30 Days of Me - Day 11

Day 11- Another picture of you and your friends

My best friend.

I never really thought I would find someone who I truly believed was my missing piece, I foolishly got married knowing the one I would call my husband was not my "soulmate"... When I moved across the country, this man was one of my first friends and it makes a world of difference to develop a friendship before developing a deeper relationship. The thought of a relationship beyond friends was never our intention, but a relationship grew outside of our control it seemed.

He knows me and understands me and the amazing thing about that is, inspite of knowing and understanding me... he loves me. I smile so much more when we are together. We encourage the most and the best from each other. I actually WANT to be around him and spend time with him and that was a new experience for me outside of the "honeymoon phase" of any other relationship.

I am so happy now that he is my friend and my partner. I don't know where or who I would be without him.

30 Days of Me - Day 10

Day 10- Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad

As you can tell... its been a few days since I've posted. Mostly due to the fact that I saw the "assignment" for Day 10 and have been avoiding it :)
Music has and continues to play a big part in me. Sometimes more, sometimes less. At this point in my life though, I wouldn't say that there are specific songs that I will listen to depending on my moods, at least not nearly as much as it might have once been.

I'm a country music girl for the most part, and with that on the radio I can find songs that will speak to whatever I'm feeling that day, or that moment. One that I'm really liking these days (you know, the ones you turn up and belt out loud in the comfort of your own car) is a new one by Joe Nichols called The Shape I'm In.. now I'm pretty sure the song is much more about getting through the dark times after the end of a relationship, and thats not so much what speaks to me... it just makes me feel encouraged, each day is a new day and no matter what it brings, I'm Doing Alright. Here are the lyrics:

I’ve got a number on a napkin, a poundin in my head
Takes everything I’ve got to crawl out of bed
I lost a hell of a woman, freedom caught me on the chin
But I’m doin alright for the shape I’m in.

The sun came up again this morning.
I got a call from a long lost friend.
Planned us a little road trip down to New Orleans.
It ain’t much but it beats where I’ve been.

Yea I’m doin alright,
I’m doin alright,
I’m doin alright for the shape I’m in.

Well I’m gettin better at barely gettin by
When I look at her picture I don’t break down and cry.
And all this time on my hands it’s gettin easier to spend
Cause I’m doin alright for the shape I’m in.

The sun came up again this morning,
I took my old fastback for a spin.
Now when it rains it ain’t always pouring
and I’m learning how to live again

Yea I’m doin alright,
I’m doin alright,
I’m doin alright for the shape I’m in.

Yea I’m doin alright,
yes I’m doin alright,
yea I’m doin alright for the shape I’m in.

Yes I’m doin alright,
yea I’m doin alright,
yea I’m doin alright for the shape I’m in.

Maybe one day if I join the ranks of iPod owners I'll have more songs that I listen to based on moods and feelings. Right now I'll take what I can get on the radio and find a way to make it work for my purpose :)


Now... off to get ready for an OB appointment (dragging The Boy along with me today, and then heading in to Redding to meet up with Bob for lunch and some possible shopping) Happy Friday everyone!

30 Days of Me - Day 8 & 9 (recap post)

Day 08- Short term goals for this month and why
Day 09- Something you’re proud of in the past few days

Funny that when I got online to post yesterday, I decided just to write what I was feeling, from that it somewhat turned into my 3 in 30 Goal check in, and now come to find out, my 30 Days of Me for days 8 & 9 all seem to be wrapped up in what I blogged about yesterday and my feelings of contentment!

My goals for April are to complete my garden project(well... the preparing & planting part of the project anyway!) finish Dannon's quilt and a baby quilt/blanket, and limit my trips to Redding.
I should also include, that I hope to complete the divorce paperwork, and continue attempting to work with Cliff to have it filed. Thats a difficult goal in nature itself, as well as the fact that I have to somewhat rely on him to accomplish the task... and lets just be honest, he was never someone that I would call "reliable."

