Concerts and Christmas Parties!

I've been a little lazy in the blogging department lately! It has been go, go, go in the Shaw household! Ryan was off last week (and only last week)...he got called back again on Monday. They are hoping to get another couple weeks in and then have January off, and start up in February again....BOO! I guess it's payback for his long break last year (Oct - May!!). Don't get me wrong, we are so thankful for the construction work! However, when your hubby's away all week long, week after week...you look forward to this time...we prepare for it all summer long...we have our money saved, our vacation planned, we're READY!! However, his job doesn't agree...they've got their minds set on a late/ early season, which means a shorter break! It just goes to show that we are NOT in control! We plan, we prepare...and tada...we are still waiting! Oh well, it is what it is...and we are very thankful for his job, and for them to respect Ryan how they do! He deserves it...he's one heck of a good worker....at work anyways...I kid!

Well, not that I got that rant over with, we've been busy preparing for the holidays, and our vacation coming up very quick! Less than a month actually!! Wowzer!

Brooke had her Christmas program. There were 4 classes of tiny little kindergartners that were led in by their teachers, they all sat in there spots on the bleachers (I suppose they sat so they didn't fall off the bleachers, if you know kindergartners...they don't sit still well!), each class had their own song they got to perform. The music teacher is Ryan's sisters sister-in-law (get that?), so we were excited to see her work as well as Brooke! Brooklyn's class was the last to sing...she marched up there (front row), lined up in front of the microphone, she had no expression at all on her face, knowing Brooke, I thought for sure she was going to just stand there...frozen. The audience was huge! I thought she was going to get a case of stage fright. The music started...she stood still, but as soon as that singing started she was unstoppable! She was so enthusiastic with her singing and her actions...so much so that she almost took out the little boy next to her with her arm actions several times. Ryan and I were in tears from laughing, and pride!

See her? She's the one looking right at us!

This is how it started out...no expression at all....



Then this happened!

And then this...

And this...

She was adorable! She brought tears to my eyes (first, cuz she was awesome...second, cuz I was laughing so hard!). After the program we got to visit her classroom and have a treat.

Mmmm, cookies for breakfast!

chattin' with daddy!

Okay, so enough concert talk. Sunday we had our christmas party for Ryan's side... It was fun to get to see some you don't get to see much...including Ryan's sisters who we don't see all that often anymore! It's also nice to see Ryan's grandma and grandpa! And of course the girls love to play with their cousins!

Presents!!

Is that a confused look or not? Gotta love grandpa!

Cousins, cousins, and more cousins!

It was a good party! We still have a few Christmas parties left...the girls ask everyday if they can open a present....just one...please....pretty please....mooommmm, but please!? At least they take my "no" answer a little better because I can use Ryan as an excuse..."your dad wants to watch you open your presents too...it wouldn't be fair to him". It seems to work...however I still have to say it everyday (apparently they forget). I'm excited this year to have Christmas just with our family. I'm excited to get me some Ryan time! I sure do miss him, and so do the girls! I think he might just miss us too!

I am so thankful for how our life together has turned out! We have a happy, healthy family...two very smart and adorable (of course I am biased) girls...good jobs...and all of our needs are met. We are very blessed! I hope that you all can see everything that you have been blessed with. I'm a naturally negative person...but it's so much better to try to see the good in everything. I think that is going to be my resolution this year! If I'm not on here before saturday I wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas!!

XOXO,

Erinn

baby deer and gingerbread houses

long time no talk huh? life has been ubber crazy, plus trying to get christmas stuff ready...and done. i've been thinking about making cookies (haven't done it yet, but thinking about it has to count for something right?).

ryan got a couple days off this week, with the freezing cold they got shut down for a couple days...the nice thing is they actually called him while he was at home to let him know so he didn't drive all they way up north for nothing...he's thinking that it won't be too long before he's done (secretly hoping!). they're starting to get a little wimpy with the cold..so hopefully they'll decide to cut them off! it'll be nice to have him home for awhile, but at least we get a couple days as he doesn't have to work until wednesday night now...did i mention he was on the nights crew, who knew there would be so much road construction work at night!

