Good morning everyone!

I’m off to work with my mom today.  We are getting ready for an upcoming yard sale we are doing together in a few weeks.  I am feeling really great today.  I have had so much energy in the last couple of weeks.  Now with the racquetball I am getting some good cardio and I feel great.  I haven’t felt this good in years.  Sad huh? 

I have my two month check up on Tuesday.  I’m kind of excited about it since this is the one where they will release me to normal life.  Fingers crossed. 

For those of you who want to know, I have now lost 56  pounds.  Yesterday when we were working in the yard I wore my fanny pack with my Walkman in it for the first time since the surgery.  (Yep I still wear a fanny pack.)  I couldn’t believe it.  I snapped it and it fell off.  I was so excited I had to measure it.  I had to cinch the sucker 7 inches!  Can you believe it?

Hope everyone had a great weekend.  We had a good one, but you can read all about it below if you want.  I just want to ask for your prayers really quick.  For silvernicks who is starting her new job today.  For sulimb who is still a bit sick but on the mend, however her husband just stumbled in the door with the same case of the cruds she has had for the last week.  Please pray for hisgatekeeper, my hubby, who is testing for tech in about three weeks.  Okay I think that is about it. 

And with that I will leave you with my thoughts and prayers.  Hope everyone has a great day.  This feels like a good week.  Like koffeekween said, two beginnings in one week.  Monday a new week and Tuesday a new month.  Take care everyone.

Oh yeah I know the song doesn’t fit the post but the sound of it does.  I used to love this song in high school so for me it screams happy hot summer days with the windows rolled down just cruising along the highway.  Happy days. 

Courtney

Well we have finished working on the front yard.  It took two days, a lot of blisters, broken finger nails, sore feet and hands, and a lot of hard work but we got it done.  We really love doing yard work but we haven’t had a chance in the last few months between my surgery and all the rain so this was really fun and oddly relaxing.  I promised I would post before and after pictures but it is just going to be after, I forgot to take some before.  Oh well.  Here you go.

Doesn’t Ryan look happy now that we’re done.  I love this pic since his head covers the huge junk pile on the side of the house waiting for bulk pickup day in two weeks.  Oh well you can’t have everything.

This is a side view of the house from the neighbors yard.

I took this picture just so you guys could see how massive the cactus in our front yard is.  It is called a Pipe Organ cactus and in the late spring and summer it gets these huge dinner plate size white flowers that bloom only at night.  I will have to take pictures for you in a couple of months.  This cactus has been here since this house was built and is now one of the largest in the state. 

This is my front entry way coming from the driveway.  I love having the raised planters.

This is what you see when you turn the corner in the pic above.  Ryan taking a break.

Here are a few of the boys being miserable since we don’t let them in the front when we are working.  Can you believe Yoda can get his whole head through the gate?  Actually last year he made it past his shoulders and then got stuck.  I’m amazed he still does this.

Gandalf going Kujo on us cause he wants out.  Can you see those claws?  Yikes!

So there are the pictures.  We had a great time but are now pooped.  We are going to go play racquetball again just to loosen up our muscles and then its movie and nap time.  Hope all of you have a wonderful day talk to you tomorrow.  Or maybe later tonight.  We shall see.

Courtney

*EDIT 2*

Okay everyone I fixed the links.  Sorry about that.  I forgot and tried to link to my private page so it wouldn’t work.  Now it’s linked.  Sorry what a thing to do.  Give you a shameless plug then not let you get to it.  Whooops.

Hey everyone, did you know that I write movie reviews?  I don’t even know if any of you care but I do write them.  I figure with a husband who watches, loves, collects, and memorizes all things cinema I should at least make a record of what I do and do not like.  I have put a link for it in the My Story module off to the left called…… Did you know I write reviews?  Feel free to stop by and critique my critiques.  Just thought I would let you know.  Have a great night everyone.  Hope you all are having a rad weekend.  Oops sorry spillover from the movie I watched (and reviewed) tonight.  What was it you might ask?  Well guess you’ll have to click on the link to find out!  How was that for a shameless plug?

Courtney

*EDIT*

Okay can I just tell you how much I love being able to change the song with my mood or to fit my post?  I love it!  The song currently playing is in honor of the movie I have just mentioned above.  Don’t worry I saved the httm code for my three part classical and I will go back to it eventually but right now I am having a bodacious time with this!  Ooops another 80’s throwback!  Well now you know my dirty little secret I kind of sorta think the 80’s are AWESOME!!!!!!

