Welcoming Back a Social Life

Yes, I have been away the online and social life for a while, for a few good reasons. I been raising my children, working full time, and going to school. I have been beyond swamped! I like it that way though. I like to be busy, to be constantly doing things that I enjoy. I thrive on learning. I love every minute I spend with my family. I enjoy working in higher education.

Who has time for a social life with all that? Well, truthfully, I have on and off. I have always tried to make time for those who are important to me. This would mean visiting family when I have the time and money to do so, having a girls' night out with friends locally, and visiting with friends in Topeka after Logan's Saturday football games during the fall. My sister Betsy also got to visit us for a very inspiring weekend at a women's conference and for Shane's birthday dinner.

I believe I have learned to defy the limits of time. I have made time to enjoy life while doing everything that I need to for my children and completing my education, both of which are very important to me.

Now I am done with school. YAY! I completed a Master's of Science in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution from Creighton University School of Law in December 2011. You would think this would give me some "extra" time. Not really. Actually, not at all.

You see, after graduation came the holidays which meant parties and a short vacation to Texas to see my mom and Lester and my grandparents. My grandparents sold their home so we helped them decide what they would be taking with them to move... to our house! Yep! This past couple months we have been preparing for my grandparents to move in, helped them move in, and are trying to help them settle into our crazy lives. We are all enjoying each others' company. The boys and Shaun love having them there. I especially love having them there. I have not had family living in the same state as me, besides Shaun's parents who are our neighbors, in about 14 years. It was hard for me to have my family so far away. It still is but now I have my grandparents, who are absolutely wonderful. I still hold on to the idea that more of my family will move back to the state or at least within half a day's drive so we can visit each other more often.

Over the past couple months I have regained a bit of social life. I have had game parties at my house, had friends and family (Shaun's) over for dinner, had time to have lunch with friends, been able to read for fun, helped throw a last minute bridal shower, attended a baby shower, and had time to chat with friends over the phone or internet. There have also been a few baked goods appearing in my house; my sons reminded me how much I love to bake. I have stayed just as busy as before but in different ways.

A social life, to many people, includes online interaction, such as blogs, Facebook, Google+, and other similar sites. For me it has included Skyping with my sisters. I rarely get online to Facebook. This is the first blog entry I have done in a year. I figure if there is anything important happening in the lives my friends or family my husband, other family members, or friends will tell me directly. It is not that I am avoiding Facebook or Google+. I simply do not "need" them to help me live my life. I have enjoyed the freedom of not checking friends' statuses regularly. Yes, I like to know what people are up to, what excites them or upsets them, but I am not going to take time to browse Facebook for lengths of time like many people do. If I am on Facebook it is usually just long enough to respond to a message or check up on my son's activities online. While there I may "like" or "share" something someone has said or occasionally share something happening in my family's life.

I am now spending time enjoying life. I enjoy the quiet moments I have to play a card game with my grandparents, read a book, bake bread, shuttle my sons to their various activities, or simply clean a room in my house. While I am busy I am pacing myself so that I enjoy these moments more.

Social life? Sure, when I make the time to do something with a friend, or have dinner alone with my husband at a nice restaurant. To me having a meal with a friend means more than reading their status online. Having time to enjoy my grandparents, Shaun, and my sons at home means more than anything to me. I plan to spend this weekend at home. Most likely I will be found cleaning, organizing, baking, playing a game, or reading. (Oh, and hunting for a couple more baby items to send to my sister Golda!)

This is how I am welcoming back the life I have had to arrange around school for the past few years. Now I have time to relish in the time spent being me, not being a student, but being a mother, a wife, a granddaughter, a friend. This is what keeps me busy these days. I LOVE IT!

Take time to spend with those whom you love now. You may not have the time to do so later.

Giggles

Last night Logan and I made some monster cookies and bars to give to a friend and for us to snack on. They have oatmeal, 3/4 bag chocolate chips, 1/2 or less bag peanut butter chips, 1/2 cup peanut butter and everything that an oatmeal cookie normally has except for the raisins and half the amount of cinnamon. Logan does NOT like raisins. Although I added peanut butter I did not take out the real butter, which I think made them even better. Butter always= better. Here's what they looked like: After, well, there were a few cookies left...and a friend and his kids will enjoy some of the bars while his wife is out of town. Also last night, Logan was enjoying playing with Aj. When Aj is tired he is easy to get to giggle. I took this video with my cell phone (same with the photo above) so it's not the best, but you can still here Aj giggling if you turn your volume up-way up.

