m. our time tonight.

GO TIGERS GO!

Now for a post I’ve wanted to do for a while now. I have several goals for the near future. When I say near future I mean within the next 6 months. The thing about these “goals” is that I have been trying to fulfill them for literally a few years. No joke. Well crap happens and stuff has prevented me from getting them done. I really feel in my heart that I will be able to meet, if not all, almost all of these judging by where I am in my life.

1. Buy a truck.
2. Take my mare Sandy to the vet and get a diagnosis for why she comes up lame.
3. Buy a horse trailer.

The last goal is one that I see myself procrastinating on. I am very blessed to have wonderful friends in the horse world. With that said if I need to borrow or rent a trailer I could do so at any time. Being the independent person I am I definitely want my own trailer in time but it does fall to the bottom of the list when it comes down to it.

Now for a few goals that I just recently decided on.

1. Starting January 1, 2009, I would like to do a weekly devotional/Bible study. The over achiever in me wants to do a daily Bible read/study but I know my weakest fault is procrastinating and I don’t see it happening. Realistically I will shoot for weekly. I plan on doing this through this blog so please look forward to walking with me through this and if needed kicking my butt into gear.

2. Join a gym. I know this is very random for those who know me. The gym they are currently building en route to my barn inspired this. I have passed this massive construction for the past few months and never took note until a couple of weeks ago. I would love to be able to stop by after my barn for some additional me time. I love running but hate the elements involved with Memphis weather, too hot, too cold, too humid, and so forth. I figure I can hit the treadmill and then maybe do some weights. I also am hoping they will offer tanning. This poor white girl needs some rays, fake or not. If anyone reading this rides horses they know the pain of having beautifully tanned face and arms (so what if it is a farmer’s tan!) and then bleached white legs.

3. Get my vision checked. It’s getting worse. Staring at a computer every day for the last 4 years or so has ruined my once perfect vision. I haven’t been to an eye doctor in so long I can’t even remember the last time. If I had to guess it was when I was in school. Yeah like elementary school! My inner dork wants some sexy glasses anyways.

4. Lastly I need to put back money for Jacob’s savings. I decided upon his first birthday that I would put back a set amount into savings every year. What I have decided to do is put $100 x the age he is turning. (Age 2= $200, 3= $300, etc.) Of course with him being so little and not knowing this plan I have not put his first $100 back for his one-year birthday. I need to put the $100 in and stick to my word from here on out. If I calculate right he should have $17,100 put back on his 18th birthday. I obviously pray he will use this for schooling but I have not determined any guidelines at this point.

With ALL of that said (longest post ever huh?), I am now sitting at home with a fever free (but still grumpy) child and I am apparently in trouble because I just now let Loren know about my blog that I have had since, yes, March :)

BFFAA

I just added my bestest friend to my blogs I read list. I have added myself to her followers. Let's see how long it takes her to figure it out.

I'm pretty sure she doesn't know I have a blog. Heck the only reason I know she does is because she checked hers at my house and it was in the URL history!

:)

Way back when

Way back when I first found out I was pregnant with Jacob my first instinct during my "freak out" mode was to research online. Research what you ask? Well obviously I wanted to know just how positive that positive pregnancy test was. I did a quick search and came across a few websites that had message boards. The one that appealed to me the most at the time was Baby Fit. They had a neat little option that told me when my due date was (5/20/07) and after calculating that I found myself on the May 2007 message board. It was starting to fill up with others posting the same questions I had. "Am I really pregnant?!" Needless to say that message board became my safe haven. It helped me learn everything a first time mommy needs to know about well, everything. It also gave me a place to turn to during the first five months, yes five months, in which I didn't tell anyone in the real world I was pregnant. Here it is a little over 2 years later and I still check that board every day!

Back at the end of 2007 one of the other May mommies on Baby Fit posted about a January 2008 mommy whom had found out her LO she was expecting had a defect called an encephalocele. They had posted a link to her blog and hook, line, and sinker it became another addiction. I checked it every day looking for updates and following their amazing journey. Joshua's time on this earth has came and passed but his mommy is still an inspiration. While it's not a daily addiction anymore it is an almost daily addiction and her blog never goes more than a few days without getting read. They are now expecting a healthy baby girl and I'm excited to follow their journey with her as well.

Somehow throughout Susie's blog I came across another blog which led to another blog which lead to more blogs. Most of these blogs detailed the lives of families who were given a different path to walk down by God. Whether it be their little one was diagnosed with Trisomy or an encephalocele or even something in which they had no idea what they were facing just that it was not supposed to end well. There are mommies who were told their LOs were never going to live to their birth, through their birth, or even days after their birth. Many of these stories proved just how much God is in control by surpassing expectations. I found, and still find, myself getting wrapped up in these miracles. Sadly several of the babies I followed over the last year have gone on to watch over us in heaven. The beauty of their stories is the grace of God that still shines through their families.

So when you see the stories of the blogs I read I hope you can find the beauty in it all. I have found myself going through and getting very down thinking about the sorrow they are going through. Amazingly enough these same stories lift me up closer than I can ever imagine to God.

So that is how I came to blog world through the misfortunes of others, others that have fortunately helped me become who I am today.