Just a general update....

First and fore most I need to thank Jackie...for getting the new background done and setting me straight on how to do somethings. You will never know how you saved me!

Okay now for our update...

The last few months have been very busy with my work. Trying to get my store turned around and starting going in the right direction. I think I have started that (which is great news).

At the end of July I tried to chop my left index finger tip off. So I got to go to a clinic and get several stitches and was told I may have problems with the tip having normal feeling. It still feels funny but better then it did. On August 1st my full time employee (really my ONLY employee) quit. So I luckily had hired a girl for another store but she needed trained. So I was working open to close for a good 3 weeks...which made me sick...I got strep throat and a sinus infection. I worked 60+ clocked hours and then worked off the clock because the local managers for my company decided to do 3 open house (one in each store)...so I worked for weeks off the clock on that. The open houses...let us just say... the first one sucked...the second (which was mine) was hurricaned out thanks for Hurricane Fay...and the third was a great hit. But my store seems to be improving---or at least that's what the numbers say!


As for Don...about 4 weeks ago he was again laid off because too many people are going for direct cremations and not having a full funeral service. So we talked about it and he decided to go to truck driving school (he has done it before but let his CDL lapse). But he couldn't pass a urine test. He had too much protein in his samples. So the school sent him home to see his normal doctor. (While to be honest we don't have a "normal" doctor we are between doctors. So I had him go to the walk in clinic/doctor's office I have been going to (which the normal doctor is a heart doctor). He went and come to find out Don has some heart problems. He has been out of school for a couple weeks now and has had a few doctor's appointments. Come to find out...Don's left ventricle is enlarged or thickened, he has high blood pressure, and he has a extra heart beat (yes they found his heart so it's true he does have one...and the nurse practitioner says his wiring is misfiring). They put him on a couple of different heart meds and than sent him for a CAT scan of his kidneys which didn't show anything wrong. So they are saying his extra protein is do to his high blood pressure. The doctor's office is releasing him to go back to school so now we are waiting on the school to call him back so we can see if they will let him go back. But on other news...he has at least one job interview this next week and hopefully more...

Everything else here is fine. We were lucky enough to be missed by ALL the hurricanes...but we are ready if any decide to come visit. We are praying for our friends in the Houston area. They are out of their home right now and we hope to hear from them soon. Please keep all those in your prayers!

Well that is all for my update for now! I hope to be better at updating more often. Have a great week!

Under Construction

We are trying to make a more updated page...Please check back soon to see if we got it finished!

Premiere Orlando Hair Show 2008

Last weekend I got the chance to go to the 2nd largest hair show in the country. Don and I planned it out that we would go one day and see what it would be like. The week before I was promoted to a manager in my company. And was given the chance to hang with the other managers the day before and go to a pre-hair show show held by the Wella Company. It was great going to Orlando and setting up some of the booths with my fellow managers...and just getting to know them. Then as a hair dresser it was totally awesome to go to the Pre-Hair Show...show. It was like a huge Las Vegas show. Major Wella people were there...Like the Hair Dresser from the TV show "What Not To Wear" Nick Arrojo. He is SO down to earth and awesome. I took lots of pictures. Then Don drove over to Orlando Sunday morning and we walked the main floor where all the booths were and saw so many things and big names in the hair business. Like co-owner to Paul Mitchell--Angus Mitchell (who I think is easy on the eyes), (Paul Mitchell's main showman) Robert Creamons, Nick Arrojo (which I got my picture take with), and TONS of big wigs from my company. I hope you enjoy my picture...I know there are lots but I was just so dang excited to be there and couldn't seem to take enough! I missed lots of things! It does take more than one day to see and experience everything. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Forgotten trip to Sea World

I thought that I had posted about Sea World, but than I found out it never made the blog. In March Don and I got the chance to go to Orlando for a few different reasons. Samantha called and told me that she was going to be in Orlando for a business trip but would like to do something fun while she was there. She than said something about going to the temple there since she had never seen that one. For me that was all I needed to hear...I was in. Come to find out the youth of our ward was going a temple trip the same day Samantha wanted to go--which worked out REALLY well for Don and myself. We met Samantha at the temple and we did our different things in the temple and from there we headed to our hotels. Shari, Sarah, Lydia, and Aubree decided that they would meet us also in Orlando...they are big Sea World fans so we had planned to skip church on Sunday and go to Sea World (since I have never been). We had a good time and below are a few pictures from that trip. (Sam anytime you are in the area let me know! I am up for just about anything!)

Enjoy and have a great week!

Spring Break 2008

Boy it's been a long time since my last post...sorry! But in the last month I have been stressed out with work and home life. But it's all getting better.

On April 4th my mom came for a quick visit. We didn't do very much this time she was here but we just hung out and just enjoyed the time together! We went to a very small farmers market (Mom next time we will go to the good one!). On Saturday April 5th the Zehrings arrived for spring break. On Sunday I decided to make them all a home cooked meal...chicken breast, home made lemon basil pasta, tomato salad, a regular salad, and a couple different desserts. I think everyone enjoyed the meal...I know I did.