Favorite Recipe for an Easy "Cheesecake"

After reading a friend's blog post of pumpkin cheesecake (go here) I decided to post this recipe. It's a 10-minute recipe and SUPER easy. My favorite kind! It's from memory so it might not be exact. It's easy to play with though.

Fluffy Pumpkin Cheesecake:
1/2 can pumpkin
1 small container (8oz?) cool whip
1 block cream cheese (8 0z?) softened
1/3 cup sugar
Pumpkin Pie Spice (2 tbsp? start with 2 tsp and see if that's enough-I'm not certain which it is.)
graham cracker crust- I like to use individual pie crusts so I buy or make a few little ones.

Whip ingredients together, put in crust(s). Put in fridge until ready to serve. Always a hit! I usually double the recipe to be sure to have enough. I make this at least once each season at home and quite often for potlucks during the holiday seasons. Enjoy!

I want to try my friend's pumpkin cheesecake but it will have to wait until I have time. She's a wonderful baker so I'm sure it's delicious! I've added it to my mental list of things to do while on maternity leave. Ha! I have so many things that I want to accomplish during that time while I'm home with the new baby, with the kids home from school over break, and then when I start the next semester... I really should write these things down!

Food Storage

Shaun, Logan, and I visited Sam's while in Topeka today. We were able to stock up on water, juices, LOTS of canned fruit, new pillows, and many other items. Once home we had to find a place to store all of our new stuff. Luckily we have two pantries, one upstairs near the kitchen and one in the basement storage room. We've needed to organize these again for a while now. Shaun asked me to go downstairs with him as he brought down our newest purchases. I started moving and organizing our large, mobile shelving. After bringing everything downstairs he worked on organizing the built-in shelving. By the time we were done, approximately an hour after returning home, we had shelves that resembled a grocery store's. We also had a large bag full of boxes and trash. I LOVE to be organized. I was seriously tempted to start right in on the kitchen pantry but had to pass on it due to the time and needing to do a few other things before heading to bed. We hope to do it next week during a free evening, or next weekend.

I just have to say--- ANYONE would be happy to have the food storage we have. I'm proud of us. We've come a LONG way with our food storage and have managed to store at least three or four months worth of food, minus water. We talked about the need for adding both drinking water and water for other uses. That might be our next step.

The best thing about our current food storage is that it's all food that we'll eat (that IS the point) and it's all easy to make foods. We could probably use more of some basic ingredients such as flour (maybe) but we have tons of sugar!

Logan's update- The doctor appointment went as expected. After a week on the oral steriod and Advair inhaler, nothing has changed. His lung function is still unchanged and lower than it should be. The doctor decided to check his sinuses so he ordered a CT scan which was immediately scheduled at the hospital across the street. Logan enjoyed the CT scan and can't wait to tell all his friends about it! Later we received a call from the doctor's office. Everything was normal with the CT. Nothing wrong, yet again. So, now they want to try a different medication. We worry about his taking meds for a condition without an explanation of what is wrong but we also want to figure it out. On Monday he'll start the new med, whatever that may be. We need to call the doctor's office back to find out and have it called in locally.




I took these pictures of Logan a couple weeks ago while working on a photo assignment.

Tidbits of Today's Thoughts

It has been a while since I blogged. Oops! Life took over as usual. It's been a crazy month. Here are a few of my recent thoughts:

1. People who get lost in K-State's new parking garage make me laugh. Seriously people? It's not that big! I'm still trying to decide if the price is worth parking there. We'll see.

2. I'm pregnant, not broken. I'm pregnant, not dumb. YES this pregnancy was planned. NO I'm not regretting it. YES my children's ages are very spread out. YES I am cute with this protruding belly; I don't mind saying so and I don't mind hearing it. WHY do I feel like I have to complain when I am asked how I'm doing knowing full well that random people I don't know that well ask me and are referring only to my pregnancy. I'm a person too you know! My life contains many aspects, pregnancy just being the most obvious at this point. Overall I am doing wonderful and loving it! YES I have some discomfort from pregnancy and YES my back aches. NO I'm not bloated, yet.

3. My boss is great! Today she decided we needed to have an ice cream social so that I could show off my 3D baby pics to some friends working down the hall. She announced this to me as she was walking out the door to a meeting. I had the small ice cream social while she was gone. :) I guess that was her plan. It was fun. She had provided the ice cream. I provided the pictures to look at. It was me and three others. What a nice late afternoon break!

4. YES, the 3D sono pics and perhaps the video (if I can upload it) will be online, probably tonight since I'm procrastinating on watching an online lecture!