*ANOTHER EDIT*

Okay so that was a blast.  How did I do you might ask?  Let’s just say Ryan and I have something else to laugh about now…….  Talk to you all tomorrow.

*EDIT*

Okay a day of physical activity it is.  I am now on my way to the park across the street where my wonderful husband is going to attempt to reteach me raquetball.  I am really excited.  It has been forever and I miss it.  The truth be told though I think he only wants to teach me so he can practice often enough that he can beat my dad when they play.    Well off I go to break something…..  Have a great night everyone.

Okay I’m changing the song again, as I’m sure you’ve already noticed.  Here’s why…….

I woke up this morning to a beautiful day.  At first I was a little upset because this was the day the construction was supposed to start and it would have been the perfect day for it, but I decided to take my own advise from yesterday and  I changed my mind. 

Today I am going to garden.  It has been along time now since I was able too and so I have decided to take my husband to Home Depot get some plants and tackle my yard.  I am really excited about it.  It is one of my favorite things to do.  I have raised planters that need new seasonal flowers.  I missed rose planting season last year and there are a few spots I am just dying to put rose bushes in.  I have a tree that needs replacing.  I need a rose vine for a trellis in front of my house and a few of my planters need replacing. 

While I am doing all of that my husband is going to clean out and wash both cars and maybe do some reorganizing of the tool shed and garage.  We have decided to take this day which started off as disapointment and turn it into opportunity.  I can’t wait to get my hands dirty.  I think I may be brave and even plant a few bulbs this year.  I have some hybrid red and gold tulips I have been saving for just such a day as this…….

Hope all of you are having a wonderful weekend.  I am going to post some before and after pics a little later.  Thank you all for you encouragment and for your friendship,  I know I have been a bit of a bum lately but things are going to look up whether on their own or if I have to force them…… lol Everyone take care and enjoy your weekend. 

And so without further ado….. IT’S MY LIFE, IT’S NOW OR NEVER……..

Courtney

So this is my song of the day.  I have told you before that I will make peace when peace is needed and make war when there is need for that.  I am sick and tired of being beat down in life by all the little things that happen.  Sometimes I can focus so completely on the little things that happen (and don’t matter) that I lose sight of the things that truely need my attention.  So today, this is my song. 

Bring on the Rain.

Another day has almost come and gone
Can’t imagine what else could go wrong
Sometimes I’d like to hide away somewhere and lock the door
A single battle lost but not the war (‘cause)

Tomorrow’s another day
And I’m thirsty anyway
So bring on the rain

It’s almost like the hard times circle ‘round
A couple drops and they all start coming down
Yeah, I might feel defeated,
I might hang my head
I might be barely breathing – but I’m not dead

Tomorrow’s another day
And I’m thirsty anyway
So bring on the rain

I’m not gonna let it get me down
I’m not gonna cry
And I’m not gonna lose any sleep tonight

Jo Dee Massina and Tim McGraw

So what happened today you might ask?  Just what I said, nothing important.  You have heard me grouching the last few weeks about the rain we have been having and how it has delayed a home project that we have been planning for for almost a year.  We finally had the money for it and it was delayed by rain for three weeks.  So tomorrow was supposed to be the first day, and the weather is beautiful, no rain.  I have been so excited all day.  Then I got the call that our contractor is backing out of the job due to some isues at work.  Not his fault, just life, no problem we hadn’t given him any money yet.  It’s just frusterating.  So now we are back to square one and have to find another contractor and I really don’t think we are going to be able to find one for as low as this guy was.

There are other little furstrations that have been rearing their ugly little heads.  We have been planning a camping trip with my grandparents for the last two months.  It is in two weeks and we have been so excited about it.  I have been the kind of excited that makes the time creep by.  I feel like a kid getting ready for Disneyland.  We replaced some of our old camping gear and bought an air mattress.  We haven’t had a good camping trip in over a year and this would be the first one in years that I would be feeling good and have enough energy to take hikes and just have fun.  Today I got the call.  It has been cancelled due to our record breaking rain.  Lake Alamo is full and the washes are so full that the acess to the lake is all but cut off.  We are going to still go out to the White Tank Mountains about an hour from here but it won’t be the same. 

There are other things.  Too many to name.  Too insignifigant to talk about.  For example my new fish tank has a problem and I have lost half my fish.  My whole computer has crapped out in peices so I have reformated a total of five times in the last four weeks and we have spent way too much money replacing parts and upgradding.  My dog has an ear infection.  A thousand little things and nothing at all.  Just life.