As far as something that I am proud of in the last few days, I've got to say that getting my first garden bed prepared and my strawberries planted has been huge for me! I've never really gardened, and the few things that I have attempted to grow haven't been very successful (except for my kids, see previous post, lol!) I watered my strawberries just a few minutes ago, and I could swear they have grown already! I think this gardening thing is going to be a bit like Dave Ramsey's Debt Snowball idea, some quick signs of success are quite motivating to continue!

Hmm, now since I've been thinking about goals again, its off to search the wonderful internet for the perfect fabric for Baby-With-No-Name's quilt while I enjoy another day of sunshine and watching my son play with a bucket of water and two plastic cups!

Ahhh, contentment!

The sun has been out for the past few days. To the point we're wearing shorts and tank tops, searching for (my) lost sunglasses and investing in our backyard living!

About a week ago, Bob received a small amount from his mother's insurance. She passed away at the the end of January, or was it the beginning of February? I should know this. The settlement wasn't much. She had taken out a loan against it that had to be repaid first, and then the leftover amount was incorrectly divided among the beneficiaries. We are just thankful for what he did receive! But as usual, good intentions seem to go out the window, at least where financial responsibility comes into play... I'm still trying to talk him into putting some in savings, and some towards debt repayment, but I am very happy with where the bulk of the money has been spent so far.

We purchased a lawnmower (that has yet to be assembled and put to use, lol) Bob was able to pick out a new charcoal grill to replace the one that got left behind at the apartment in Kalama when our moving truck was just too full, and we've added two outdoor rocking chairs and a hammock to our backyard. This is where my feeling of contentment is coming into play at the current moment.

I am sitting in one of the rockers, ice water in hand, slight breeze through the yard and watching Dannon play with a bucket of water and a cup. Ashlyn is playing with her neighborhood friends and Bob will soon be on his way home from work.

The house is mostly clean, the floors have been mopped, I got my strawberries planted today, another planting project is underway and I'm tired--but it feels so good to be tired from being productive rather than tired from being lazy.

Today is April 1st, I haven't been able to come up with any good jokes to play on anyone, but I have gotten a rough draft of our monthly budget together and was able to include money to set aside for my trip with the kids up to Washington to visit family during Ashlyn's spring break. Last month one of my 3 in 30 goals was to have my divorce paperwork completed. Its not completed. But I did get a good start on it and will continue to focus on that throughout this next month. I did MUCH better with my water consumption, as well as remembering vitamins every night and better oral care... I'm also very proud to announce that Dannon is now completely bottle free, and all in all, it wasn't that bad!

For April, one of my goals will be to follow through on my gardening goal. So far I have one of the raised beds cleaned out, added a bag of Flower & Vegetable soil and planted the strawberry shoots that came from my online order with Gurneys. The other garden bed is still a jungle of a mess. I have seeds that should be coming within the next two weeks (also from Gurneys) and have great intentions to plant lettuce, cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins and a hanging tomato plant. I really hope something grows. I mentioned to Bob today that I have this almost desperate need to have success with growing something, and he pointed out that I'm doing pretty good growing his baby and thats the most important thing :) I think after my next OB appointment on the 8th, I will start to be seen every two weeks. Crazy how fast this time goes!

My other April goals will be to finish Dannon's quilt, and also start & finish a quilt for the new baby. I have a little craft area set up in the garage now, but I have yet to give my new sewing machine a try. Dannon's quilt has light blue and lime green colors with a pirate themed fabric and since #3 (still no names decided) is due sometime between the very end of June and beginning of July, I'm kind of thinking he needs a 4th of July-ish red, white & blue quilt. Stars required.

My third and final April 3 in 30 goal will be to limit my weekly trips into Redding to 1-2 times per week. Gas prices are ridiculous, and my trips into town equal either shopping, or meeting Bob for lunch. So lets recap: Spending money on gas + Spending money on shopping + Spending money on lunch = Spending too much money! The best way I can see to reign this in a bit is to just stay home, and thats what I am going to focus more on doing.

Things might not be perfect, but they're still pretty good and I'm A-OK with that! :)