since i have mondays off we got to spend an extra day together which was wonderful! we even had some baby deer venture down our road! at one point they were digging for some food, then they would go up on their hind legs at eachother.

can you spot it? to the left of the tree....so cute!

they were trying to cross the road, slipping on the ice



they're were three little babies..adorable!

 we also had some hungry, hungry squirrels in our crab apple tree, there were 5 of them hanging from branches, shoving their faces...they were fluffy little things!

we wrapped up the day building our own little gingerbread house. brooke was begging to do one after she saw the art teachers during class, i gave in...we had to run to the grocery store anyways and knew the girls would have a blast with the project, they did!

notice the pic on the box in the background? i don't think we did too shabby!

the master decorators!

there was only one fatality...someone dropped him on the floor...

it turned out wonderful! and only a handful of candy was consumed during the construction of the g-bread house!

it was also hannah's christmas program for school this past week...yeah so i'm a little slow! here's some pics from that sweet treat! the big production of "north pole musical"...

is that you mom?

yep it's my mom!

hannah's big debut!

take a bow!

it warms my heart to watch my kiddos do these things! i feel so proud of them! hannah did wonderful, she sang her little heart out, did all the actions....there was one boy who just stood there the whole time with one peeved look on his face...i had to giggle, i was going to take a pic of him...but not sure if that's considered "ok"...

brooke's is this friday...so pics will follow of that later this week!

well back to watching this poor excuse of a football game...we're on QB #3! we don't have any left!

happy monday!

XOXO,

Erinn

She's crazy!

After reading a couple blogs where people posted some silly crazy things they do..I thought I'd let you in on some of my weird OCD things I do....

• I weigh myself daily (not healthy, I know). I tried not to weigh myself one morning, by hopping in the shower (cuz in my head my hair has to soak up a few lbs of water...so no WAY I would weigh myself wet)...however I couldn't make myself get all the way in the shower before getting back out and weighing myself anyways.
• I always have my scale set back 2 lbs, I'm not dumb, I know it, but when I look at the scale it looks better that way.
• I can only eat M&M's and Skittles (YUMMO!) 2 at a time, and they can't be the same color, if I get stuck with 2 at the end the same color by accident...I won't eat them.
• I won't drink the last quarter of anything in a can or a bottle...I believe it's mostly backwash.
• I pick at my eyebrows...to the point that I get bald spots in them sometimes (I also will pick any bump on my body until it bleeds, not a good mix when you live in MN where our state bird is the mosquito!
• I still don't step on cracks on sidewalks...just in case it will in fact break my mothers back ( I take no chances)
• I hate cotton with a passion...to the point I get physically ill if someone puts a cotton ball or q-tip near their mouths (good thing I've never had to be tested for strep!), I also have a very hard time wearing sweaters...I get that teeth grinding sensation.
• I put chips on my sandwiches (6 doritos to be exact).
• I'm obsessed with hand washing, especially in public places...I make all of us use hand sanitizer like it's going outta style!
• I don't wear red...ever, I think it clashes with my hair.
• I will only carry a coach purse...I found this obsession a few years ago, and cannot bring myself to get any other purse...it's my one splurge...and I refuse to give it up.
• I make noises to myself when driving...a lot. Car noises usually, duh. Like vroom if I'm speeding up...or ert if I'm stopping.
• I have to put lotion on constantly...probably to counteract the obsessive hand washing.
• I can justify anything in my head...anything at all...no matter what, in my head weird things make sense (however sometimes when I speak them...not so much)

Okay, there's a few! I know...born and raised crazy. I'm okay with it. I'm better than I was. I used to have to say things to get a certain response...if I didn't get the response I was looking for, I'd ask again until I got it. I also used to count things, and they had to be even...if not, the world apparently would implode. So see...some of the crazy has gone away...although I still check the alarm at least 4 times at night. When I say my prayers, I have to say Amen...twice. And I check all the doors, cars and house and office.

Aaah, it feels good to get that out there! I know I'm crazy! I don't bother me!

XOXO,

Erinn

Slacker bloggitis!