Most of the pictures are from the time with them (some others I took at Busch Gardens in the last month). They spent a lot of time with Don this year...he got the week off. They spent a lot of time on the beach...or in the pool. Lets just say most of them got a little red. But over all I think they had fun. We went to Busch Gardens for our fun activity. There are TONS of pictures from Busch Gardens and I am just warning you there are just tons of pictures...I put the slide show on fast so you can get through it faster. The last day they were here we went Putt-Putt Golfing. I'm not a fan of golf if it's hot and humid (which is was). So that is all I'll say about it. Aleesha found another little girl around her age (Annie). Annie is a very cute little girl and is a mixed child like Aleesha. They were really cute together. So if there is another child that you don't remember ever seening it's Annie. I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the time taking them! We already miss our company.

On to other news: Evie has moved out. She didn't want to live with the arrangement we all sat and came up with. So on Friday when I was at work Don and the sister missionaries helped her move her things into her own apartment. So we are cleaning and getting things ready to clean out our storage unit. And we will be looking into getting our paperwork in and a home study done for adpotion. So we are very excited!

Have a great week and enjoy the pictures!

How many 5 year olds can you fight?

I'm using Aubree just because she is 5 years old...but how many do you think you could fight at once? Click the picture and take the test and they will let you know...I can only take on 25...how sad!

Lots to talk about!

I have lots to talk about...just as the title said. Last week started out great! Don and I got to spend some one on one time with each other at the state fair. We had a great time...we missed watching a calf being born by 40 minutes, but below are the pictures of the mom and her calf (which was a little girl). As you will see in front of the birthing stall there is a dry erease board with all the calves born right before the state fair and at the state fair. We also went to the part of the state fair which was like Conner's Praire (in Indiana). Down below there are pictures of the people squeezing cane for cane syrup.

On Tuesday I went to work and told the woman that I work with that I needed to transfer stores because of the cost of gas is killing me. It takes 2 tanks of gas a week to get Don and I to work and back because we work so far from each other and only have 1 car. So I got everything arranged so I could move to the store that is one mile from his work (until my store is opened --which could be March, April or heck even May). So I will be working out of the St. Pete store for now!

Then the week took a sharp turn for the worse. On Thursday I got a call from work (very early) that I needed to come into work because our store was broken into and I needed to help deal with it. The thief/thieves broke the large piece of glass in our front door (shoving the door way into the door frame) and breaking into a locked desk. They were so dumb that they took a empty lock box. We don't keep money there we have a hidden safe. They didn't take any product or big ticket items...and they were so kind not to mess the shelves up! How sweet of them. So he/she/they were looking for cash. So hopefully the thief gets a lot of money for an empty lock box. The manager of that store was very upset...it didn't bother me like it did her. So I made all the phone calls that we needed to make to home office and to the glass people to get the door fixed. The door is still not right but we were opened by noon because of the non stop work from 7 am until noon to get the store safe and looking good.

And today Don and I have decided how to spend a few bucks of our tax money. We were thinking of getting our year passes to Disney. Which would be nice, but with my schedule it might be hard to get our money out of those tickets this year. So we decided since Danny and Kelly are coming with the kids for spring break and they really want to do Busch Gardens this year (we did Disney last year)...we decided to do our year passes to Busch Gardens and Sea World. I haven't been to either and I thought it would be nice to see something different...not that I don't want our Disney passes (maybe next year). Today after church...we have been trying to spend more time together on days we both have off...we decided to go ahead and head over and get our year passes and kind of scope things out. Part of the park is being redone (but will open by the time Kelly and Danny get here). But Don was so amused at seeing the chimps today because we were standing there and looking at them...when one that was sitting with it's back to us (on a log) reached around and grabbed poop from it's butt and ate it. He is still talking about it...you can tell we don't have kids! We are amused at the nastiest things!

Well That is my update and hope you had a better week than me! Hope this next one is better!

Odd stuff to update on...

I know it's been a while since I have updated! And I am sorry about that. With working, running a house and trying to have a baby...my life seems really busy.

January flew by so fast here! I did get to spend time with Samantha when she was here. She came for business and stayed to spend time with me. That week seemed to be going great! Sam flew in on Tuesday and we had dinner. The next day I got really sick and FAST...by 3pm I could hardly swallow and couldn't get warm (which sucks when it's 80 degrees outside). I had to call Don (because we still share a car and he had it that day) and take me to a walk in clinic. I got strep throat (which is no surpise to anyone that really knows me because I get it all the time), but sucked because Samantha was going to stay a couple nights here and I didn't want to get her sick. So I called work and my "boss" told me that I was NOT welcomed back until Monday. So I slept for a couple days and started to feel much better by Friday when we got to pick Samantha up. I tried so very hard to be a good hostess, but I think I could have done better if I was feeling better. Friday night we took her out to eat and then to a movie. But Saturday I thought we would go to the Farmers Market in St. Pete (which Sam and I love to go to) picked up a few things for dinner, and then headed to the Kumquat Festival. I think I would have been just fine at the festival except it started to rain (a very cold rain) on us so I was done with it. I cooked her dinner and we watched some movies. I know not real exciting (Samantha--I am sorry...I'll do better next time), but when you are fighting a 102 temp...you just go with it!

But lately I have been just working and trying to get my strenght back from being so sick. It's almost been a month but somedays I feel so beat-up! Nothing real exciting has really happened with us lately! Today we went to the state fair so I'll try to update on that soon! I have a few pictures for you below...a couple from when we went up north for Stephen and Jennifer's wedding and one is Sam at the Kumquat festival. Enjoy and I promise to update better--very soon!