Our day

What a day it was! We spent the day outside working in the yard. I took about a million pictures, but this is one of my favorites. Look at those blue eyes! Her eye is getting better. Can't wait until she is back to normal.

Hailie's black eye

Sorry for the blurry pics!

I may not be a lion, but I am a lion's cub, and I have a lion's heart. ---Queen Elizabeth I

I love that quote. Isn't it great?

So an update. Life has been full of studying, working on a speech, and trying to figure what angle I want to take for my Crusade's class research paper. I finally figured out what I am going to do for my informative speech topic. I LOVE Elizabethan history and I've done a lot of studying it in the past so I decided to do it on the life of Queen Elizabeth I. I've narrowed my crusades research paper topic down to the clash between Christianity and Islam - but I need to figure out what specific approach I want to take. I spent most of Thursday at school in the library.

Enough school talk.

Other than that life is pretty boring. I enjoyed my childfree night with my husband. We went to bed pretty early and I was able to get up on Friday and spend the day studying until I met up with my mom and dad for lunch to pick her up. My sister in law Katy spent the night last night so we watched Elizabeth The Golden Age.. Great movie. We also watched Holes. I had never seen it before. Great movie though!

Anyone a fan of BB? I have been following it.. I'm loving this season so far. I don't really have any favorites. I've been watching AD and the live feeds. I'm a junky, it's bad! There is some trashy stuff going on. I love the drama.

I don't really have any new pictures to put up.. The weather has been yucky so we haven't done much outside.

I can't believe I forgot to mention. My little girl - my poor baby - has a black eye! We were playing and she hit her eye on the bottom of the desk chair. Luckily it's not too bad. I cried! She lost her balance and just fell. It's green today. I'll have to take a picture of that.

Life as I know it.

So I haven't had much time to post over the last couple of days. I am attempting to get caught up for school and it seems to just be impossible. I have a speech to give in two weeks, I have to figure out a research topic for my Crusades class and write a one page prospectus on that topic and how I am going to research it, and I have three midterms on Saturday 3/8. Yep - my bright idea of taking 15 hours my first semester back. I have to say I am enjoying my classes for the most part. I just want to do well.

I got everything straightened out with UH and the rest of my financial aid is now in my account. We went grocery shopping last night and have stocked up. I also made our first attempts at going green - all green cleaning products! More expensive then the regular stuff, but well worth it. I am really going to try and get better.

I know my sister in law Erin reads my blog (hi!). My favorite Canadian has been MIA lately. I've been looking for you on skype! (I'm sure most of you internet savvy people know of skype.. We love it. We get to use the webcam and mic to talk for free to Anthony's sister and her husband up in Canada!) Anyway- just wanted you to know we miss you.. and are thinking about ya!

That's about it from here. My mom is taking Hailie early on Thursday so I will have the day to spend up at the library studying and figuring out this research project. I will probably come home and make dinner for Anthony and I and get more studying done. Not the ideal way of spending Valentine's Day - but being child-free I have to take advantage of it.

Back to the grind.... especially since Hailie is being so good at the moment!

More ramblings..

Warning - depressed ramblings ahead.

Since I started this blog I have really hesitated posting much about the issues I am struggling with at this point in my life. I'm not sure why - but I guess in a lot of ways it's hard to open yourself up to a lot of people, mostly strangers.

One of the biggest issues I struggle with is my tendency to overanalyze things. This is applied to just about every detail of my life. I wonder if I am a good mom. I wonder if I am a good wife. Since high school I have been a loner. Not because I wanted to, but because I always had a hard time fitting in. I had a few close friends but most of my time was spent at home reading a book, watching tv, playing on the computer. I spent a lot of time with my family. I definitely learned in that period just how blessed I was to have my mom and dad. My mom was, and still is, my best friend. They are my rock and were probably the only stable thing in my life. Of course that was during those highly emotional high school days. To some extent though that hasn't changed. After high school I made the choice to leave Texas. I really had no desire to ever return here at all. Money, being homesick, combined with about a zillion other reasons forced me to move back here.

Over the next few years I was somewhat happier. I rushed a sorority. I made friends. But that voice in the back of my head always told me that I just didn't fit in. I was never the partier. I was always much happier at home. It got lonely though. Once I left school I was spending a lot more time alone. I met Anthony - who of course has changed my life for the better. He is my best friend and between him and Hailie there is absolutely no place I'd rather be. I have my days where I am on myspace or facebook and I see my "close" friends who are in such a different place in their lives. I see them going out and having fun.. and I am here. I don't hear from many of them anymore, and if I do things just aren't the same. It gets lonely.

