Messy to Dressy

by Ang

My desk mess has recently spiraled out of control. Today I reached the breaking point and just could not take it anymore.

Here's the story:

My desk sits on one end of our living room. We have a two bedroom home - one is our bedroom, and the 2nd bedroom is my husband's home office (he works from home). So when I moved in, I knew I wanted a space for my desk for my laptop and my other stuff that I use.

I also use my desk as a landing pad for things like my camera, iPod, USB drives, stamps, thank-you cards, stationary, mail and miscellaneous office supplies.

Over the weekend, my husband and I cleaned out our garage and found other office supplies, plus a brand new printer that he wasn't using.

It didn't take long for my desk to look like this:

Today I was trying to clean it up and work on my thank you notes and it was just driving me crazy. So I made a quick trip to Staples and Target to get some help.

After about an hour, it looked like this:

I cleaned it off, got the printer set up, and utilized a couple of the new things that I bought. Mainly this:

In the top drawer, I put all of my USB drives. I use them to back up iTunes and all of my pictures.

The second drawer is for my camera:

And the bottom drawer is for my iPod & accessories:

Now there is a place for everything, which I love!

I feel like I can actually get some work done now. Speaking of that, I have many thank you cards to write!!!

How does my Garden grow

By Amy

Remember last years garden? It was very small. And I crammed eight tomato plants in a tiny space. And they grew into a mini jungle. So this year I thought...Bigger is Better! So I (my son) dug a bigger space for me. But it took him FOREVER. He finally finished but it still needed to be tilled. My husband has to do that because the tiller we have is a animal. My husband is wrapping up a big job and didn't have time. I became very impatient. So I just went ahead and planted some stuff. The soil is kind of.....hard and clumpy. I have a row of corn, cherry tomato plants, regular tomato plants, eggplant and peppers. And then near the back I have some squash, watermelon and maybe some sunflowers? It's the most disorganized garden you have ever seen. And the stuff in the back I didn't even mark and just kind of threw the seeds down. The chances of this garden actually producing anything is very very slim. I will actually be shocked if my tomato plants even make it. They look a little sick already.

That green stuff that you see? That's grass. I'm almost certain that that isn't supposed to be in a garden. I'm also certain that you should not use the word "that" twice in a row. (:

I'll keep you posted!! If we actually get something edible out of this I will be able to say without a doubt that ANYONE can grow food.

The First Day of a FUN-FILLED Summer

By Amy

About three weeks ago my oldest was talking about this summer and how he was hoping that it won't be as lame as last years. Wait......WHAT?!?! If I recall I worked my butt off last summer trying to make it fun. Either he is a spoiled brat or I don't remember correctly. So this year I am going to make sure that he remembers every single fun thing he did this summer. I bought some poster board and I'm going to write in blue if it was something that both boy's enjoyed. When only my youngest is involved, it will be written in orange. The color Red for the snot-nosed oldest. In his defense he did try to clarify his statement, like he didn't mean it exactly how he said it. Sorry mister! The damage is done! The poster board will be looming as a constant reminder of all the fun you have had! It will be in your face ALL. THE. TIME. Moving on....

Today was a successful "fun" day. I picked up extra kids and took them all swimming. Afterwards we came home, played outside and I fed them chicken tacos for dinner. Two of the five are still here. I was proud to write the first phrase on the board.

I should have written it bigger. Because the next day I have off won't be quite as entertaining.

Dairy Queen. Baseball. Coach. Sunglasses.

by Ang

I had an extremely busy weekend, but it was FUN! It was packed. On Friday I worked on my thank-you notes (which seem never ending, but I am now seeing light at the end of the tunnel). And then my hubby and I took our dog for a walk in the park and then to Dairy Queen for a cool treat. The puppy even got a treat (a small vanilla). We spoil him, but he is just the sweetest dog.

Say cheese Max!

It's hard to get pictures of him because he's always on the move.

Saturday night I had a 'girls night out' night with some friends here. We had a 'pre baseball game party' with appetizers and cocktails and then we were driven to the Albuquerque Isotopes game. They were playing Las Vegas and ABQ won. It was a lot of fun. Here's me and my sweet mother-in-law. She's lots of fun to be around!

And yesterday......ahhhhh yesterday. My husband had a talk in Santa Fe. So we got up early, made the 45 minute drive, he gave the talk and then we went out to lunch with a really nice couple that we hope to do something with again the next time we're there or they're here. And then...we went here:

On the edge of Santa Fe, there's an outlet mall, with a Coach outlet. It was.....heavenly. If you've been reading this blog for any amount of time, you would know my obsession with handbags. I love them. LOVE them.

My dear, sweet, loving, generous husband bought me a bag to celebrate my new job. I love him!