So here is the deal.  I am sick and tired of letting these little things get to me.  I am a woman capable of making war.  God has given me strength, might, and a very strong will.  I will not stand here, a strong woman fully clothed in armor ready for a battle and let a few chigger bites bring me to my knees.  Like the song says “A single battle lost, but not the war.”  I am not gonna let all this junk bring me to my knees.  I will not.  I am going to move on find another contractor and smile.  I am going to go to the White Tanks and have the time of my life.  More mountains to climb anyway.  I will medicate my tank and replace the fish I have lost.  So I spent the money, the computer is better and faster now anyway.  I will buy meds for the dog.  I will deal with it.  I refuse to let these little thing ruin anything for me. 

So what it really comes down to is this.  I am being attacked.  I have been fighting off the attacks for years I think the devil just figured out that the big stuff won’t shake my faith so he is using the little stuff to distract me so here is my attitude….

Tomorrow’s another day
And I’m thirsty anyway
So BRING ON THE RAIN!

Good morning everyone.  Hope everyone is doing really good and you all are feeling better.   Seems like everyone is sick lately.    There is not too much going on in life lately. 

It is raining again.    Crazy weather for Phoneix, Arizona.  Just to give you an idea of how bizare this is.  The 30 year average rain fall per year in Phoenix, AZ is 8.14 inches.  We have been in a drought and last year our total rainfall was 7.14 inches.  So far this year in January and February we have had 4.75 inches.  More than half of our average rainfall in two months.  So far this year we have surpassed Seattle in rainfall.  This time last year they were saying that one more year of this drought and we would be on water rationing for the next five years.  This moring they were showing pictures of the mountains right here in the city and they are so green it looks like pictures of Ireland.  Amazing.  As much as I have been gripeing about the rain because it is delaying the construction on my house,    I am so grateful.  We needed this so badly.  We have forcasted rain every day this week except for maybe Saturday and Sunday this week.  (Fingers crossed)  They are saying that as of right now there is no end in sight for this pattern of rain.  God is just pouring out on this city after so long.

Last night my husband and I got into bed and turned on the news.  Normal nightly routine.  Then Ryan looks at me with this horrible grin on his face.     I asked him what was up.  (To be honest the look was a bit scary in the dark.)  He didn’t say a word just started tickling me.  Of course the only recourse was to tickle back we ended up having a half hour long tickle war.  We were laughing so hard that at the end of it my stomach hurt so bad and my face felt worn out from smiling.  The unfortunate part of this little war was that at the end of it I was wide awake but Ryan fell right to sleep.  So I was laying there awake listening to my husband snore and I started thinking.  We laugh so much in our marriage   no matter how much we have been through there is always laughter.  We are so blessed and so happy.  I was looking through some pictures this morning and found this one of us when Ryan came home from Germany last year.  This is a typical picture of us.  We love to laugh. 

I think that this is one of the ways we have made it through all that we have been through.  I think we have somehow found a way to live by my father’s words of wisdom at our wedding.

“May your life be filled with the three F’s.  Faith, family, and fun.  May your faith be as strong fifty years from now as it ever was, may you always remember that you are a family and stick together, and may you never forget to laugh and have fun.”

Now looking back I realize that these three things, in this order have been my strength through it all.  My God   first and foremost, my husband second  , and our ability to have fun through all of it.  I am always saying on here, that life is in the journey and not the destination.  Last night I began to realize just how true that is.  If we had gone through all we have been through without laughter what would have been the point?  If you life and have no joy in it what are you truly accomplishing in life?  If I die tomorrow and never hold a child in my arms I will always have had this wonderful, and truly joyfull, five years with a man I love completely.   

Okay so my post about rain took a little turn.  I have tried to catch up on all of you.  I hope you are all feeling better today. I have changed my song for the day.  (Don’t worry Tammy I will bring back the classical later. )  This was mine and Ryan’s early marriage song.  Still makes me give an “ah sweet once upon a time memories” sigh and my heart beats a little faster.    The thing that’s cute is that he picked this song because of my hair.  It’s so long when we are in bed it gets all over his face.  He wakes up choking on it.  The guys at work pick these huge long hairs off his uniform and he says he won’t walk on the carpet barefoot no matter how much we vaccum because there is a chance my hair will get tangeled around his toes.  (And you wonder why I don’t really mind having a dog that sheds.  I already had to sweep everyday anyway.)  Pretty romantic reason to pick a love song huh?  I love my husband. 