For awhile Anthony and I went to church where were met two couples in particular that we got close to. One of the things that was always hard for me here was that I have my faith and religious beliefs. However, being the person that I am I constantly question things and can't always take things at face value. I have to analyze and think and discuss things. I never felt like I could be myself and that made me uncomfortable. I think this, in combination with other reasons, lead us to leave the church. I felt at "home" for awhile there, but it faded rather quickly. I felt if I really stated my opinions on things I would definitely be made to feel like even more of an outsider.

I just can't seem to shake my feeling like there is something wrong with me. I feel like I have failed at so many relationships and I can't seem to grasp why. I always try so hard and maybe that's my problem. I don't know. I'm not one to get out and try to meet new people. Bleh! I'm just grateful for everything I do have. I have an amazing husband and daughter.. and an absolutely incredible extended family.

Sorry for the ramblings, I'm just having a blah night.

Queen of Procrastinating - that's me!

First - thank you to all you commented on my last blog entry. It will be Monday before I have an answer, but things could be worse so I'm not going to let it stress me out.

Instead of reading like I should be doing we decided to clean the house. I have dusted and even shampooed the carpets so far in our office and our room. Between tonight and tomorrow the rest of the house will be tackled. Tomorrow is my last day with my mom's carpet cleaner so I am going to make the most of it. It would've been done already but our lovely puppy decided to chew through the cord and we just got it back from having it replaced.

I actually sat down this morning and made a detailed list of all the reading and assignments I need to do for my classes before the midterms. Um - it seems almost impossible that I will get it all done. I will definitely be getting very little sleep between now and then. I'm going to my mom's again on Monday to watch my Film class lecture. Joy.

Frustrations...

I am so aggravated at the moment. I have a refund of my remaining financial aid still sitting in my account at UH. I called 3 days ago and I asked why I couldn't request the refund. No problem, they would do it manually and it would release into my account in 24-48 hours. I am counting on that money to make up what we had to spend on my books, etc already earlier in the semester. We're talking a pretty significant amount of money.

I call back this morning because it still isn't there. They took my phone # and said they are having to go to someone higher up to get it released. This was at 8am. It is now noon and no call back. I'm a little worried - we REALLY need that money. bleh.

EDIT - So I called them again. They are telling me they need to "research" and I should know something MONDAY afternoon. So I had to move more money out of savings. Luckily I should be getting my W2 and I can file our taxes soon.. and I will be able to replace what we took out when that and the refund finally come in.. but sheesh. I didn't want to do that ya know?

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Early Wakeup calls and lots of rambling.

So it is 3am. I am awake. Hailie has woken up twice tonight. It's the nights that I really just don't want to get out of bed that she wakes up. So since I am pretty exhausted and combined with the fact that I somehow turned off Anthony's alarm yesterday morning making him late for work I am going to stay up until I make sure that does not happen again this morning.

I am also getting REALLY sick of this stupid cough. It is DRIVING ME CRAZY! I'm congested, but can't seem to get any of the crap in my chest to break up at all. I hate being sick. More than ANYTHING else in the world. Okay, so maybe not more than just anything... but ya know.

I'm rambling, but like I said - it's 3am and I'm tired.

I am slowly starting to get caught up on my school stuff. Between this weekend and my wonderful husband watching Hailie for me I will be caught up before I know it.

I just heard Hailie.. guess she's still up. Not crying so not going to complain. I was going to get up at 5:30 just get to stuff done, but I'm really thinking that just isn't going to happen. Have I mentioned before that Hailie is in love with all things Toy Story? That girl has seen Toy Story 2 literally a couple hundred times. This means of course that both Anthony and I have the entire movie memorized.

On a completely different note I read a news article (yeah it was about 5 months old) that was posted on cr8buzz about this professor from UT (gotta be from my state.. ugh!) says that being a stay at home mom is dangerous and bad for your kids. Um, not so much. She can think that all she wants. I think being a stay at home mom if you have that opportunity is fantastic. In my situation I get to spend the time with my daughter teaching her things and doing things we otherwise would not be able to do. I can go back to school. I can get involved in political stuff. My mom stayed at home with us and it was the best thing in the entire world. I am so grateful for it. My mom is my best friend.. I've been so blessed to have her. Sorry for my tangent.

I better get back in there and check on HB (Hailie-bug for those of you who don't know) and get back to sleep..

MIA...

