Merry Me

I was inspired by Kasey, as well as by the fact that I had to take pictures in order for Doug's grandmother to see, to do a very un-Emily thing and show you pics of my house decorated for Christmas.  I hosted my work Christmas party, so this was just the motivation I needed to kick in some extra decorating.

Living room:

 Last year my project was to frame old pics of Doug and me from Christmases past to include with Elliott's Santa Claus pics and our annual cards on display.  It turned out great, and it's a huge hit.

 Dining room:

Kitchen:

Breakfast room:

Doug's den:

Bathroom (yep, even in there):

My goal next year is to achieve more outside than just a wreath.

!Feliz Navidad!

Merry Christmas, from our family to yours!

Life Lesson

Remember to never overindulge.

30-Day Blog Challenge: Days 16-I'm Done

Ok, so it turns out I got really bored with the 30-Day Blog Challenge; who knew?  So here is my lame attempt at finishing so as not to be a quitter.

Day 16: My dream house

I don't have a 100% picture painted here.  Of course, everyone always wants bigger.  I guess I want things I have yet to have in a house:

• Carport or garage
• Patio
• Front porch
• Master bedroom SUITE with walk-in closets and our own bathroom
• A room for every need
• TONS of storage

Day 17: Something I look forward to

In the short term, of course the holidays.  In the bigger, more meaningful picture, I look forward to having a second child, and seeing how Elliott interacts with a sibling.  I pray this waiting to even begin will not drag out for too much longer.


Day 18: Something I regret

I regret - some days, not all - staying at MSU.  I feel like that choice has driven a lot of my frustration with life.  Then again, if we had moved, we wouldn't have the support network we do.  And that network is amazing.


Day 19: Something I miss

This is so dreadfully vain, but I miss being thin.  I miss how I felt about myself, and how others treated me. 


Day 20: Nicknames

My paternal grandmother termed me Nosy Rosy when I was a tiny tyke because I had the terrible habit of going through peoples' cabinets because I was naturally curious.  In high school I was Elliott because there were so many Emilys on the BB team.  I have a few people in my life who call me Em; you have to be special to get away with this.  But my favorite is Mim, originated by my first niece. 


Day 21: A picture of me

Day 22: My favorite place

Does this not feel like a repeat of earlier days?  I think this is why I got annoyed with this challenge.  But instead of talking about cities, I'm going to say...MY COUCH!  I love being at home, cuddled up with my boy.


Day 23: My favorite vacation

Hello, PCB!  Again, didn't I already cover this?


It is at this point that I have no faith in the list I have being accurate.  So, I call this mission complete!

The Line in the Sand

How is it that nearly half the people in my life think I'm cheap and frugal, while nearly another half think I'm throwing bills out the window?

How is it that I held out this long to get a smart phone, shunning paying $10 a month to add texting until I could get a smartphone, and no one said, "Good job, Emily.  Way to be frugal."  How come, other than our current society, this was only a target for mocking?

You know what?  I've been married for 10 years; a mother for six years; a professional staff member - paying into the state retirement system - at a major university for 8 years; a homeowner for 8 years.  I've financed an international adoption.  I got my master's virtually for FREE.  I don't buy designer clothes; I shop sales.  I buy boring so as to wear items longer.  I try to put money back into my home when I can, and I usually choose this over anything for myself.  I don't overindulge my child with things.

Just so you know.

Editor's note: In an effort at full disclosure, I do concede that I eat out too much.  

Turkey Day Redo Needed!

Four days later, it just hit me like a ton of bricks: I forgot to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade!?!  I am saddened and need a redo.

30-Day Blog Challenge: Day 15

Day 15: Bible verse

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”   --Psalm 46:10

30-Day Blog Challenge: Day 14

Day 14: A picture I love

30-Day Blog Challenge: Day 13

Day 13: Goals

If only you knew how much I've been struggling with a related issue lately.

Personal goals:

• To be the best mother and wife I can be (insert all other familial relationships here)
• To get out of debt
• To continue to lose weight and keep it off
• To become one of those annoying people who LOVES to exercise
• To keep a cleaner house
• To be a better friend

Professional goals:

I have been trapped in a Sara ping-pong match here, and the match was only intensified by my work trip last week.  Do I want to stay in distance education?  If so, I need to take some big girl steps forward.  Is my dream of working in adoption supposed to be a long-range dream?  What is the likelihood that I will leave the state retirement system (or the state, for that matter) before my 30 years are up? 

• To be able to articulate my professional goals

Frienemies

Phillip is evil, and Iris is annoying.