Courtney

Hey everyone,

Sorry it has been so long it has been an interesting weekend.  The computer crashed again.  This time it was a problem with the hard drive which as far as I know has now been resolved and we shouldn’t have any more problems.  So this booger is up and running again for good this time (here’s hoping)  Thank you all so much for your comments about my house.  I didn’t intend to leave that as the top post for so long but I’m glad you all like them.  

For those of you who asked me.  Yes I have thought about doing interior decorating however, there is schooling involved.  I like the decorating part but not the background stuff so really I am content with doing it for myself and helping with friends and family when I can.  There are so many things that I like to do but when I think about turning them into a career it takes the joy out of it for me.  The other thing I do is mural painting.  I specialize in kids rooms and nurseries.  I love doing them and I do work for money once in a while.  I know I have mentioned this before and some of you have asked what I do exactly so I’m going to post a few pictures.  These are of my sister in laws room when we first got married.  It is a beach scene that goes from day to night.  All the stars glow in the dark.  It was a lot of fun to do.

This is the day side.

This is the fade from day to night in the corner.  It’s weird the fade looks much better in person and there is no purple the pic is just old.

This is the night side.

The closet sunset.

Thats only one room.  There are other things I have done but I don’t have pictures of them.  I need to go get some though. 

The guy who is doing my door didn’t come this weekend.  Too much rain.  Next weekend God willing.  I would really love to get this done.  I don’t do well with the waiting thing.  Have you noticed?  Hope all of you are doing good.  Talk to you soon.
Courtney

Good evening everyone,
This post is going to be a picture post at the request of one of my readers.  Eight_New_Beginning is a young man about to be married (well, in six months) to his sweetheart  , Alyson.  Hi Alyson.   He asked me a few weeks ago if I would post pictures of my house since he had seen past pictures, and apparently liked the way I decorate.   He said he wanted me to post pictures so he could show Alyson and maybe they could use some of my ideas.  I personally think this is a huge compliment and am more than willing to ablige.      

I also bought a new office desk and fishtank and had wanted to show them to you guys anyways so I figured I would kill two birds with one stone. 

So I cleaned up my house, with help from my hubby and took a bunch of pictures.  Here you go Shane and Alyson.  Hope they are what you wanted.

This is my entry way…..

Then immediatly to the left is my sunken living room…….

My dinning room…………And galley kitchen…….

 

This is the entry to my bedroom…. a small built in vanity……

My bedroom……….  

That, on the right, is my very cool new fish tank that I wanted to show you guys.  It’s curved glass in the front and is 38 gallons.  We are going to do a tank of tetras and Gouramis.  And here is a close up of it……  

Here is my family room, on the left of this pic is the galley kitchen, so when I’m doing the dishes I can see straight out to the backyard.  And on the right is the door we are taking out.  I will put up pictures of that whole mess when the construction starts.  If it ever does……..  

And the other side……  

And last but not least the room I spend a lot of time in,  the office…….   The second pic is of an Amaryllis bulb that I forced this winter.  It’s about to bloom and you can bet there will be more pictures when it does………….

 

And this is the desk I have been telling you guys about.  I love it.  Have you noticed that this room is the only room in my house I haven’t painted?  It was going to be the nursery but now I think I will move that to the guest bedroom so I can’t decide what to paint this room yet.  Hmmm………  

So there you have it.  That’s my house, or most of it at least.  There is a guest room and a frog bathroom but neither are painted the color I would really like them to be, so someday when I finish them I will post more pictures.  Hope that this is what you needed Shane, and thank you for the compliment. 

It just started to rain really hard here.  I am having the hardest time with this weather.  We have been through seven or eight years of drought and now it is raining constantly.  I love the rain so I am excited, but I am trying to get construction done in my house, and here in sunny Arizona  , it rains, and there is no construction.  So I don’t know how to really feel about this.  Oh well.  I’m just anxious because we already tore all the molding off and took down the venitian blinds to prep for it.  So now my house is semi torn apart and I am going nuts.   I do not do well when my house is not all together.  Not to mention my husband was kissing me in the kitchen tonight   and I look up and my neighbors behind us are waving at us from their kitchen.  Uggg talk about embarassing!  Okay I talked myself into it.  I’m bummed that it’s raining again!  Oh well. 

Hope you all have a wonderful night.  Take care and get well for those of you who are sick.    

