My New Year Resolution.

Normally, I do not make resolutions simply because I am no good with keeping them and I hate disappointment. This year I have changed that, well, just a little anyway.

I resolute...

1. To remain calm when all three girls have covered themselves in their dinner and spilled the last of the milk.

2. To no longer holler at my children for a slight misbehavior.

3. To try to be a little nice to everyone that I meet, no matter how I really feel about them, or how easy it is to forget them.

4. To stop considering text, IM, facebook, twitter, and blogspot, are sufficient ways of communicating with friends and relatives.

5. To put myself in timeout at least once a day.

Geocaching 12/29/09

Here is my second Geocache that I found. You can read about my first one here. It is an outlet cover made of metal and there is supposed to be a magnet on there but I think it may have fallen off. Either that or the guy who placed this cache did not do a very good job. Robert, my son, came with me so that we could find his 50th cache. We almost gave up on this one since we at first could not find it and it was about 27 degrees outside. Just as we were leaving to get warmed up again in the truck I said, "I checked over here already but lets look one more time." Robert came with me and as I was looking up he was looking down and there it was. On the ground. He asked me, "what is that on the ground?" Mad, I kicked that piece of metal and then picked it up. You got it. This was it. We signed the log and put it back where we found it then it was off to the next one. This second one was a lot easier than the first one. Robert had seen this kind of hide before (what we call camo) so as soon as we pulled up to it he told me to go and pop off the top the of fence post. The cacher had glued the tube to the underside of the fence post top with a twist cap that holds the log to sign. This is what it looked like, this is what we call a micro cache because it is small and does not hold any swag. We did not freeze to death but my toes stayed cold all the way home.

Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas everyone. I haven't posted in a while because we have been awesome busy with 25 people around for the Christmas holiday. How wonderful it was to have most of Jims side of the family here to visit. I love it when they come.





Thanks Gram and Pepere for this little gem. Its the cutest apron and chefs hat that she just LOVED. She wore it all day and refused to take it off to go to bed that night.

Ana has a terrible habit of pulling really stupid faces when she is getting her picture taken. Until I can break her of the habit even the stupid pics will get posted of her. I cannot wait until she is old enough to be embarassed.

Here is Krystal and Lani. She started off with a shirt on, but randomly got "something" on it and had to take it off.

And finally, mom with her new "redneck" wind chimes. Just imagine it and you are probably right as to what it looks like.

I hope everyone got the Christmas they wanted and have a happy new year!

Geocaching at a glance.

- You are familiar with acronyms like "TNLNSL", "TFTC" and "TFTF."

- You know the zip codes of all your out-of-town relatives off the top of your head, and you actually look forward to visiting your in-laws.

- You no longer talk to your friends or relatives about geocaching ... none of them will allow it.

- You find yourself having to explain to your significant other why there is a never-ending shortage of Tupperware containers in the kitchen.

- You begin making grocery purchases based on the items' usefulness as cache containers.

- You will willingly hike through wet woods - and ford a stream - in the dark - in your "business casual" attire to bag a find.

- When you tell your spouse you "have to work late" or "run a quick errand" you're not fooling anyone.

- You travel everywhere with a flashlight and tweezers.

Christmas Tree Ornaments

This year for the Christmas tree I decided that I no longer will allow the breakable ornaments to be put out. Mostly because I was getting too lazy to pick up all the little broken pieces every single day either from the kids or the dogs or the cats.This left the tree a little scarce on the amount of ornaments that were allowed to be hung.

Apparently the kids thought so too. Trista left me this nice little ornament this morning.

7 Years Married

I have been married to this wonderful man for 7 years and one day as of today. How awesome its been. In that time we have had three beautiful girls, moved four times, done two overseas deployments, retired, and even have grandbabies now.

To celebrate our time together Jim and I took a minivacation to Atlanta, GA which is about two hours away from the house I guess it would be called a "staycation". On our way we stopped off to visit with Robert and Kristen (Jims son and his wife), Isabella and Jacob (the grandbabies), Nate and Kim (Kristens brother and sister-in-law) along with their two kids Sean and Taylor, and Cliff and his wife (Kristens dad and step-mother, forgive me but I just can't remember her name right now!).

Here is a cute picture of Jacob covering his ears while we shoot the new M-4 Grand. The gun is pretty loud and will make your ears ring like mad if you are not wearing the proper protective equipment...You know those high tech things they call EAR PLUGS!

Here is Jacob and Uncle Nate learning how to shoot the M-4.

Here is my smiley faced little grandbaby Isabella. She is beautiful and deserves all things beautiful! He big brother Jacob just loves all over her and I am sure that mommy and daddy have nothing to worry about with him as her protector!

This is an interesting place that we stopped at on the way that is really not that far from the house but we have never been there. It is a nice little gift shop with some dust collector items, homemade jams and jellies, and even a fire pit in the front. Do you see the real goat on the roof? They have a whole playground up there its really neat!

So after making our meet and greets we made our way to Atlanta. We checked into the hotel which was very nice. They had a happy hour but we missed it since I wanted to head off to eat then to the Hockey Game. We ate at Olive Garden which is my favorite place to eat of all time! Then it was off to the Thrasher game.