5. My kids are aggravating me a lot lately. Probably because I'm always tired and therefore moody. They seem to be very loud. Logan fusses too much and doesn't think he has an "indoor voice." Shane isn't applying himself, anywhere, at times. Otherwise they are wonderful boys who just want to hug and cuddle with me A LOT. Yes, that annoys me at times but I deal with it. I love their hugs and cuddles too much to let it annoy me for very long. I'm very blessed!

Hmmm. There were three or four other thoughts that I'd tried to share however blogger has been giving me problems. Here's the short version of those:

6. Shaun has been great, most of the time. :) He's been spoiling me with meals in bed once in while and has been very understanding when I am tired and grouchy. He knows when to avoid me. He has also helped me to complete a couple photography assignments for an online class. I have a hard time being inspired for this class just because I am tired and don't want to do things by deadlines. He helps me to meet the deadlines though and has been having fun learning along side of me.

7. I have started the application process for graduate school. I am still planning to go to Creighton, in Omaha but mostly online, for Dispute Resolution and Negotiation with an emphasis on educational institutions. I tried to link this earlier but that was what started my half hour of blogging problems so I'm not going to do it again! Shaun "mentally clapped" his hands for me Monday when I called to inform him that I have decided to go ahead with the August enrollment for my application. The admissions rep assigned to me suggested that since this is a very competitive application process and only 15 people are allowed into each class that I should apply for May or June instead of waiting for the August class due to the number of students who apply for the more traditional start dates. I was told that my GPA and career goals will be a great fit for them and that I should have no problem with being accepted so I decided that I, and my family, deserve a few months break before I continue my college career. Summers are hectic enough around here and I really want to have a short time without coursework. Adding a baby to our summer baseball schedule will be enough to handle! I decided if I am not accepted in the August class then I will apply for a later class whenever offered, most likely the following January, May, or June. As long as I get in eventually I will be fine.

8. I use contractions too often so I'm cutting back.

9. There was something else... Oh well! I'll do another post if I remember and deem it important or random enough.


These were just a few "thinks" I thought I would share. :)

The End.

The Past Few Crazy Days

Our overnight in KC was great! We stayed at the Hyatt Place Overland Park/Convention Center. Very NICE! I found this place to be better than the nearby 3 1/2 star hotels nearby, plus they served a continental breakfast which meant we didn't have to pay $10 each for a breakfast buffet (which I probably could not have eaten much anyway). The decor was nice the beds were comfy and we had lots of pillows. Shaun's favorite part was the 42 inch flat screen TV which you could watch either from bed or from the L-shaped couch in the living area of the room. This was a very clean hotel with great staff and good food options (you could order from the snack bar anytime).

Thanks, in part, to our GPS we found out there was a Japanese Steakhouse nearby (see Han Shin Japanese Steakhouse's website- this is where we went). The GPS got us to the right area but I had to call to find out exactly where it was located because the GPS was wrong. We hadn't eaten at one of these before so we were excited when we got there and it was what we expected. We had our dinner (which we shared a LARGE meal) cooked on the flat grill right in front of us. We shared the table/cook/grill with a local couple. The food was great and very filling. I'm so glad I hadn't ordered my own! I couldn't have kept it overnight so it wouldn't have been worth it. The hotel room did have a fridge but I didn't want to smell the food the next morning (pregnancy nose) and we wouldn't have been able to eat it for lunch the next day anyway since we were traveling back to Manhattan by then.

Finding the U-Haul was another story with the GPS. ARGH! Who knew there were two roads in the same vicinity with the same name? Of course the GPS didn't tell us this and didn't let me put in the exact address of the U-Haul store. Nope, we had to drive the same short road three times while I called U-Haul and asked for directions only to figure it all out myself because they were screwed up too. Apparently no one had told them there is another road either. Once we got the U-Haul everything went smoothly. We loaded up after spending some time surfing catalogs at Direct Buy. Shaun also ordered pasta maker attachments for our Kitchen Aid while we were there. The trip home was happily uneventful. When we picked our boys up at our friends' home they offered to help with unloading so that went quickly.

To add to the day's excitement, I convinced Shaun to go browse at the "Greatest Sale on Earth" which is in the football/basketball stadiums' parking lot here in Manhattan. The three major local car dealerships bring all of their cars to the parking lot and together have a massive sale. If you haven't seen it it's worth at least driving by. And of course that means the dealerships look like they've all closed which was funny this year with all that has happened with the economy. Our "browsing" ended up meaning that we left with a new car. Dang sales trap! I knew better than to go but really wanted to figure out what we could afford IF we decided to buy something before the baby is born. Hmmm. Fooled myself I guess.

