Addiction...

I have a slight addiction. Maybe its my craving because I havnt had any sense being pregnant. But by golly im up to buying 2 a day and thats only because I am working so I have to go in the morning before work and in the afternoon after work. I hate that it cost money to fix my craving, but at least its 43 cents at the store in kilgore and 32 cents at the store in white oak. Why there is a price difference, i dont know. I am getting the same product from both places! So you wondering what in the world i am addicted to??

A large cup of ice water from sonic. America's Drive-Thru. And what makes this ordinary cup of water so special?? Uhh HELLO! The ICE!

Sonic Ice is so awesome. It doesnt hurt my teeth to chew, its soft and its just all around YUMMY. Yes, i do know it is frozen water and i can make ice in my own freezer at home. But it is just not the same. Sonic ice is just a whole nother level of awesomeness! :-)

Ohh, and I have to admit, I have another addiction. This one is a one time cost of $16.99. And when you have a

it doesnt cost you anything :-)

So what is this second addiction?? My Tervis Tumbler. If you do not have one of these sweet babies. You need one. They really do keep drinks cold or hot. They fit perfectly into your cup holder in the car, and wash very well.

Here is my baby. I take it everywhere. (Nerdy I know-but dont care)

So why would i write about these two things in the same post? Well if you look closely at the picture of my Tervis Tumbler, you will see none other then SONIC ICE! :-)

Yes, i am the nerd that will take her sonic cup, dump my drink into another cup and throw the sonic cup away. I do this because Im addicted to the ice, and the cup keeps the ice from melting so i have more ice! See there are reasons behind the weird and crazy things i do! (well at least there is this time) :-)

Master Bedroom Floor Plan

I am slowly working my way thru the house, redoing and trying to make more sense of the space and stuff I have in the duplex.

The room I care least about is actually the one I am posting about first. It is my project for this week. It doesn't need much, just a little cleaning and furniture rearrangment.

I need to move the furniture around because how it is set up now works well for us at the moment, but when Baby H gets here, his bedside crib will not fit beside my side of the bed because it will block the bathroom door.

So here is the new floor plan. I will hopefully have this done later this week. :-)

In case you cant read it:

A-Bed

B-Night Stand

C-Closet Door

D-Chest of Drawers

E-Bedroom Door

F-Hamper

G-Dresser

H-Bathroom Door

I-TV

J-Round Table/Shelves

This is of corse not drawn to scale. I just used MS Word, Text Boxes, and Auto Shapes. So it is no where near perfect, but it gives me a game plan. We will see when the hubby gets some time to help, we will try this out and see how it works. It may work...it might not. Who knows! :-)



My First Born

Introducing....

MASON...



Then

AND



Now!





I know that he may not be my child, and that my real child is on the way. Mason, is and always will be my first born. I love this (gumpy old) man more then you could ever imagine.

While my boyfriend/fiance (now husband) was away at school at:

Mason kept me company at THE duplex. He is the worlds best guard dog.

I can say that 'cause his barking has caused the neighbors to call the cops. They are the dog haters of the world tho. Which speaking of, 3 more dogs moved in next door, so I am sure that these people are SO happy! :-)

anyways...back to Mason...he is also the worlds best cuddle bug.

not the best picture, but heck it was taken with my phone. SORRY!





He may weigh 50 pounds but he thinks he is a lap dog and will jump right in the middle of your lap. I LOVE it!

One of Mason's FAVORITE things to do is go swimming. Yes, swimming! Not just a jump in the pool to get the frisbee, but he will get it swim from one side to the other, and hop out. Well after watching him do this several times, we figured out it was because he was so dang hot! I mean look at how furry he is!



"Hey! I can still see the TV!"



We live in Texas, in hot, humid East Texas and he carries around about 40 pounds of fur! No wonder he was HOT!

When he would swim, we could be in the pool with him, put him on the step and pull back his hair and the under coat and skin were still dry because the water could not get through to them because of the thinkness of his hair.

So one year, we got smart and decided to take him to get a haircut. I called one place and they gave me a good price so, off me and Mason went to get his hair cut. I dropped him off and was told it would be 3-4 hours and they would call. So I headed home, did who knows what, and then they called and said my baby was ready!

The whole way I was nervous becuase I didnt know what he would look like. I walked in and nearly screemed! His body looked great. His tail they had shaved from his ummm, butt up about six inches and then left a fur ball at the end. Then I caught a look at his head. He looked like a lion. There was no blending, they shaved up to his neck and stoped. He really and truly had a lines mane.

It was AWEFUL.

I was almost in tears because I was the bad mom who signed him up for this! I finally gathered my words and spit out something that must have sounded like "shave his tail" because she plopped him up on that table and shaved that ball off his tail.

He looked 1000 times better after that. I asked about blending his head, but the lovly groomer lady looked at me like I had a lions mane. So I paid the money, tightened Masons collar and left.