(My apologies for the dark lighting.)

30-Day Blog Challenge: Day 12

Day 12: What you believe

The Apostles' Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

30-Day Blog Challenge: Day 11

Day 11: Favorite TV shows 

• Gilmore Girls (in syndication)
• Seinfeld (in syndication)
• The Office
• Community
• Survivor
• The Biggest Loser
• Outsourced
• The Next Iron Chef
• The Next Food Network Star
• Design Star
• Tons of other shows on HGTV and Food Network

30-Day Blog Challenge: Day 10

Oopsies, I mixed up days 9 & 10!  Whatevs!

Day 10: A picture of your friends 

It saddens me that this is the only pic on this computer that I could find of my three BFFs. 

I apologize for the uninspired commentary and lameness of this post.

Holy Moly!

Holy moly, it's November!  Do you know what that means? National Adoption Awareness Month is here again!  Last November I only got to the part about (not) receiving Elliott's referral packet. Part 2 of journey coming soon!

30-Day Blog Challenge: Day 9

Friends: I am going to be out of town the rest of this week, so I'm playing catch up again.

Day 9: Something you're afraid of

Well, if I keep this answer simple, then I'm afraid of spiders.  I dislike other vermin greatly, but I'm AFRAID of spiders.  You live with a chunk of flesh missing from your back and see how you do with that fear.

I'm claustrophobic, so I've got that going on.

I'm not sure if "afraid" is the right word, but I have anxiety about parking and backing up.  No joke, sometimes going to Elizabeth's or Erica's house gets me all freaked out because of their driveways and parking situations.  I cannot stomach watching a big truck or any kind of vehicle with a trailer attached backing up.  True story.

My real fear, though, is something happening to Elliott.

30-Day Blog Challenge: Day 8

Day 8: A place you've traveled to

Yes, I realize it says "A" place you've traveled to.  But I'm going to mention more than one.  It's my blog, dang it! ;)

I don't consider myself that well-traveled, but when I stop and make a list I'm actually doing pretty well.  As a child, as I've mentioned numerous times, we went to PCB, FL every year for vacation.  In addition to that, I visited my aunt in Austin when I was a mere 2, and I visited Virginia with my grandmother and cousins when I was in the 4th grade.  That was probably the extent of my traveling until I went to Mexico for spring break senior year.  We love to tell those stories!  When Doug and I got married, we honeymooned in Montego Bay, Jamaica.  Then two years later I started traveling with my job.  For a long time I kept a list:

• Orlando x2
• Charleston (Hollar, Holly!) x2
• Nashville x2
• Omaha
• Atlanta x too many to count
• New Orleans x3
• Little Rock
• San Antonio x2
• Biloxi x2
• Dallas
• Tampa
• Memphis
• West Monroe, LA*
• Baltimore
• Logan, UT
• Chicago 
• Lexington

My favorite place we went was Logan, UT, which is near Salt Lake City.  It was so different from here, and I was with a really fun group that trip.

Of course, then we made the most important trip of our life in May 2006 to Guatemala City.  That was right after my West Monroe trip, so that makes WM seem better in hindsight.  What a trip.  Story still to come about that part of the adoption journey.

In December 2006, I went to NYC for the first time.  I do so love it.  My first two trips there (out of three) were amazing.  It's a dead tie on which was better.

Hey, where did this elephant come from?

30-Day Blog Challenge: Day 7

Day 7: Favorite movies 

For some reason anytime someone asks me the favorite anything question, I go completely blank...

I love the iconic movies from the 80s (Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, etc.), and I love almost every romantic comedy on the planet.  I have really taken a stand in my life about movies.  Since we see so few at the theater now, I really only like to see comedies or romantic comedies.  I do not like to watch things that make me upset, make my blood pressure go up, etc.  I mean, life is hard enough; movies are supposed to entertain!

Oh wait, I forgot HARRY POTTER!  You cannot know how excited I am about the 7th movie - part 1, that is - coming out in two weeks.

Short but sweet, my favorite movies are those that make me laugh, do not cause me stress, and that I can watch over and over again. 

30-Day Blog Challenge: Day 6

Day 6: A picture of something that makes you happy

There are so many pictures I could put up here.  Any picture involving my family, my friends, or my pets would do because all of those things make me happy.  But I chose the below because it's especially hilarious.  He thought this up all on his own.  Once again, he is a funny kid.

The next time you need some exercise motivation, consider stretching with Iron Man! :)

300

300 days without Dr. Pepper! 

