Party!!

On Saturday afternoon Donnie and I attended a surprise birthday party for Donnie's foster mom, Peggy. We had a great time celebrating her birthday! I also got to spend time with Buford (their 70 pound pit bull). There are only a few dogs that I like in this world, and he is one of them. Although he (the dog) is very found of licking, he knows that I HATE to be licked so he tries to control himself around me. :-)

House Update

We have house news!! Yesterday we had our home inspection and all went well!!! Bob (the builder) found a few small things that need to be done, but nothing huge. One thing that we are defiantly going to do is paint. Here is a picture of me looking at paint colors.

Also the appraisal was done, so we set a date for closing! If all goes as planned we are going to close on the 23th of this month! It is all very exciting!!!

Cherry Nut Ice Cream

I LOVE ice cream. I could eat it day and night. My favorite ice cream of all time is cherry nut. Now, don't go looking for it in stores, you will not find it. This is something that you have to make on your own. The recipe for this has been passed on in my family (on my dad's side) from generation to generation.

My grandma (on my dad's side) would make this for us often when we would come to visit. Now, the recipe calls for walnuts, and seeing that my grandma had a walnut tree in her back yard she was covered. However, often times she would, by accident, leave part of the shells in the ice cream. Needless to say one was VERY careful eating her ice cream.

When my grandma passed away, my Aunt JoAnn starting making it for us. She greatly improved the recipe by using store bought walnuts with no shells. Our teeth were very thankful. My Aunt JoAnn became very ill before she passed away, but still when we came to visit she would always have cherry nut ice cream waiting for us.

Then my Aunt JoAnn passed away, and I thought I would never have cherry nut again. But then my dad had the idea that WE could make it!!!! We had a great time making our first batch together, not really having any clue of what we were doing. So the tradition continues. I often make cherry nut here in C-2, but Donnie seldom gets any because I eat it till I'm sick. As the picture shows I'm currently out of cherry nut. I MUST go make some more!

Burma

Warning....my posts are generally very light hearted, and never political. However, this one is not light hearted and it is political. So be warned. :-)

Today on Comcast website it had an article about a grand wedding that took place in Burma (also know as Myanmar, located in Asia)for the dictators daughter. Burma is said to be one of the poorest countries on the planet, but this wedding is estimated to cost $300,000. The people of Burma have been outraged about this. They are living in poverty and their dictator throws a huge wedding. This would make me mad also, but does it really surprise me? Nope

I spent a very short amount of time in Burma while I was teaching in English in Thailand, and it was by far the scariest place I have ever been. Freedom is such a laughable word in this place. The dictator makes sure that they remain a very isolated country by not allowing reporters in the country. If people are caught with a fax machine or a Internet hook up they are put in jail for 15 years!

My heart goes out for the people of Burma. My heart longs for the day when all God's children will be free. My heart is in constant prayer for them.

We Made an Offer!!

This morning before church we headed over to BJ's office to make an offer on the house we had been looking at! My dad looked at the house last night, and everything looked in good shape to him. After church BJ called with a counter offer. We have gone back and forth many times today, but I think we have agreed on a price!!!!

The only bad side...if we move into a house...what will I call my blog?

House Fever

With many of our friends house hunting, somehow we have caught the house fever. We have been looking at house for the past few weeks. I really want to stay in Detroit, and the homes we were looking at went from bad to worse! There was a house with no pluming, a house that was missing windows, and so on. Needless to say we were getting very discouraged.

However, things turned around for the better yesterday. We found a great realtor, BJ, who showed us two nice houses! Both of these homes had pluming and windows!!!!

The house pictured above is the one we are going to make an offer on. It is SO cute!!! Small...but cute!!! It is in the Old Redford part of Detroit, and all the homes around it are super cute. My dad is going to come over tonight and look at the house so we can get a second opinion. It is all very exciting!!!

I'm so Bad!!!

I have not posted at all this week. I just wanted to let those of you who were getting concerned that I am alive. House hunting, and being sick has taken over my life!!! I will post more!!!!