I'm feeling a little less than creative lately! It's been crazy!! Ryan's usually off by now, and he's working still...which is good, but we are really ready to have him here with us! Now he started the night shift this week (weird for a road construction crew) but they are trying to wrap up as much as possible before shut-down. This leaves a lot more stuff undone...weekends go super fast, barely getting what we need to done (my growing to-do list is not getting near as much checked off as possible!).

I am one of those that enjoys going to the stores and Christmas shopping...but I think I might have to break down and do some online...then getting ready for vacation too ( at work and at home ).

We did finally get our Christmas tree set up this weekend. I haven't had a chance to rearrange the decorations yet...they are a little clumpy yet (if you have kids...you know what I mean).

I wanna climb that tree!

"clumping of decorations"

Now I just have to dig out the skirt and the rest of the house decorations. It's really hard for me this year! I'm trying to get in the spirit...if for nothing else, the girls! I don't know how to get outta this funk!!

Oh, Ryan and I have been trying to treat ourselves to a little more. We've always worked all our years together, and worked hard....never played hard! So we've decided to do fun things for ourselves...we need it as we spend sooo much time apart in the summer months. So as you know we went to the Vikes/Pack game a couple weeks ago....completely disappointing! We decided we should buy tickets to the Bills game as we have a much better chance of beating them...so we did...and found awesome seats for a great price!

6th row!! And we were right by where they run in and out of the locker room! It.was.awesome!!

You know what's funny is that I didn't grow up with football...in fact last year I didn't even like football as much as I LOVE it now! I have a little bit of an addictive personality I admit...but this sport has been missing from me my whole life!! It's great! It started last year with a little office bet on the play-offs...from there I have been HOOKED!



TOUCHDOWN!!

 It was great! Favre was knocked out on like his 2nd or 3rd play...which meant TJack was th QB...we didn't know if Favre would be back or not...and I watched TJack play at the preseason game I went to...he sucked!! But holy man!! The football gods were on our side (with a little help of the might AP!) It was awesome! I lost my voice from screaming so much! It was one touchdown after another!! Love my vikes!!

Okay...well hopefully this week will get me up and motivated! I need to get moving on getting decorating, shopping, and working out! BOO!

Happy Monday!

XOXO,

Erinn

Children.....

I'm finding that kids can make up ANY excuse of why they should not go to bed...

 *too hot
 *too cold
 *hafta pee
 *I'm thirsty (which usually leads to another "hafta pee")
 *I miss Dad! (ya, you'd think this one would be cute...but they totally use it as an excuse)
 *Hannah hit me
 *Brooklyn hit me
 *and the list goes on....

Our girls have their own rooms, but choose to sleep together....Awwww sweet, right? Not when they've been up there for two hours and you can still hear them giggling!

Oh, and then as soon as I go into bed, they sneak downstairs and try to sleep on the couch! If it wasn't for the afore mentioned giggling...they might get away with it most nights...

My hope for them is that they will grow up to be close. Of course I want to be the mom/friend-they-can-go-to-with-anything....but I hope they establish a great friendship between the two of them. For now...it's about 50/50 - love/hate....still a toss-up!

XOXO,

Erinn

24 days til Christmas!

After getting to work, looking at my calendar...I suddenly realized there is only 24 days until Christmas!!  We haven't even set up our tree this year yet! It's one of those years that I am trying to de-clutter and organize our home...and the thought of unloading that stuff seems a little overwhelming to me right now... However I have two little girls that ask everyday if this is the day daddy can get the tree down (Or brooke asks how many sleeps until daddy's home). So this weekend will be it...we'll HAVE to get that thing down and decorate it! The girls love to see all of their ornaments collected over the years (although it usually leads to argument, because Hannah has 4 more than Brooke, as she is 4 years older...ah, fun). So this weekend will be it...or Saturday will have to be it! (Cuz Sunday we will totally be busting out our Vikes jerseys again and going to the Vikes vs Bills game!!)