30-Day Blog Challenge: Day 5

Day 5: Siblings

I have two brothers, Jeremiah and Jeb.  Jeremiah is three years older than me, and Jeb is seven years younger.

Jeremiah has always marched to the beat of his own drummer.  He is an introvert who doesn't talk to outsiders much.  Do not let this fool you into thinking he's not opinionated because holy moly is he.  He's very into music - music that I am woefully uncool to know most of the time.  Though we are very different, we do share some common ground in liking Harry Potter, the Michael Scott Nicholas Flamel book series, and The Office.  (Jeb also shares our love of Harry Potter and The Office.)  He is an accountant/controller for a cattle company and is a cattle farmer also.  He is extremely tight with money, and his net worth reflects it.  He is married to a school teacher and has two beautiful daughters.  He loves the Braves, and he is still a good athlete too.

My younger brother shocked us all when he declared in the 10th grade - out of nowhere - that he wanted to attend college at the military academy in New York.  Say what??  And once that dude puts his mind to something...yeah, well he graduated from there last summer.  He's now learning to fly Blackhawk helicopters and is engaged to a Japanese woman that he met in Africa.  So I guess it's pretty safe to say they both march to the beat of their own drummers.  Oh yeah, and he too is a tight-wad.  I have no idea what happened to me in the middle.

 

I love my brothers tremendously.  And even though we are "day-to-day" different, I definitely consider us close.  No, we are not the type to talk on the phone to each other every day.  But we have a solid bond and we like each other.  Not all siblings can say that.  

30-Day Blog Challenge: Day 4

Day 4: The parents 

My parents...how do I begin?  Normal, average citizens, and then again not.  I warn you, this post may be long.

My dad was born and raised (and will live his entire life and die) in Clay County.  He is the 2nd of four boys.  He was born into a legacy of J's: Jack and Jackie had Jack Jr., John, Jim and Joe.  Grandsons would follow tradition for awhile - Jeremiah, Jason, Joshua, Jack III, Jeb, Justice - and would be broken by me and AJ and the other boys - William, Daniel, Augustine.  The stories from his childhood are FRIGHTENING.  He and his older brother used to torture toys.  We like to imagine them like Sid from Toy Story.  In his teenage years, he was a hippie, and a hitchhiker at that.  All of this is insane when you consider the Big John you may know today.  He has worked at the Co-op since he was 18 years old.  That is hard to imagine for our generation.  He has been a landowner for nearly that long and a beef cattle producer.  He is a stereotypical male who has lived his entire life in the south.  He loves OHA and MSU athletics, and he secretly hates that he missed out on the college experience.  He is an extremely hard worker, a good provider, and a believer in the school of hard knocks...with love.  Oh yeah, and he lives for our annual beach trips to PCB.

My mom was born in Illinois, the 4th of 8 children (the 2nd of 5 girls).  She graduated high school early to marry my dad.  He decided he wanted to date her after seeing her candy-striper picture in the paper.  But I digress.  Faith and family are core for her.  She has been a jack of all trades since my little brother entered school.  We were lucky that she was able to stay home with us when we were little.  She most recently worked as a part-time bookkeeper for a small construction company, but she has worked as a butcher's assistant, a carpenter's assistant, a cafeteria worker, and a daycare worker at different times in her life.  She has always been willing to do whatever needed to be done.  She is my unofficial personal assistant, and she is now a professional grandmommy.  How lucky are we that she picks the kids up every day after school and keeps them at my house until we all get home from work?!
       

Both of my parents are strong-willed and competitive people.  Both have impressive tempers, though my dad's is quick and hot but dies fairly quickly (flash fire) while my mom's is stone cold and long lasting (ice age).  A little glimpse into me...

30-Day Blog Challenge: Day 3

Day 3: Your first love

I am both amused and feeling awkward about this post.  I consider my first "love" to be my first boyfriend, who I dated for 2 years in high school (freshman through junior years).  His beautiful wife and mother of his 4 children is a friend of mine and reads this blog. :)

I love that as grown ups we can look back on the past and laugh and appreciate.  And I love that I am friends with one of Doug's ex-girlfriends as well.  How very mature of me ;)

30-Day Blog Challenge: Day 2

I'm playing catch up!

Day 2: Meaning behind your blog name

Elliott is a really funny kid.  Really funny.  I wish he would show his personality to more people because it hurts my heart that people can only go by my stories.  Anyhoo, when I decided to start my blog, I was feeling really icky about using real names.  It could be because not long before that our adoption agency had taken down the web-board, the most amazing resource I had during his adoption (related to Hague accreditation regulations).  Anyhoo, that was around the same time that he started referring to himself as Chicken, which stemmed from me saying to him when he was impatient, "Hold up, chicken!"

