Batman....We have a problem!

Robin's down! According to my father, our patio door is a bird killer. The other day he was sitting in our living room watching tv when he heard a "THUD THUD" against our patio door and this is what he found.

Does it make me a "bad" person that I'm posting about the untimely death of Robin? I can't really decide.

Award Number 2

I recieved this award from Cowgirls Like Me. Thank you very much for the award! This award had another set of rules to go with it but I've decided that I'm going to be a rebel today and not follow the rules. I am giving this award to everyone also. Enjoy!

I recieved a couple of awards recently...Here's number 1

I recieved this award from my good blogging pal City Girl Turned Country Girl over at A&MD Ranch. Right now they are having a name that foal "contest" for the new baby that arrived at the ranch on Monday. Thanks for the award!

Now here are the rules that goes along with this award:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs that show an Attitude of Gratitude.
3. Link to your nominees within your post.
4. Comment on their blogs to let them know they've received this award.
5. Share the love and link to this post and the person who nominated you for this award. Tell us how you've come to have an Attitude of Gratitude.

Now here are my nominee's for this award:

I am going to be difficult and nominate everybody. Enjoy this award ladies and gents!

Just Because

Movie Numero 7 ~ Mr. Holland's Opus

I haven't done a movie post in a little while so I thought that I would introduce my readers to another movie that I think you should see before you die. The movie I've chosen this time around is Mr. Holland's Opus. AWESOME movie!

Richard Dreyfuss plays Glenn Holland who is a professional musician who would like to spend more time working on the piece that he is composing, so in 1965 he takes up teaching music at a local high school. Little does he know that there won't be very much "free time" as a teacher.

In the beginning, Mr. Holland is frustrated that he is unable to connect with his students, but over time he becomes very successful at his profession. At home though, he is struggling with with a major "issue" surrounding his son and struggles through the years to develop any kind of relationship with him. When the music program is cut after 30 years, Mr. Holland wonders what, if anything, he really has accomplished in his life.

Just some randomness from my little ADD mind

Yesterday I posted that I felt a little bit out of place here in the bloggyland....Lot's of mommy bloggers out there. Some of the blogs that I visit are written by mom's and I love them....I'm just a little bit out of my "element" I guess with really little kids....It's been a while since I was a little little kid and my youngest cousin is 11. Thanks for all the encouraging comments on my True to Life post yesterday.

I'm going to try to start posting more than one post a day...so keep scrolling or check out the archives if your coming here via a specific post. This post itself will be my third post of the day...I've done Tasty Tuesday, and a tag so far. Later, probably after my nap, I will be handing out an award and posting about another movie on my list....I haven't done one of those posts in a little while.

I lost a follower sometime between yesterday and today. That makes me sad...I'll get over it though....I'll find out who my friends are right?!

Going to sign off for now.

Jamie

My Crazy 8's

I was tagged by my new bloggy pal Aunt of 14 the other day to do my "Crazy" 8's. So here we go.....

Here's the rules--mention the person that tagged you.
Complete the lists of 8's.
Tag 8 of your wonderful blogger friends.
Go tell them you tagged them!

8 Things I Am Looking Forward To:

1. Having 4 days off this week.
2. Getting paid on Friday
3. My raise that is coming with my annual review
4. The first sunshine that we've had here in Wisconsin for the past few days...That would be today...right now.
5. Getting some more shorts in size MEDIUM....I haven't been able to wear a medium in forever.
6. Seeing Jeff Dunham live in Madison
7. trying out new recipes
8. My hair being long and louscious

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Worked
2. Tried not to let my temper get the better of me.
3. Started a new book
4. Blogged
5. Slept
6. Got up to go to work
7. Got ready for work
8. Actually went to work

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. Not ever have to worry about money
2. Get my credit cards paid off lickety split
3. Go on a much needed vacation ASAP
4. Have better discipline with my eating habits
5. Take better photo's
6. Make some extra money from my crafty projects
7. Write an unbelievable best-seller
8. Wear size 8 jeans

8 Shows I Watch:

1. Dancing with the stars
2. Big Bang Theory
3. Deadliest Catch
4. Dirty Jobs
5. PBR
6. Two and a Half Men
7. History Channel
8. CMT/GAC

Now who am I tagging?

City Girl Turned Country Girl

Heatherlyn

Trainwreck

The Wife

Keeperoftheskieswife

AmyB

Pooba

Yaya

Tasty Tuesday

This week on Tasty Tuesday we're making Sticky Chicken. This is an AWESOME recipe! I am sooooo glad that I found it. Click here to go to the printable recipe or click here to go to the photographed steps. Keeping today's Tasty Tuesday a little bit on the brief side. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family did!