Also looking on my calendar I'm realizing that their are only 3 (yes 3!!!) weekends until Christmas shopping needs to be done...which would normally be no big deal...except every single weekend we have something going on!! As I mentioned before we are going to get the girls new bedding (and a couple things for their rooms)...but I'm thinking we should probably get them something fun from Santa...could you imagine waking up Christmas morning being 5 or 9 with no fun toys under the tree...I'll have to come up with something! I'm not even sure if Hannah still believes in Santa..or if she's just not sayin, cuz she still wants the presents (I remember being in that stage! I wasn't gonna tell my mom and dad that I knew they were Santa...cuz then I wouldn't get the presents!) Oh the mind of a child fascinates me!

So in my already stressful life...that I'm trying to calm down...I realize Christmas is really right around the corner!! AAHHHHH! Maybe online shopping will be the way to go this year!?

Dear calm, organized life....where have you gone???

At least its Thursday! That means after today there's only one day til the weekend!! Yippee! Joy to the Weekend!!

XOXO,

Erinn

oops I did it again....

Warning....pointless, random blog post to follow!

I know...cheesy...Britney Speers! Anyways...I totally gave in again today and got a mocha from caribou! You know how terrible those things are for you?? I made sure to pair it with some veggies and yummy hummis, and a little chicken and rice smart one meal (again, I know...not the best for you...but this one was actually okay in the sodium dept). It's one of the Steamer things...really good actually, lots of veggies! Yum! Plus, I completely skipped breakfast, so in my head...no breakfast = okay to drink caribou!! Right? Totally makes sense!

Word on the street with Ryan's work this week is he's working until Christmas Eve (although he was off today for some minor mechanical problems with his machinery....he totally broke it!). We'll see...ya just never know!

Oooh, on a happy note! Eclipse is coming out this Saturday!! Yippee!! I'm so excited to bust out some popcorn and have a twilight marathon!!

By the way, they should really have a Team Emmett! I mean, I consider myself "Team Edward" all the way! But if they had a Team Emmett....I'd join! Haha. Dork, I know!

Well, the girls are in the bathtub...and suddenly it seems a little too quiet! Quiet bathtimes I've learned means more messes for me to clean up after! Better go check it out!

XOXO,

Erinn

ryans apartment cleaned....check, vikes win....check!

yep! good day in vikes land! vikes pulled off a win today...which is awesome....what's not so awesome? having to listen to it on KFAN because you forgot to tivo it before leaving the house....it is the most frusterating thing to listen to a football game in the radio!! oh, and we only lost about half of our players today due to some type of injury...hopefully they are all at 100% by our game we're going to next Sunday!!

so we went to paynesville and got ryan's apartment all cleaned out...it took all of 20 minutes, not cuz he's clean...cuz it's a tiny apartment...it's more like a hotel room turned apartment. anyways it's clean now, and the owner called on our way there and said she has someone to rent it from December to April which is just perfect because, first...ryan doesn't have to pay decembers rent then...and second...when ryan starts working in april again it should be open and she said to give her a call, hopefully she can get him back in! definitely beats paying for a hotel room everynight...plus he gets an oven/stove and a refrigerator!

now he heads up north for the next couple weeks (hopefully only a couple)...which he's bummed cuz he doesn't get to sleep in anymore (sleeping in to him is 5:30)...poor thing...see, i find it hard to have sympathy because i have to be up at 5am...and he'll be off in a couple weeks which he won't even know what an alarm is anymore! so see, no sympathy...haha.

we also swung by the grocery store to grab a few things....start of healthy eating number 924...haha. hopefully i'm in it! it's so hard when all you want is crap food! so hopefully the healthy eating stays! i'm going to try eating just small healthy meals...not necessarily counting calories and worrying about that...and i need to get my buttowski movin! so here goes nothin!