Our seat were pretty high up which was a good thing because we could see the entire rink and all the players. It was a bad thing because the seats faced almost straight down and if you tripped it would be a long fall to the bottom.

My camera is okay at taking pictures from far away so I thought I would take this one while no one was on the rink.

Luckily we were right behind the team so I grabbed this picture while I could. All vowels in those Russian names!

Here they are getting ready to score the last goal of the game. With one minute remaining in the period (we ended up losing) they score a goal to bring the score to 5 for the NJ Devils and 4 for the GA Thrashers. It was a great game NJ played better though.

Goal tender getting ready for the Devils.

So all in all we had a great time in Atlanta and cannot wait until we get to do something like this again. Without the kids of course!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Geocaching x2

Hey everyone. I found my first geocache tonight. Yes, without the use of a GPS system. I will have to wait to do another one but I was so excited to do this one tonight! I dragged Brian (my best friend) to the site with me and oh what fun! He thought we were about to be arrested since there was no one there but us and we were on the property...at night...with flashlights. No, we do not look suspicious at ALL!! I will have to go back to that spot so I can take pictures and I plan on taking pictures for all my new hobby caches.

I will not spoil any fun and tell you where they are but I promise to take plenty of pics (maybe you can guess if you live here in NC!)

Geocaching

Okay, so I have totally been interested in this thing I have recently heard of from now a total of two people. It is called Geocaching, its like a form of a world wide scavenger hunt. You get some GPS coordinates, type them into your GPS enabled device and off you go onto the adventure. The official website is here.

I have decided that this is a really cool hobby and you can literally do it anywhere at anytime. Of course there are some basics that you need in order to do this...First a GPS enabled device (duh) and a compass. And it is something that you can do for FREE. Yes, I said it...FREE. The only things that it will cost you are for the GPS, gas, and some exercise. Okay, nothing is ever free in this world. What more could a gal ask for? Some time to go hiking with the kids? Nice, the kids will love it.

I have also decided that I cannot simply make subtle hints to my husband about what I want for Christmas, I literally have to point out to him what I want and which brand to get and give him enough money to go and buy it. As anyone with a husband can guess, he may still get the wrong one (like a vehicle GPS?) but it is the thought that counts...Right?

Basically, friends and family, the GPS's are not cheap so if you would like to help him in deciding which one to get feel free to donate money or Walmart gift cards to his cause and I am all for the cheapest one on the block! Although the $500 one is COMPLETELY awesome! The cheapest one I saw was $48 on line and the one that is local here at Walmart is $150 this one I can handle.

Oh and one more thing. It is my anniversary this weekend and Jim and I will be heading off to Atlanta for the weekend with no kids. Just him and me and some other adults and acting like children ourselves. We may catch the hockey game there but I know for sure I want some Olive Garden! I don't know why I insist on living in places that do not have one, then again when I lived in VA there was one less than ten minutes away and I still did not eat there very often. Oh well, life's a beach right?

Since this is turning into a HUGE blog I am going to sign off with one last thing. Happy Holidays, I love you all!

PS this is the 50th post to date! Congrats to me.

Things I will never do again!

I just want to thank all of you for your educational e-mails over the past year. I am totally screwed up now and have little chance of recovery.

• I no longer open a public bathroom door without using a paper towel or have them put lemon slices in my ice water without worrying about the bacteria on the lemon peel.
• I can't use the remote in a hotel room because I don't know what the last person was doing while flipping through the adult movie channels.
• I can't sit down on the hotel bedspread because I can only imagine what has happened on it since it was last washed.
• I have trouble shaking hands with someone who has been driving because the number one pastime while driving alone is picking ones nose (although cell phone usage may be taking the number one spot).
• Eating a little snack sends me on a guilt trip because I can only imagine how many gallons of Trans fats I have consumed over the years.
• I can't touch any woman's purse for fear she has placed it on the floor of a public bathroom.

I MUST SEND MY SPECIAL THANKS

• to whoever sent me the one about poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet sponge with every envelope that needs sealing.
• Now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.
• I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time.
• I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program.
• I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St. Theresa's Novena has granted my every wish.
• I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers.
• I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

THANKS TO YOU

• I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an e-mail to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.

BECAUSE OF YOUR CONCERN

• I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.
• I no longer can buy gasoline without taking someone along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm pumping gas.
• I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr. Pepper since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put 'Under God' on their cans. (This is totally NOT true since I can't leave my house without a DP in my hand but it was funny anyway)
• I no longer use Saran Wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer.

AND THANKS FOR LETTING ME KNOW

• I can't boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face ... disfiguring me for life.
• I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with some disease.
• I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.
• I no longer receive packages from UPS/Fed Ex/Australia Post since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise.
• I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don't support our troops or the Salvation Army.
• I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I'll get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica, Uganda, Singapore and Uzbekistan .
• I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have their recipe.

THANKS TO YOU

• I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my butt.

AND THANKS TO YOUR GREAT ADVICE

• I can't ever pick up $5.00 dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.
• I can no longer drive my car because I can't buy gas from certain gas companies!
• I can't do any gardening because I'm afraid I'll get bitten by the brown recluse and my hand will fall off.

So Thank you my friends, family, and E-mail pals, I will never forgive you.