Gross, Gross, GROSS

So, the drain in our bathroom sink has not been draining well for the past few weeks. We were going to call the landlord to have him take a look at it. (One of the great things about living in an apartment) However, I was cleaning the bathroom today, and I thought maybe I should try and find the problem. Well...I found the problem all right. The drain was clogged with massive amounts of hair, toothpaste, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Donnie being the wonderful husband that he is got it all out for me!!! I had to take a picture of some of the stuff that came out. Enjoy!!!

Apples to Apples

This past Saturday night Donnie and I went over to our friend Nicki's house for a game night. We had SO much fun!!! We played apples to apples. This game is great! Donnie and I had never played before, but its easy and fun. We had a great time. Anyone up for a game of apples to apples?

God is Good!

There is so much good news in this apartment! Donnie is on his 6th day of not smoking!!! I love it!!!! I'm so happy for him!!!! Also, he got a raise today at work! How cool is that? God is doing great things!

Dinner

For tonight's dinner I made soup from a dry mix. However, I have had this soup mix for a very long time, probably too long. It was one of those things that always wound up in the back of my cabinet, and never touched. But when I moved I always took it along with me. Here are all the places that my soup mix has lived:

Mt. Pleasant (while at CMU)

Rochester Hills (living at home while student teaching)

Detroit (in a house) (while working a City Mission)

Detroit (in a apartment) (currently)

I always told myself, one day I would eat this soup and tonight it happened. Lets just say I should have done myself a favor and thrown it away. yuck!

My Dear Husband

My wonderful husband, who has smoked for forever, has not smoked in 4 days!!!!! I'm so proud of him! I know it has to be a very hard thing to do. Yeah Donnie!!!!!

About the picture...it was taken my birthday weekend, and we were goofing off in a restaurant. We always have a good time together!

Bag of Bones

I have never been a Stephen King fan. My hubby on the other hand is a big fan, and has read almost everything that he has written.

On Saturday, I was in the bathroom and I saw "Bag of Bones" by Stephen King on the floor. Out of mere curiosity I picked it up and started reading it, not thinking I would like it. But quiet the opposite happened. I have fallen in love. This book is great.

But there is a problem. I can't stop reading this book!! I had so many things to do today! Did I get anything done? Nope Did I read ALL day? Yup. That darn Stephen King!!!!! I think I'm going to send him an angry letter about his additive book.

There is another problem. Donnie is almost done reading the book, and I have just started. I'm DYING to know what is going to happen. And Donnie (being the rule follower that he is) will not tell me anything!! I have been chasing him around the apartment, but hes not saying a word. That jerk!!! hehehehe

Nanny McPhee

At work (being the wonderful nanny that I am) the kids watched the movie Nanny McPhee. This was about a week ago that I saw it for the first time, and since then I think I have seen it 3 more times. I LOVE this movie. Here's a brief idea of what the story is about (that I found online).

Based on the "Nurse Matilda" books by Christianna Brand comes the story of Nanny McPhee. Cedric Brown is now a widower with seven ill-behaved children who've already chased away 17 nannies. But when a mysterious voice tells Cedric to hire Nanny McPhee she arrives at the Brown home and the kids learn to behave properly.

I made Donnie watch it and he (not even being a nanny) loved it also!

If only I was a magical nanny!!!

Ice, Ice, Everywhere

Yesterday I posted a couple of pictures I took of the ice on trees. Well..I took those pictures because my dear friend Katie sent me pictures of the ice that she took. I thought they looked SO great! She was walking her dog in a nature center north of Rochester, MI when she took these pictures. I have to say I like her pictures much more than mine!

Boy its Cold Outside!!!

Today was a big day! I got out, for the first time this winter, my recess coat! Last year when I was teaching I would have recess duty. When you have recess duty in the winter you NEED a recess coat. I stayed all warm last year this this coat. However, so far this winter I did not bring it out until today. I'm sad to report that the zipper for some reason is not working this year, but the snap work just as good.