Jamie

True to Life part 3

I feel sort of out of place here in the blogging world. A lot of the blogs that I visit or have visited via my comment support group SITS seem to be more "mommy" blogs. Sometimes I feel that when I comment on a "mommy" blog that when they come to visit my blog and find out that my blog isn't a "mommy" blog they don't leave comments. I'm not knocking "mommy" bloggers....Hey that's totally AWESOME to blog about your kiddo's....I just feel left out, cause I'm not a mommy.

Have I mentioned that I hate feeling like it's me against the world? If I haven't I do....A LOT. Right now....It seems that the world is winning instead of me...I hate that even more.

Have I mentioned that I'm jealous of my mom's new DSLR camera? I want one too...Just can't afford it.

Have I mentioned that I love blogging about my "problems?" It's definately cheaper than therapy.

to be continued.....

True to Life part 2

I pretty much feel like I'm a prisoner to Ms. Laci. When we adopted her she pretty much decided that I was her person and she's bonded with me pretty tightly (if she could go everywhere...and I mean EVERYWHERE...with me she would) to the point that if I leave to go anywhere there are days that she will sit at the front door and howl until I return.

I've been trying to lose some weight on and off for a long time now. Since my Dr. appointment on April 1 where my dr. gave me some really great advice on things I can do to aid in my weight loss I'm down 5.8 pounds. I've decided that my goal weight is 140....I started at 161.3 pounds so I'm well on my way.

I took Ms. Laci to the vet to get her shots updated and our vet has officially put her on a diet. In the almost 2 months since her last visit to the vet she's gained almost another 2 pounds....putting her close to 28 pounds. Our vet says she could stand to lose at least 4 pounds. So Ms. Laci and I are both dieting right now.

As kind of a stress reliever I've been doing a lot of reading, walking and I just recently took up knitting again. I had kind of taken a little bit of a breather from knitting to work on some other projects to but the opportunity arose to try a new knitting challenge....A baby Afghan. One of my co-workers found out that she's having a baby in November and I thought I'd knit her and her husband an afghan.

to be continued....

Guest Blog: Gettin' Crazee Up in Here

Happy weekend to everyone out there....

I'm Juls from "Every Day is a Crazee Day" and I'm ecstatic to be guest blogging here at Bumps in the Road. So, I'd like to say thankyouverymuch to Jamie for letting me come & share some crazee stuff with you...

Today, I'd like to chat with you about nothing in particular.

Wait, wait ....come back. Don't clickety click off to another blog just yet.... I promise to be somewhat interesting.... Okay, maybe worth reading? Who knows?

So, people often ask me,

"Juls, why is every day such a crazee day?"

And the answer is simple really.... life in general is crazee...don't ya think? It all depends on what we like to concentrate on, and as for me.... I tend to lean toward focusing on those things in life that make each day unusual....

So, without further ado, (and because I have a mad crush on none other than David Letterman) here are the:

TOP TEN REASONS EVERY DAY IS A CRAZEE DAY

10. Everyone I know, needs an intervention of some sort. Probably means I need an intervention too... So I'm always half expecting for some documentary crew to show up, and ask: "Do you agree to be in a documentary about...fill in crazee behavior of your choice here.."

9. My kids are so busy, that most days we meet ourselves coming in the door as we're going out the door.

8. There is hardly ever a day that I don't either a) wet my pants from laughing so hard, or b) nearly wet my pants from laughing so hard. Yes, I know there's medication for this. Yes, I am considering seeking medical advice to obtain said medication.

7. I never go looking for drama, but it always seems to find me. For example: I once was driving down the street...and nearly ran over a 2 year old little boy...who was totally alone. No joke--- no parents for miles...(it wasn't a residential street)....so of course I pull over and have to hold some random baby, wait for the police, and then when the police arrive--- they won't let me leave, because they thought I *might* have been some crazee lady who was a remorseful kidnapper. (It all turned out fairly uneventfully and little baby boy was returned home safely)

6. I have two tween girls, need I say more?!?

5. Every day, as I drive to pick my kids up from school, I pass the same pasture that is home to a "herd" of cattle...and I always wonder what those cows are thinking... Who does that?

4. Two of my brothers-in-law have had the same wife. WHAT! Yes--it's true. But luckily, not at the same time. So some of my nieces and nephews are cousins/step-siblings.