XOXO,

Erinn

lay off season is upon us!!

hear me out! i know this isn't normally something people get excited for...however my husband and i spend months apart (okay, technically it's just the weeks, he's home on weekends) during the "road construction" season in minnesota. well...we are going from road construction season right into winter! it took ryan over an hour to get his equipment started yesterday morning...he was NOT a happy camper!

well ryan found out today after work that they are done.....in paynesville. he was in celebration mode! he was super-duper excited....then he turns around to see his foreman, who wants him in virginia on monday morning....cheese and rice!!! 

so in the morning we will get up, get ready, and go clean his apartment...he's been renting an apartment there for the summer (waaay cheaper than a  hotel room), anyways, he has everything mostly packed besides the tv, his blow-up bed, and a table....and we need to bring the vaccuum and tidy it up a bit. hopefully we won't have to pay decembers rent!! that'd be a nice treat!

so...now he's in virginia....who knows how long (cuz you know...no one can give warning of any kind...i mean they found out today at 5pm they were done for the year, this happens every year). ryan's hope is he'll be back on his hoe....oh, how he's missed his hoe this year! remember, no pre-planning though...so he won't know what he's running until monday...at 6:45am, that's how they roll...

so, this was the day ryan was almost layed off (which i understand most people fear the thought of this, and respect this completely...however this has been the norm for us for the past 7 years already...we wait for lay off, then we wait for work to start...it's the cycle! we've learned exactly how much money to put away...and have passed our goal this year! we've NEVER been savers, but when you get all your money in the summer, and don't work in the winter...it only takes one year for you to learn what you need to have saved!!) sorry, off on a tangent there...

again, this was the day ryan was almost layed off....but here we go again! haha! hopefully only a week or two more!

XOXO,

Erinn

the crazies....

yesterday was a great thanksgiving! my dad, brothers, sister, ryans sister (and boyfriend), and us all together....it was fun! the girls had a blast!

we attempted (and succeeded) at frying our first turkey! well ryan (with dad and joes help) did the frying....with about an hour of trying to get the oil temp just right...

notice pot of oil (right) is not on the burner (left)...we had to make some
temperature adjustments creatively.

we just gave up after a little bit and decided to just throw the bird in and let it cook....here was her before pic, wasn't she a beaute?

ignore giant mess in background!

here's her close-up!

notice joe's holding the turkey and the pot is still off in the snow bank,
not sure what ryan's job is in this shot....

poor birds gettin all cold, here ryan actually looks busy!

turkey's in!

this was by far the best turkey we've ever had! it took a total of 55 minutes once we got it in the oil....that's not including our hour of trying to figure out what the heck we were doing! we injected the bird with some buttah, rubbed her with some rotisserie (sp) chicken spices (hence the red bird in the previous pics), and plopped her in the peanut oil. they say the important thing is to make sure the turkey is done in deep fryers....however ours was measuring well over temp. wise and was still the juiciest (not greasy at all) turkey evah!! here's the after pics...

a little scarey looking i know...believe me i was scared to
cut into this baby...that it'd be nothing but crisp, but it was far
from it...moist and juicy! Delish!

i'd have to say it turned out to be a super delicious (not at all healthy) meal. although i am trying to eat healthier and feed my kids healthier i'd have to say i probably used more butter in this meal than i have all year! it was yummy though!



none of the alcohol in the background was consumed

during the preparation of this turkey dinner!





homemade taters (not even outta a box!)



pre-baked green bean casserole

(we are in minnesota)

i had it in my head to snap pics of the meal before we ate...however after messing with the oil forever and then almost forgetting the gravy (you don't get drippings from a deep fried turkey...so i had to cheat!) i completely forgot the after pics! so all you get is a couple before pics...the rest was already in the oven...and i wasn't stickin my camera in the oven!

all in all it was a wonderful day. great family, great food. i have to say i was a little nervous as it was my first thanksgiving with my parents divorced. it's been very hard on me as it is the rest of my family i'm sure...especially my dad. so i wasn't sure how it'd go. but it was a blast! we had fun!

today i went shopping with by friend/daycare lady (and the rest of all the crazies!)...she's a riot! i just love her! she's had the girls since they were both born and i'm pretty sure i'd flip out if she decided to quit before they are out of daycare stage (2 years, 4 months, and 22 days....just kidding...i don't really have a countdown).

it was a blast though. we just kept it completely casual and meandered through all the stores....notice the girls adorable flannel jammers:

aren't they jes the cutest girls in the world...
i think so...messy hair and cups in face and all!

found a couple good deals...missed my hubby though! i've been spoiled with always having him be able to come with. soon enough we'll be able to take a little shopping trip...just him and i!

it's been a great thanksgiving week! i'm so thankful for my great family God has blessed me with. i'm so thankful for all the wonderful things in life!

happy friday!