Instead of just going around looking at minivans and SUV's that we knew we couldn't afford I went straight to a sales tent of a local dealer and asked them some questions. I wanted to know what our car would be worth as a trade it and what to expect for monthly payments if we financed. I got the trade-in value without even a peak at our car and was told that financing (with our excellent credit which they also didn't bother to look up) would be about $22 per thousand financed. OK, that gave me a better feel for everything. I asked if they had anything used that was priced around $10,000. We were only interested in minivans and SUV's so that really limited us. They soooo wanted us to just find something expensive that we liked and then come talk. I wasn't falling for it! I asked a salesman who looked nice to bring us to anything they had like what we wanted. They had TWO SUVs and that was it in our price range. So, we looked at the first, almost laughed because it was smaller than our car, and then he showed us the second very unenthusiastically. He seemed tired from working all day and pretty sure that we weren't getting anything anyway. But he was still nice and polite. We thanked him after seeing the second SUV and said we might be back later. We then visited another dealership's area but quickly realized they didn't have what we were looking for so we headed back.

The salesman we had spoken to a little earlier came back over to the SUV when he saw we were back and was very helpful. We ended up taking it for a quick test drive and dropping the boys off for a baseball party at Time Our Corner and then bringing the SUV back to the parking lot. The salesman asked if we wanted to talk about it and I said yes, but that we only had about 15 minutes because I needed to leave for a photo gig. Well, in the short 15 minutes I got the deal I wanted and we agreed to come back later that evening with our car ready to trade (he still hadn't done anything but move it about 20 feet or so but had already committed to a better trade-in price). After photographing a wedding reception Shaun picked me up in the Buick and I called the salesman to say we were on our way back. We met him there, exchanged vehicles, and paid CASH for the remaining part owed. It was crazy fast! Shaun and I were so very proud of ourselves for being able to do this and we felt so grown up. This is the first car we've purchased on our own and we were able to do so with only our savings and a trade in. It was truly amazing!

So, that was our Friday and Saturday. Sunday was very relaxing. After church I studied (ICK! Hate to do that on Sundays.) and the boys and Shaun cleared out their bedroom so the furniture could be assembled. Shaun cleaned the carpet and then Monday evening we assembled all the furniture and the boys started moving their clothing into the dresser and Logan brought his from his closet and took over half of Shane's closet. It was a fun family evening!

Feeling Good Inside

Tonight, after running a couple errands, Shaun and the boys and I met for dinner. No waiting, a good start. We were sat right away and then the dinner went downhill. Since the waiter was busy the hostess offered to get our drinks, which we thought was nice. She brought them back a couple minutes later and then, as she was setting them down, spilled Shaun's drink across the table and into my lap. ICK! It was totally an accident so I didn't get upset. I just got up quickly and dried off my dress, my arm, my leg, my foot, and my shoe, then helped her with drying my seat. She apologized a few times and we told her we knew it was an accident and it's was ok.

Once the waiter got to us we ordered our food right away (Shane had a baseball practice 1 1/2 hours later--I got him there a few minutes late). We then waited, and waited, and waited. Our food finally arrived but we hadn't received refills during the long wait, my steak was overcooked, the appetizers had still not arrived, Shaun's onion thingies on his burger were soggy not crisp as they should have been... Getting the picture? Nothing seemed to have been right. About five minutes later or so a confused waitress brought us the appetizers. She couldn't figure out why they were ours when we were already half done with our main meals. The waiter, who was very busy and very nice, volunteered to talk to the manager for us because he knew it wasn't going well. The manager happened to have just left to get our refills and then finding out our dinner issues came right back to see what he could do. He offered to write off the appetizers that were sitting there uneaten and wrote off my meal since the steak was overcooked and I didn't want to wait another 30 minutes or so for another. We were very polite and happy with this.

Since I wanted the meal to at least end well I suggested to Shaun that we buy a nearby young soldier's dinner. It was the least we could do. Most of our meal was free and the young guy (possibly under 20) looked so very lonely. We did so and then he very shyly came over to thank us. Shy as he was, he didn't know what to say. We shook hands and I thanked him for his service to our country. Shaun did also. The boys, who love soldiers, were in awe. They thought it was really neat that the quiet young soldier had come over to talk to us so we told them what we had done. Their faces lit up and to me that was priceless. I wanted to cry and almost did when shaking the young man' hand. Obviously we weren't the first to do this at this particular restaurant. When I told the manager and later the waiter that we wanted to do this they didn't seem at all surprised. I got a "sure, no problem" and it was added to our bill. We also tipped nicely since we really were happy with the service at the end.