While my hubby were out and about I took some picture of the ice that is all over the trees. I think ice on tress is so pretty!! This winter has been so mild, that this is the first ice I have really seen!

I found it!!!!

When I was cleaning out Mint, I found something in the trunk that I had been missing for a while. My Polaroid camera!!!!! I was so happy. As most of you know, I love to take pictures, and I have quite a few different camera's. However, my Polaroid is one of my favorites. Donnie and I bought it 2 summers ago at a salvation army for $3, what a deal!!!!! It has no flash, so pictures turn out best when taken outside. However, I could not resist playing with it inside last night.

Party!!!

Last night my dear friend Emily had a bunch of people over for her apartment for dinner. We had a great time with great food. There was much talk about house hunting, and house buying. All the house talk got Donnie and I thinking about house buying. It would be so nice to have more room, but I think we are apartment people for right now.

In the picture above is myself, Katie, Emily and Courtney. The four of us have been great friends ever since high school. Its so nice when the four of us are all together!

Car Drama

Here is an update on Mint (my beloved car) for all of you who are concerned about her. Donnie and I took her in bright and early on Saturday to get checked out. Well...as it turns out..things did not go well. She is very sick. :-( The guy said it would cost about $2,000 to fix her. So we said no thanks.

The car really belongs to my mother, so she wants her people to give her a second look. So my mother and I have traded cars. My dad is getting a new car in a couple weeks, so I have a feeling that Mint will be sold, my dad will drive the new car, and my mom will drive his old car.

My mom and I had a very emotional trading of the keys ceremony.

It felt very odd driving away in my mom's car and leaving poor Mint.

Saturday Morning Breakfast

Yesterday my dear friend Carrie made breakfast for me at her apartment! How sweet is that??? And she taught me a new culinary treat. You take a pancake, spread butter on it, sprinkle powered sugar on it,then roll it up and enjoy!

I have never done anything like this before with my pancakes, but it was really good! I'm sure I will be doing it again soon!!! Thanks Carrie!!!

Fun Filled Friday

I did not have to work today, so I filled my day with many fun events. First I had lunch with my dear friend Nicki. She is co-pastor at The Oaks (my wonderful church). We had a great time together sharing all of life's joys and struggles.

Next, I headed to the car doctor. Mint (my beloved car) is leaking transmission stuff. So I took her in to get looked at. However, I have to take her back tomorrow so they can have a better look at her. I'm praying that all this work does not cost an arm and a leg. I literally did pray over Mint while driving today that she would be cheap to fix.

After that I headed to Starbucks to meet my dear friend Katie. I do LOVE Starbucks. However, I have been avoiding it because it can become a very expensive habit. I think once in awhile will not break the bank. I had a great time chatting with Katie. Katie and I went to high school, and college together. We even lived together for awhile! It was great to hang out with her.

What a fun filled Friday!

ps. the first at the top of this blog I took while driving home from Starbucks. I'm not sure if this was the safest thing to do while driving, but I do love how it came out!!!!

It's Hot in Here!!!

Currently outside is 29 degrees, and yes we have our air conditioner on. I'm wearing a tank top, with the air on, in January and I'm still warm. For some reason, our apartment gets SO hot. I think maybe because we are on the third floor with all the hot air moving up.

During the day I did have the windows open. However, when Donnie got home I did close them. For some reason he does not like to listen to the rush hour from I-96.

New Door!!!

As my loyal readers know, I try to make sure that my apartment door is decorated at all times. I though it was getting about time to take down the Christmas tree, so I put up some snowmen. (the one in the hat is Donnie, the one in the scarf is me). Keeping with my verse of the year, I printed off more labels and added them to the snowman. I'm very happy with how it turned out. :-)

Love is...

I have picked a verse from the Word for 2007. I am going to memorize it and really let it be my focus for this year.

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

So many times I'm not patient, not kind, I envy I boast, and so on. This year I'm going to try and live this verse. To help me remember that this is my verse of the year I want to post it around our apartment.

One place is on the bathroom mirror. I put the words from the verse on clear labels, and then I placed them on the mirror. I'm really pleased how it came out.