Isn't she a beauty? I've named her Daisy. And I got 4 compliments on her today at work. She's wonderful. :)

And then we went to the Sunglass Hut outlet. Ever since I've moved to New Mexico, hubby has been saying I need to get a decent pair of sunglasses. I buy cheap ones at Target because I lose them. Or I sit on them. But hubby's theory is that if I have decent pair, I will take better care of them. So far, he's right. Today I put them safely in their case after I was done wearing them. It almost made me nervous to wear them! But I can tell a huge difference in my new ones compared to my cheap Target ones:

I was a very spoiled girl yesterday!

After we got home, we fed all of our critters. I had to snap a picture, because feeding time at our house is just stinkin' adorable! Look at all 5 of them, just chowing down:

So that was my crazy weekend. But it was fun filled and relaxing at the same time. :)

Warning....You may want to kiss the screen

By Amy





With Grandpa

Giving Grandma a kiss

Eating a cookie!

She loves to read with Grandma!

I had a good weekend! Hope yours was good too.

The Post Where I was going to Rant and Rave but decided not to.

By Amy

I was going to tell you all about how crummy my Wednesday was. It was my last by myself School is out now and I have to share it with the kids. It was disappointing and a huge waste of time. I moaned and groaned and felt sorry for myself. Then I started to feel a bit bratty with my "woe is me" attitude. Especially when someone showed me this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4uG2kSdd-4

The guy has no arms. OR legs. And then there is a woman named Stephanie who was burned on over 82 % of her body. She is getting a new neck today! You can read her story here.

http://www.nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/

So anyway, my problems are faint in comparison. I will say that the last few day's have been a big bummer for my youngest. He has the flu. He missed his last day of school. The last day of school is the funnest day of the year! T-shirt signings, a picnic at the park, saying goodbye to friends...he was pretty bummed out. So this morning we stayed pretty quiet, watched a really old movie with Nicole Kidman called BMX Bandits. He loved it! It had to be one of the first ones she was ever in. After that he was feeling a little better so I suggested that we pack up his bike, grab lunch and head to a park that was not full of school kids. We found one and guess what! It had the coolest thing in the world for a 2nd grader with a bike.......A GIANT PUDDLE.

So it turned out to be a pretty good Friday. My boy was happy. I stopped being a brat. And tomorrow I get to see my little niece! So life is good. After all.

Cousin Love

By Amy

Last weekend we went over to my husbands brother's house. My bro and sis-in-law "own" the bulk of my nieces and nephews. Me and my sis-in-law took the kids to the park.

There are two different groups. Below is what we refer to as "the big kids."

They are 17 and 14 and WAY WAY cool. (:

And these are "the little kids."

Ages 8 and 5. I guess they aren't so little anymore. Well, she is.

She will always be little.

And sweet.

I'm loving her messy braid.

I will do anything she asks me to. Including taking a ride with her on a rocket ship.

We traveled far and away. Thankfully she didn't ask me to do this.

This scares me.

I could barely watch.

I am happy to report that no bones were broken or sprained or even bruised.

On a entirely different note, today was my last Wednesday without kids. I had big plans. It turned out to be pretty crummy. More on that later.....

6 Days

by Ang

I have been blessed to have a nice long break from work since I got moved to New Mexico and got married. But, all good things must come to an end. :) I found a fabulous job (shockingly even better than the one I left back in Nebraska) and I start on Monday. As much as I have loved my time off and 'playing house', getting settled, etc., I must admit I am looking forward to getting into a routine. I am much more productive when I'm working! I plan more and use my time more wisely.

So this week I have big plans of getting stuff done. Tomorrow I have to take one kitty to the vet (bladder infection), and then we're going over to my mother-in-laws for dinner. Wednesday I have to do some pre-work screening (drug test, etc.), but that's the only things I have going on this week. I'm going to finish my thank-you notes for the wedding and reception and get my desk here at home in order. I want to plan a menu for dinners for the next couple of weeks. I want to finish cleaning up the front walkway area that we have and also the back. Just little things like that.

But tonight I'm doing nothing. I don't have to clean because our cleaning lady came today (yes, I am spoiled). I love coming home after she's been here. Everything looks so nice!

Look at my floors!

Ahhh...and clean bathrooms:

I walked the dog today then drove with my husband to a couple of his appointments for work. I have chicken, salsa and black beans cooking (for chicken tacos) along with queso for supper.

So tonight we're going to have supper, and just hang out together. We have a busy weekend ahead of us, so hopefully this week will be fairly quiet. Saturday night I'm going to a 'girls night out' baseball game, and then on Sunday the hubby and I are spending the day in Santa Fe. It will be fun and I'll be sure to bring my camera.

One more thing....check out the beautiful roses from our rose bush out back!

Hubby snips fresh ones for me each day. Did I mention I was spoiled?