I didn't put this on here to brag. It just felt extremely good. I wanted to share that with all of you, my readers. The feeling of doing something that felt so right, even though we should have been upset the service of the restaurant was horrible, seemed perfect. It made me even prouder of our soldiers and it showed our boys a good example of how to treat others. We didn't get upset about the dinner but found a better solution. One that obviously meant a lot to the young man sitting nearby. And an example and feelings that I hope my husband and sons never forget. Thank you to all those who serve our country. This wasn't my first time buying a meal for someone who has served us, but it's definitely going to be the most memorable. I hope by sharing our story that I can influence others to be generous too. Next time you are having a bad day, bad dinner, whatever, just remember that there are people out there who go through much worse than we do. Be nice! You never know how much it will mean to you in the end. I'll probably forget the service at the restaurant, the spilled drink and wet dress, but I hope to never forget how good I feel about the outcome of our dinner. The surprised look on the soldier's face and the look in my sons' eyes will be a part of me forever.

This Evening's Adventures: For Celeste!

Shaun and the boys left for a scout camp out for Logan's pack at noon today so...Tonight I had my friend Celeste and her four daughters over for dinner (homemade BBQ grilled chicken pizza and brownies- no need to be too healthy!) and baby photos. It was lots of fun and they kept me awake and semi-energetic. Since I was still awake when they left a couple hours ago I decided to go ahead and process (edit and play with) the pictures of the baby. She's gorgeous and fun. Even though she wouldn't smile at me much we were able to get some great shots! I think she's around 3 months old now. Celeste and I have been trying for the past couple weeks to figure out a time to get together for this and tonight worked out quite well. Here are my favorites. I couldn't narrow it down any further. :)






The girls have nick-named the baby "hippo mouth."











This was the only kinda-belly shot that looked good. She's not a happy belly baby, yet.






This was the reaction we got most of the evening. She wasn't in the mood for this.









Something made her happy! Probably mommy making faces!







This is one of the most beautiful baby blessing gowns I've seen. I love the details and scalloped edging.




Oh my!





Blue-eyed baby.






She did this several times. I think this is what she thought of me! :)









You mean we're done? That's it! Yay! Now I can smile and be happy.

My Weekend and Upcoming Week

Not too much fun to tell about, but I did spend two days in Lawrence at a mediation training on Thursday and Friday. It was about domestic violence and mediation. Many people will say that you can't mediate a case that involves DV but the group that sponsored the trainings did a good job of proving otherwise. The sponsoring group was the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence. Read their webpage for more information. They do A LOT of good stuff. These trainings really opened my eyes to the helping relationships and resources available to victims. I hope to never need to mediate such a case, but I feel that given the right training and tools, which I received last week, I could probably do so in the right situation. Obviously not every case can be mediated.

I got to see a couple friends Thurday and Friday, too. I stayed the night with Heather and Jeff on Thursday night after Heather and I enjoyed some yummy bbq ribs at a local bbq joint we'd never heard of but another friend had recommended to me. I'll definately have to go there again! Now I'm back to my normal life, if it can be called normal. :)

Saturday I was asked to take pictures of an extended family. Group pictures seem to be my specialty lately. I'm not sure how that happened. Below is one picture of some VERY cute little guys who happen to be my friend Mandi's little (or not so little) family. She couldn't be there because she was in Utah with her mom for General Conference (big church meeting that is broadcast worldwide twice a year) and a college reunion but I enjoyed catching up with her husband, Gene, and meeting his side of the family. *I'll have the CD to you soon! I'm ordering it tonight if my internet wants to cooperate.*



I have a family portrait session coming up in two weeks and another extended family session either Nov 1, Dec 5, or Dec 12 (depending on which weekend they can all be together). I also have a couple more families looking at dates in the next month or two. I absolutely love getting paid to do something I enjoy so much! The fact that they are willing to pay me makes it even more fun than me doing it just for fun.

Speaking of portraits, my friend Rik, who also does a lot of photography and has started his own side business as well (much more than I do) took pictures of us in August. Go here to see a few of those. I plan to order some soon. We are very happy with the results. It was a fun session and not even Shaun complained!

Well, I'm supposed to be doing homework and studying. Guess I should get back to that. Take care!