Courtney

Good afternoon everyone,
I tried to get around and comment to all of you.  It’s good to be back.  I was going to come on and write today but there was nothing I could think of to write again.  So I am going to leave you all with this story that was emailed to me today.  It is a tear jerker so be prepared.  Hope you all have a wonderful day.  I am going to go walk my dogs and then clean my house so I can take pictures for Eight.  I will hopefully be back later.  Take care and enjoy.

Courtney

You are My Sunshine, My only Sunshine”
(Be prepared to get watery eyes!)

Like any good mother, when Karen found out that
another  baby was on the way, she did what she could to
help her 3-year-old son,  Michael, prepare for a new
sibling. They found out that the new baby was  going be
a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael
sang to his sister in mommy’s tummy. He was building a
bond of  love with his little sister before he even met
her. The pregnancy  progressed normally for Karen, an
active member of the Panther Creek United Methodist
Church in Morristown, Tennessee.

In time,  the labor pains came. Soon it was every
five minutes, every three, every  minute. But serious
complications arose
during delivery and Karen found  herself in hours of labor.
Would a
C-section be required? Finally, after a long struggle,
Michael’s little
sister was born. But she was in very serious condition.
With a siren howling
in the night, the ambulance rushed the infant to the
neonatal intensive care
unit at St. Mary’s  Hospital, Knoxville, Tennessee. The
days inched by. The
little girl got worse. The pediatrician had to tell the
parents there is
very little hope. Be prepared for the worst. Karen and her
husband contacted
a local cemetery about a burial plot. They had fixed up a 
special room in
their house for their new baby but now they found 
themselves having to plan
for a funeral. Michael, however, kept begging his parents
to let him see his
sister. I want to sing to her, he kept saying. Week two in
intensive care
looked  as if a funeral would come before the week was
over. Michael  kept
nagging about singing to his sister, but kids are never
allowed in
Intensive Care. Karen decided to take Michael whether they
liked it or  not.
If he didn’t see his sister right then, he may never see 
her alive. She
dressed him in an oversized scrub suit and marched him 
into ICU. I looked
like a walking laundry basket.

The head nurse  recognized him as a child and
bellowed, “Get that kid out of here now.  No children
are allowed.” The mother rose up strong in Karen, and
the usually  mild-mannered lady glared steel-eyed right
into the head nurse’s face,  her lips a firm line. “He
is not leaving until he sings to his sister”  she
stated. Then Karen towed Michael to his sister’s
bedside.

He gazed at the tiny infant losing the battle to
live. After a moment, he began to sing. In the
pure-hearted  voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sang: “You
are my sunshine, my only  sunshine, you make me happy
when skies are gray.” Instantly the baby  girl seemed
to respond. The pulse rate began to calm down and
become steady. “Keep on singing, Michael,” encouraged
Karen with  tears in her eyes. “You never know, dear,
how much I love you, please  don’t take my sunshine
away.” As Michael sang to his sister, the baby’s
ragged, strained breathing became as smooth as a
kitten’s purr.  “Keep on singing, sweetheart.” “The
other night, dear, as I lay sleeping,  I dreamed I held
you in my arms”. Michael’s little sister began to
relax as rest, healing rest, seemed to sweep over her
“Keep on  singing, Michael.” Tears had now conquered
the face of the bossy head  nurse. Karen glowed. “You
are my sunshine, my only sunshine. Please  don’t take
my sunshine away…”

The next day… the very next  day… the little girl was
well enough to go home. Woman’s Day Magazine  called it
The Miracle of a Brother’s Song. The medical staff
just called it a miracle. Karen called it a miracle of
God’s  love.

NEVER GIVE UP ON THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE.
LOVE IS SO  INCREDIBLY POWERFUL.

Life is good.
n God We Trust!

“The evidence of God’s presence far outweighs the
proof of His absence.” –  Unknown

Good evening everyone.  Sorry I didn’t come back on this afternoon I got really busy and my mom and dad came by.   I am waiting for Ryan to finish fixing my van   so we can go grocery shopping.   So I have a few minutes to write and then try to catch up with all of you. 

 

Just to give you all a quick update.  The guy that was doing our backdoor  didn’t start yet.  He couldn’t work on Saturday because of all the rain.   So he is starting this upcoming Saturday, weather permitting, here’s hopeing. 

 

I still am going to post pics for Eight_New_Beggining of my house.    I still want to put up pics of my new fish tank,   and the office   since we finished it.  Things have just been crazy.  The computer     is finally done (crossing my fingers)  So I should be able to come on again.  I hope everyone is doing okay.  I am going to go visiting now and if I don’t get to you now I will when we get back from the store.  Everyone take care and have a great night.  

Courtney