Just a quick note to say that I won't be around much today. I am heading up to the Univ. of Houston campus to study at the library in an attempt to get caught up on all the reading I have gotten behind on. I will be here later this evening though.

Attaching a couple of pictures from our walk yesterday. My mother in law came over and made us breakfast and we took Hailie for a walk. A long walk. It was fun! On the other hand, I really hope this weather stops changing so much. I will never break this sinus infection otherwise! Ugh. Typical Houston weather.

Our day..

Today has been relaxing. Hailie and I went and met up with a few of the moms from the playgroup - we had fun. I look foward to going to more events.

Other than that Hailie and I have just been bummin around the house. It's cloudy outside and looked like it was going to rain. We got a chance to go outside for a little bit when Anthony got home from work.

On a happy note- my mom offered to keep Hailie on Valentines Day and night so Anthony and I can have some time together. I'm looking foward to it. Not only am I getting a chance to get caught up on my school work, but I get some alone time with the husband!

Here are a couple pictures from today.. Also included is one of our furbaby Buttercup.

Today's Ramblings

So today was uneventful. I had to go to my mom's to watch my American History through Film Class lecture. (For those who don't know - I am taking all of my courses distance ed through the University of Houston. The lectures are either broadcast on tv or on dvds that we have to buy. One of the classes is broadcast on a channel not broadcasted outside of the Houston city limits - so my mom and dad dvr it for me).

My nephew is still in town so my mom kept an eye on the two of them while I watched it. The class isn't horrible, but the guy who does the lecture isn't interesting at all. I've definitely enjoying seeing all the clips of old movies and learning the history of movies. I've definitely learned a lot so far. The rest of my classes aren't bad. I think my communications class will be the easiest. I think my Crusades class is going to end up being my favorite. The only part of this one I am having trouble with is the reading.

Other than that nothing interesting is going on. We are going to our first playgroup meeting tomorrow morning - a little nervous since I'm a little shy when I first meet people.

A couple of pictures from tonight.. Hailie LOVES my office chair. She also loves wearing the beads that Nana and Granddaddy (Anthony's dad and stepmom) got her.

Introducing HD...

So yesterday we upgraded to HD. Our satellite company was offering a good deal so we finally gave in and upgraded. All I have to say is that I am LOVING it. HGTV in high def is awesome.

Our weekend has been fairly uneventful. We've stayed around the house for the most part. I have been fighting a sinus infection so I am definitely not feeling my best. Hailie is back to normal and is just a ball of energy. Luckily - my FIL and SMIL came over to watch the Superbowl with us so they are keeping her company. She hasn't taken a nap though today - so she is definitely going to pass out early. Not bad for me - especially since I have SO much homework to do. I have gotten a little behind with reading. It's just hard to focus on it when Hailie is awake and most nights I am ready to go to sleep after she's asleep. I've been staying up late the last two nights so hopefully I can get a lot accomplished tonight.

Here a couple pictures from Hailie playing earlier. My little cutie pie!

Videos and stuff.

For Christmas last year I decided to do something slightly different for everyone. I have a program that I can use to make movies out of video and pictures. I raided everyone's picture collections and scanned in over a thousand pictures. I have uploaded a couple of the videos I made for Hailie. One is from November/December 07 and the other is the first 3 months of her life. It's amazing how quickly they grow up!

Slideshow!

It's 1:30am and I'm still awake and not even that tired. Just finished the slideshow.. Figure I am going to stay up and actually get some homework done. I have to wake Anthony up at 3:30 so it almost seems pointless to go to bed. I will just take a nap with Hailie tomorrow. Quality is not fantastic on the video.. I can't seem to get it to come out clearer.



Enjoy!

Second page..

This is the second page I did tonight. Not perfect, but again - at least I tried! I am going to put together a slideshow tonight if I can stay awake long enough of the pictures I took today. It's been a long day - but definitely a fantastic one!

First attempt at digital scrapbooking and an update.

Things have definitely improved around our house. Hailie is just about back to herself and Anthony is barely limping now.

We had a great day though! Hailie and I got up and went to pick up my final check and to go to the bank. After that we went down to my mom and dad's to see them and Brently, my nephew who is here this weekend. I got a chance to shoot some pictures of them playing. Anthony and I also took Hailie to the park this afternoon so lots of outdoor fun!

One of the things I wanted to get into is scrapbooking. I'm not super artsy, but I have gotten pretty decent at using Photoshop Elements. I have used it to edit pictures,etc but never to do any sort of digital scrapbooking. I did my first page tonight. It's pretty simple, but I like it. Let me know what you think!