So there you go.

30-Day Blog Challenge: Day 1

I've hit a bit of a dry spell with my blogging, as you can see.  No worries, it happens cyclically.  When it swings back around, I usually have too many things to blog about.  So apparently there is this 30-day blog challenge going around.  I only found out about it by stalking other people's blogs.  But it sounded fun, so now I have 30 days worth of things to write about!

Day 1: Introduce yourself, include a recent picture, and tell 15 facts about yourself.

So I still have a thing about not using full names on the blog.  I'm Emily.  I'm sure all of you know that...unless I have some secret readers, and the thought of that thrills me!  You can see my recent work pic in the below post.  Christmas card pics coming soon, so you'll see updated family pics then.

Wow, 15 facts about myself.  Here goes, in no particular order:

1. I am a middle child, book ended by two brothers.
2. I work at MSU.
3. I've been married for over 10 years - do the math, I was 20 when I got married.  Crazy, huh?
4. I've worked at MSU full-time for 8 years now.
5. I have two degrees from MSU - a bachelor's degree in Agricultural Information Science and Education and a master's degree in (Educational) Technology.
6. My son is my world, and I am enamored of the fact that God chose us to parent him.
7. My husband and I are nearly complete opposites.  That makes life interesting :)
8. I am a unique combination of a Type A personality (as it applies to school) and a messy, cluttered person.
9. I am still athletic, even up under all this blubber.
10. I love food.  All food - healthy food, fattening food, all of it.
11. I love drinks even more than I love food.  Usually the non-alcoholic kind.
12. I have ~27 first cousins.  Did I mention I'm Catholic ;)
13. I grew up on a cattle farm, and I bottle raised calves to save money for college.
14. I am lucky enough to have never had student loans thanks to the above and scholarships.
15. I was Salutatorian, Class President, Outstanding Girl, in the Hall of Fame, and the Academic Athlete my senior year in high school.  And just look where that got me ;)

What a Difference Three Years Makes

I only want to talk to the new me.

Cards of Christmases Past

We have only managed to get a good family shot one year (our first family year) for our Christmas cards.  The three years since then have featured Elliott solo.

November 2006

(Ignore quality of this uploaded shot)

 

November 2008

(Rejected shot - too "weak" looking)

 (Selected shot)

November 2009

(Rejected shot - for many obvious reasons)

But we got lots of good options for this year!  Stay tuned!

A Milestone Day

Yesterday was Elliott's 47th day of school.  In that time, he has had a smiley face every day, he has visited the treasure chest 3 times, and he has been absent 3 times.  But yesterday was super important for 2 reasons:

1. It was the first morning he ate breakfast at home before school.  His nerves have not allowed him to do that at all since starting big school.  He repeated this feat this morning.
   
2. It was the first time - since day 3 when things went awry - that he ate his entire sandwich (or both dinosaurs as he says) at lunchtime in the cafeteria.  He has been eating one half/one dinosaur, then eating the other one in the car when my mom picks him up.

Wow.  Much like daycare, it took him ~8 weeks to get his grip.  I guess this means 8 weeks is now a constant, not an outlier.  Sigh.

Game On!

After 3 weeks of practice, tonight is the first soccer game of the season!  Elliott and Corgan are on the Alligators, and Kitty is on the Green Machine.  They actually have matching jerseys, which should mean some excellent shots of the three of them.  Then again, this summer Elliott and Kitty had the same jerseys, and I never once managed to get a picture of the two of them.

I'm excited about seeing how these moves translate to the game!

 

 

I Feel a Cavity Coming On

Seriously, how sweet is this picture?
(other than Doug's gimpy eye)

Once Upon a Time, On a Very Windy Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'd Be Rich(er)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHacDYj8KZM

Listen to the above song, which Sara and I heart, and then use the melody to sing the following:

If I had 30 thousand dollars...if I had 30 thousand dollars...
well I'd get us on the list...the adoption agency list...
If I had 30 thousand dollars...if I had 30 thousand dollars...
well we'd fly to China...and bring a precious baby girl home...

I keep waiting for the $30k to fall like Manna from Heaven...

Chair Apparent

My mom and dad gave Elliott a teeny-tiny recliner for his 3rd birthday (2008).

Boy has it been a hit...

 

 

 

 

Seriously, everyone loves this chair.

50 pound weight limit my booty! ;)