XOXO,

Erinn

white thanksgiving??

apparently it's going to be a white thanksgiving!! :) what is it about this weather that makes me want a cup a joe from here:

yum-yum in my tum-tum!

i have a soft spot for the 'bou! i don't really have anything blog-worthy today...unlike my other most important blogging days...haha! i wish everyone a very happy thanksgiving!! we'll be just spending it here with the fam! the girls are spending the night at my mom's tonight...ryan's on his way home now (in this nasty weather...i imagine he's going about 30mph which is probably driving his lead-foot crazy!!). he will have to head back up friday morning. poor guy!! my sis is gonna babysit the girl-i-o's and i'm gonna head out with my friend/daycare lady! yippee! it'll be a ladies day!

oh, and for tomorrow...we'll be attempting to deep fry our first turkey evah! (i know, super healthy huh!) hopefully we don't blow up anything!! that's our goal (to NOT blow anything up!). and i was thinking about maybe taking the girls to "tangled" this weekend cuz it looks super cute!:

plus i love me a good disney movie! i had most the disney dvd's before the girls were born...shhh!

happy thanksgiving all!



XOXO,

Erinn

"thankful thanksgiving week"

me: what are you thankful for brooke?
brooke: i dunno
me: you dunno? your not thankful for anything?
brooke: uh, no, i'm thankful for a lots of stuff.
me: oh like what?
brooke: i dunno
me: how bout mommy?
brooke: uh, no, just a lots of stuff
me: oh! okay then! well mommy's thankful for you!
brooke: me too.

oh kids! i tell ya! top my list of thankfullness every year!! they make ya smile, laugh, cry...they make you happy and frustrated....yet they are the love of my life!!

i'm so thankful for my beautiful, healthy, wonderful family! i'm so thankful that they put up with me when i have my minor melt-downs lately! (which are getting better by the way...maybe a little retail therapy on friday will help huh?) i'm thankful that i have a God that loves me and my family...and protects us and i'm thankful that i can live in a country to raise my children to serve Him. i'm so thankful that we live in a place where we can be free and have the rights we do, where we don't have to fear leaders as other countries do...i am thankful to be an american and thankful for those who serve and protect us! i'm thankful that ryan and i both are able to have great jobs and great benefits...of course i would love to be a stay at home mom but know in my heart that we can not afford that! therefore i am thankful to have great jobs that allow us to have resources to do great family things together! i am thankful to own a house, it may not be new, or huge, or beatiful...or clean all the time....but it's ours, and it's home! i'm also thankful to have such great family and friends! it really is a great life! it's so easy to get caught up in the negativity...but i'm trying look at everything with the mindset of will it still be there next week? will i care about this next week? if not...let it go!! that's my new motto! life's way too short... and my kids are way too precious to waste time being negative. it's hard to do when you come from a life raised in negativity...but i'm trying to move past! i've got a ton to be thankful for!!

what are you thankful for?? i really think next year with the girls i want to start a "give thanks" jar. i want to get a cutsey glass jar and little note cards and then the girls, ryan, and i will take each day to write something we are thankful for...and then on thanksgiving we can go through them...i think it's just a cute little way to bring some more meaning to the holiday time!

i don't know about you but i can't wait for thanksgiving! yummo - turkey!! one more day of work (big thanks!!). in minnesota we are supposed to get some nasty weather the next 2 days....bring it on i guess huh!? we're minnesotans! we're tough!

happy thanksgiving week!!