Also I printed the verse, framed it, and hung it near our front door.

I Love Ice Cream!

I'm obsessed with my entertainment book. I use it ALL the time. My parents bought it for my birthday (Nov. 3) and since then we have saved $50.42. Yes, I do keep track. I have gotten to the point that Donnie and I only go to places that I can use an entertainment book coupon. This drives Donnie nuts!!!!

To prove my point I will use tonight as an example. We were going to Royal Oak, so I grabbed two coupons from the entertainment book for ice cream places. ( I do love ice cream no matter what the season) We went to the first place, but they were closed for the season. So I thought we should get back in the car and go to the other place that I had the coupon for. However, Donnie thought that we should just go to the ice cream shop that was across the street, and opened.

Needless to say, I did not take to fondly to this idea! We did not have a coupon for that place!!!!! So, I made Donnie drive me to the other place that we DID have a coupon for. Well....to make a long story short. Donnie and I got lost and drove around for a very long time trying to find this place. Donnie, at this point, I'm sure was planning my death in his head. However, he did not kill me and we finnlay got to the ice cream place and saved $5!!!!!! I have a feeling we spent more money in gas trying to find the place. Ohh well.

Newest Family Member!!!!!

Donnie and I were at Petsmart last Tuesday, (our favorite store to browse) and Donnie fell head over heals in love with this all white hamster. That whole night all Donnie did was talk about that hamster. So, last night we ran to Petsmart to get our newest family member Oy the hamster. Of course I took tons of pictures of him for every one to enjoy.






This is Donnie about to open our box with Oy inside






Of course I had to have my picture taken with our newest addition.

I was feeling bad for Wilber and Timpleton while at Petsmart, so we got them a hard tube thing that they can play in and chew. They did spend a lot of time playing with it last night.

This is Oy going into his new cage.

Although I was not super excited about adding a hamster to our family, I have to admit he is SO cute. I think I will let Donnie keep him. hehehehe However when I called my mom to tell her that she was a grandma again, she was not thrilled. For some reason she does not find small rodent like creature appealing.

Our first order of business with Oy is going to be arranging a play date with Sherry's hamster Jerry. I hope they like each other!!!!!

My First Filling

Today was a big day for me. I got my first filling! I had not been to the dentist in over 5 years, mainly because I had no dental insurance. And there is no way I could have afforded to go without it. However, now that I'm on my hubby's insurance I can go to the dentist. Yeah!!!

I found a dentist that took my insurance and was only like a mile away from me, so that was great. However, seeing that I live in the ghetto, the dentist office was also pretty ghetto. I thought about going out to the suburbs for the dentist. I'm sure it would cost about the same, and I'm sure it would have been much nicer. However, I live in the ghetto to help change it. Running off to the suburbs, in my mind, does not help change the ghetto. Oh well.

Because I had not been to the dentist in so long I got the works done. Full x rays, a cleaning, and a filling. I was scared to death to get the filling. I have gone my whole life never having a filling, and I was pretty scared about the whole numbing thing. I was pretty convinced that I was going to have some sort of reaction to it and die right there in the ghetto dentist office. However, that was not the case, and it did not even really hurt!!! I'm so proud of myself!

And the best news of all? The insurance paid for everything but $18 And the bestest news? Hubby is going to take me to get ice cream because I was so brave!!!! :-)

Christmas Shopping!!!

Yesterday and DH and I went Christmas shopping. Yes, you did read it correct. Our family does small gift for aunt, uncles, cousins, etc and now is a great time to buy these things. Everything I bought was at least 50% off, and now I have a lot of Christmas shopping done already!!!

New Pages!

Here are the two pages that I did for New Years!

Happy New Year!!!!

Happy New Year to everyone! (I know this is a few days late) Every New Years of my life has been spent at the Baughn/Hasenkamp celebration. This year we had new years at my parents house, and as always it was a great time! A highlight from this year is that my friend Katie was there!!!! This was the first time she had been at the Baughn/Hasenkamp celebration.