He was so embarrased. He looked like he was screaming inside "IM NAKED and in PUBLIC!!!! People can see me!" So one sad look later and we were back in the truck!

That afternon the hubby and I took him over to the pool. We knew it would feel so much better. When he jumped in he "yelped" he had never felt the cold water on his skin before and it scared him. He soon got used to it and loved the pool even more.

The next summer we decided that we needed to get him shaved again, but NOT at the same place. Over that year a new shopping center had emerged and so had a new pet store. I called that place to get a price. It was an even better price then the first place. But that worried me. I told them all about the tramatic expericance last year and she assured me that they would take detailed notes and make him look perfect. So off Mason and I went to get his hair cut.

We got there and sure enough, the lady took D.E.T.A.I.L.E.D notes. We told her we wanted his hair about 2 inches long, we wanted his tail SHAVED and we wanted his head blended with the rest of his body. The groomer lady was not the most friendly person I have ever had the pleasure of meeting but she assured me in her husky voice that she would do just what we wanted. So I kissed my baby, promised him it would be ok, and quickly walked out before I changed my mind.

3 or 4 long Long LONG hours later I got the call saying that Mason was ready! I hurried over to pick him up. I had a knot in my stomach the long drive there (15 min) and the whole way to the back of the store. "What if its not good again?" is what I kept thinking over and over.

I opened the door to the "salon" and there he was, shaved (tail and all), and had a beautiful blended head! He looked so CUTE! I was in love. If it wasnt for the fact that other people where there and staring, I might have jumped over that grooming table and hugged that lady!

So again this year we decided it was time for a hair cut for Mason. And he is such a happy boy! SEE:



Look at my shaved tail! :-)





The pool will be opening in a few days and this will make his first dive a cool and refreshing one.

Always in for a Surprise!

Everyday when I get home, I pull in the drive way, get out of the car, find my key and wonder what I will find on the other side of it. This is not because I am afraid of finding my stuff gone, or my dogs sick...but because I have this sweet, perfect, never does anything wrong, 11 month old puppy. 

He always seems to find something to surprise me with everyday. Today, was one of the most interesting things, but I have to say it was one of the easiest things to clean up. Ranger decided his ears were dirty and he needed to clean them out....with a whole new box of:

So this is what I found today when I opened the door:

Ranger looked so sweet and innocent when I walked in, but don't worry-he knew he was in trouble. Hopefully this "puppy phase" will pass soon and he will mature into the good dog I know he can be :-)

Nothing to say but so much to say...

I have not posted in a long time due to many reasons. I have not known what to write about, nothing creative has popped into my head. I truly wonder if there is even room in my head for creativity right now. I have everything on my mind. From things to do before the baby gets here, to end of school year stuff, to wondering what exactly God has in store for me in the future to everything else in between!

I have not slept well in several days, due to well pregnancy, allergies that turned into a cold, dogs that are scared of a little rain (not that i blame them-one thunder strike and I'm in the bathroom with my "tornado gear"), a snoring husband that falls asleep with his computer on (grr) to just being up thinking about life and what is happening. I guess its a good thing I am running on no sleep these days, I sure wont have any in a few months with Baby H gets here. (Still not sure on a name-we will hopefully have one soon!)

I think my goal for the next few weeks/months until Baby H gets here is to try to take 10 min a day, for me. No matter if its an extra 10 min in the bath/shower, hiding in the closet away from TV's, dogs, husband, computers, iPhones and iPads, or taking a 10 min drive with out being on the phone just to try to sort out the drama, negativity, fears, worries, or concerns that are going on in my life right now.

I think the last 2-3 months have been the hardest I have been through in a long time. But one thing my momma always told me still rings true to me today. "You always think your problems are bad, until you look into someone elses bucket-of-problems and you realize just how lucky you are". I try to repeat that to myself every day. No matter how hard what I am going through is, I know someone out there has bigger problems and I need to keep going and not give up because I am strong enough to get through all of this and God is going to help me.

So turns out I did have something to blog about. I just didn't know it. Maybe it was not the most creative, funniest, inspirational or best written, but it was something. And that something was mine.

Time to smile and know its all going to be alright. One way or another dang-it!

music ga-lore

this weekend the hubby and i escaped to one of our very favorite places...Natchitches LA. Such a relaxing, historical and peacful little town.

We went down for...

It was SO much fun. The hubster had several gigs he was booked for so it was a weekend of some awesome music!

The same weekend just happened to be the 100 year aniversary of the

Demon Marching Band!! (The hubs is a proud Alumni of this awesome band!)

So we went down to celebrate so kick booty music this weekend! We also got to catch up with old friends who we havn't seen in a while. I love catching up. I just wish everyone lived closer so we could get together more often!

Just a Bangin and a Clangin

Hummm what to do, what to do......I have a set of these in our bedroom at the duplex.