XOXO,

Erinn

bye-bye apple pie!

ryan and i had our big game yesterday! vikes vs packs!

it started off with nasty, slippery roads! we were running late...ryan was worried we were going to miss kick off! cars were going so slow...which was good...except for once we got down toward 35w the roads were just fine! not a bit slippery! that is until we got to the parking...we had to run the 5 blocks to the dome...good exercise i guess huh!? except i thought i had made it over the slippery bridge ( you honestly could have worn ice skates!). and so we were bookin it.....and down i went....hard! my knee is now a gorgeous red/blue/purple...and i'm pretty sure i have whiplash...i've had a nasty migraine ever since last night and can barely move my neck...was it worth it?? ummm....yeah!

it was a depressing day in the vikes world though!! i've never been sooo annoyed by pack fans in my life!! i can say that...i was born in wisconsin...so shush! the game started out good! we got the ball...got 3 pts...then sacked GB twice right away all within the first quarter.

it.was.all.down.hill.from.there.

let me just say it resulted in the firing of mr chilly today...

oh! I did bring our camera, however when we got there i realized that i left the memory card in the laptop...no good pics...one fuzzy cam-phone pic though:

my mom watched the girls that day. she being the packers fan she is (wisconsin born and raised) was sending random annoying texts throughout the day. we had previously put some pie on the line of this game....if the packs won...i'd bake mom an apple pie...if the vikes won...she'd bake me a strawberry rhubarb pie....the ending score was 31-3....the clobbered us! guess who doesn't get pie!

these are the pics she sent me (along with a nanananabooboo attached to the last pic....haha)

 

ryan is already looking at vikes vs bills tickets....he's thinking we have a better chance against them...haha!

happy monday!

XOXO,

Erinn

da blues....

so saying i've been a "negative nellie" lately would be an understatement.

i'm in a state of feeling a little sorry for myself.  i'm overly hard on myself about my weight lately, i've always been hard on myself...i'm not sure if that comes from being the oldest??  i can't even look in the mirror without being way over-the-top critical of myself. i wanted to be on a better track by now, being this close to our vacation...but of course i can't stop eating crap! nor do i want to work out...ever! i wake up so early in the morning only to be rushed by getting everything for myself and the girls ready for the day....it seems like the mornings are all one huge argument of getting them to cooperate..... then i go to work for 10 hours to work with families who are way worse off than i am...you'd think that'd make me appreciate what i have, but it's not really that i don't appreciate what i have...it's just i'm so burnt out in the regular routine right now. after 10 long hours at work (11.5 after lunch and driving) i go pick the girls up only to hear them arguing the whole way home...as soon as we walk in the door it's the rush of dinner, homework, baths, animals fed, bedtime, getting stuff ready for the next day and do it all over again....it exhausts me just thinking about it! i'd do about anything to be a stay at home mom and have my time with them be sooo much more enjoyable....but there is no possible way one can afford that these days! ryan and i are both very blessed to have good jobs with wonderful benefits. but it's seems like all i do lately is pray for energy and patience! i know that it has been a long season this year with ryan being out of town since May...i haven't had to deal with that for awhile...so some of it is just being burnt out. but i just wish i was able to deal with the whole thing better....instead of feeling like i was on the verge of a melt down all the time! i know it's a little worse now also because it's colder, darker, and the days are shorter....but i will beat this!

don't get me wrong! i am very thankful for everything God has given us! we are extremely blessed...i am just in a funk...and need to work my way out. i think it may be God's way of letting me know i need some more prayer....i tend to want to do EVERYTHING...and i think he may want me to rely on him a little more, which i know i need to do.

so that is my goal. my goal is to be more patient, understanding...and not try to hold so much on my shoulders. i will have more conversation this week with God...for he is the only one who truely knows the true plan of our lives anyway...i suppose i could trust Him to help guide me huh??

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL??

did i tell you that i have a date this weekend with my boyfriend....?

did i also tell you that he is a pro football player....?

that's right, he's so friends with brett favre, sidney rice, pat williams...

you see, ryan thinks we are going for our anniversary present....so silly....

see ya sunday jared!

he's the one in stripes in the background...see him...bahaha...JUST KIDDING!

skol vikes!! 

Two months and counting.....

in two months we will be here.....



yet do you think I have been religiously following my diet and exercise routine (no). do you think i have shopped for summer attire (no). do you think i have started tanning because I am the approximate color of a marshmallow (no).

am i excited?? (heck yes)

do i need this vacation?? (double heck yes)

am i in a bit of denial that this is only two months away (ummm, yeah)

time to get your act together erinn!