They hang all the way to the ground to cover our sliding glass door to the back yard. I personally could do without this glass door and wish it was 2 nice windows. We already have a back door, why do we need another one??

My other issue with these blinds...I have one of these:

and one of these:

and they like to play at 4am in the vertical blinds. I really think that the dogs like the noises the blinds make. Ranger (the corgi) likes to sit and wag his tail in them so they move from side to side just a bangin' and a clangin' away.

I need to find something else to cover this sliding glass door with so that I am not awake every morning when they decide its time to play in the blinds. I really wish I could take the door out, put windows in and fill in the rest with a wall, but I don't want to spend that kind of money and I am sure the landlord doesn't either. Darn.

Back Yard Blues...

One of my biggest issues for the duplex is the back yard. It isn't really a backyard but more like the largest sandpit in Texas. We have very very very little grass back there.

While I am completely in love with our 4-legged children...they bring in pounds of sand everyday. They go out and lay in the sand, run in the sand, and play in the sand. So when their sweet little paws hit my tile floor in the kitchen, so does the pounds of sand. YUCK.

This means that most every day I am sweeping up little piles of sand from all over the house, and vacuuming the carpet to get the sand out. I swear that one day I will vacuum or sweep up the entire yard full of sand.

The other thing I dislike about our back yard is that our puppy has figured out that we wouldn't chase him into the back yard late at night if he drug anything out there. Also, he learned that when we were gone to work he could play. So before we knew it the back yard looked like this:

Yes, nasty I know. I am a little ashamed. But with a puppy you are busy enough and don't see what's piling up outside. 

So I called the yard guys (who only mow the front lawn) and asked them to come clean up the back yard. So a well spent $35 later the back yard was picked up of all trash, leaves, gumballs, and pine needles. We have sense tilled the back yard and spreed grass seed. I am praying that it grows. 

If not....I am planning a trip to Lowes and getting sod and laying that. I am BOUND and DAD-GUM DETERMINED that before the baby gets here, the back yard is going to look like this:

I just hope all my dreams can come true soon! :-)

Rub and Grub

Today I had planned to paint the bathroom, I had been thinking about colors ALL week. I had put money back to cover the cost of paint, tape, rollers and all other painting supplies. My dream was put on hold when I remembered, well reminded by my sweet hubby that we were cooking for a fundraiser for his job. 

So, this morning we rolled out of bed at 6:30 (on a Saturday...GAG) and headed to the golf course. Got there and fired up the grill. This grill is AWESOME! It is a trailer with a smoker and a grill welded on.

Once the grill got good and hot my wonderful Hubby started to cook!

This chicken was some of the best chicken I think I have EVER EVER had!! It was seasoned in Lowery's Seasoning Salt and a dry BBQ rub from a local BBQ joint. It was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!! 

See.....

This was just one round of chicken. They cooked (and I supervised--yes, it was a very hard job) about 150 pieces of chicken. The chicken was a complete hit. Everyone loved it. 

I am so proud of him and his Dad's hard work today. I know everyone left with a full tummy!!

Its a family affair...

There are several people in this world who understand why this duplex is not just any other duplex, it is THE duplex. There is none like it and there will never be another place like it in our family. It is a story that makes us sound a little nutty, but that nutty-ness is what makes our family AWESOME! :-)

Uncle Bobby (my husbands uncle) bought the duplex several years ago for his mom to live in one side of. The other side he rents out. Here is the list/ order of who all has lived at THE duplex:

1.My husband's sister the wonderful Skye (who you can follow over at Nethering Our Fest--she has a pretty awesome blog!). When she moved in she had a wonderful room mate named Liz.

2.After Skye and Liz moved out Grandpa moved in. He lived there for awhile before he passed away. It still saddens me that I never got to meet this man. He sounds amazing.

3.Then Skye moved in after he passed away.

4.Not to long after Skye had moved in the 2nd time, I came along. I met her brother (who is now my husband) at college down the road. I wanted out of the dorms, so I moved my happy little self in with Skye. 

5. About 6 months later Chris proposed to Skye and so moving out began for me!!

6.Naturally Chris was the next person in the family to move his self right on into THE duplex. After they got married, they found out that they were moving to Louisiana so guess who got to move back in after they moved out??

7...that’s right! ME! I moved back in!

8. Next came my wonderfully HUBBY! :-) and soon we will be joined by the next member of the family to live in the duplex....

9. BABY HAWTHORNE! He/She will be here soon and will be just another member of the family to be able to call THE duplex home!

This list does not include our four-legged family members who have been able to call THE duplex home. But we have had our fair share running in and out of that doggy door in the back! :-)

With all the family history in just this one house, it is easy to feel at home, but I am slowly working on making it even better. I hope to be able to show the growth of THE duplex over the next few months as we get ready and get THE duplex ready for a new little bundle of joy! So come along with me and join me in the transformations, frustrations and imperfections that make THE duplex...well just that THE duplex!!