3. If I haven't pulled off a good prank--I somehow feel inadequate.

2. My days begin at 6 a.m. and most of the time, I don't go to bed before 2 a.m. So I run around like a crazee zombie function on 4 hours of sleep.

and the Number 1 Reason why "Every Day is a Crazee Day..."

1. Most of my good buddies are not buddies I have ever met, but people who like to get Crazee and read my blog and/or I read theirs. Hey, I'm not discounting these friendships, but I do have a real issue with most of my IRL (in real life) friends--because remember......???? THEY ALL NEED INTERVENTIONS.

_________

So tell me, friends of Jamie, and hopefully friends of me too-- what is it that makes your days crazee? Is it crazee in-laws, kids, a strange boss, your weird addiction to the Home Shopping Network? We all have a little crazee in us, are you willing to embrace your inner crazee?

Oh, and by the way- if you wanted to know what crazee looks like ....

(L-R) Hannah Grace, Big Daddy, Me, & Miss Mae --The Crazee Scotts

Blessings...giveaway winner...and other randomness...Oh My!

It's friday again....so it's time for me to do my blessings for the week. This week I started posting here on Bumps In The Road my True to Life "journal"....It's just a little way for me to vent my frustrations and I really appreciate all the feedback that I've gotten so far from just the first post alone. On Sunday morning part 2 is scheduled to make it's appearance.

I had a pretty ok week at work this past rotation...It was the ETL that everyone likes weekend to work so things always run pretty smoothly. Nothing all that exciting really happened....just had my nose to the grindstone to get my work done and get the heck out of there. This weekend....well it probably won't be as smooth as this past weekend was....the other ETL gives off the vibe that she just doesn't care enough.

My days off were pretty uneventful....In my world that's a pretty ok thing. Tuesday I got my temporary crown put on....Right now I'm hoping that I have no sensitivity issues or I may need to have a root canal done....Got my fingers crossed on that one. Tuesday afternoon....Took the dog to the vet.....She's officially on a diet. Our vet says she could stand to lose at least 4 pounds....She's not likeing dieting at all though.

Wednesday....I started knitting a baby afghan for a co-worker who is having a baby in November. I also taught myself to crochet! Wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be that's for sure. My mom told me that she's getting a brand new Nikon D60 digital camera....We're hoping that it'll come this weekend.

Thursday....I did some cooking and posted one of the recipes that I did on my cooking blog over on wordpress. Then I did a whole bunch of nothing. Nothing is a GREAT thing in my book.

Here's a pretty cool webpage that was featured on SITS today....Great Girl Trips. If your planning a trip with your girlfriends check this webpage out....It's got some pretty awesome ideas and great tips too.

Tomorrow I have another AWESOME guest blogger. Juls from Every Day Is A Crazee Day. I can hardly wait to see what Juls has to say....I was a guest blogger over on her blog not all that long ago and I had a great time...even though my post was kind of a downer.

Now for the winner of my first ever blog giveaway.....After tabulating all the enteries for everyone who participated in my giveaway.....Our winner is Tamara B. Congrats to the winner! I'll be in contact with you shortly.

Coming up in the next week or so....My first ever Follower exclusive giveaway. I haven't decided what I'm going to giveaway yet but I'll definately be sure to post about it.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Jamie

Tasty Tuesday....Thursday edition

Don't forget that my giveaway ends tonight at 11:59!

Today on Tasty Tuesday....Well Thursday edition we have a bread machine recipe that my family LOVES. Unfortunately, there are no photo's this week. If you don't have a bread machine, I'll post a link (there is a printable copy of the recipe included in the post also) to another cinnamon roll recipe from another blog that is just as AWESOME. I've also started a cooking blog over at wordpress called The Country Girl Cooks. I hope you'll drop by and visit me there too.


Cinnabons

Ingredients:

4 T. melted butter
4 T. water
1/3 cup instant vanilla pudding
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 T. sugar
4 cups bread flour
2 1/2 tsp. yeast

Directions:

Place ingredients into bread machine in order listed. Set for dough cycle. After cycle is complete, roll into 17 X 10 inch rectangle. Butter the dough rectangle. Sprinkle the dough with a mixture of 1 cup brown sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Roll tightly, pinch edges closed and slice into 1/2 inch slices. Place into greased 13X9″ pan and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. While still warm spread with frosting.

Frosting Ingredients:

4 oz. cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp milk

True to Life part 1

It's been a week since the liquor cabinet was calling me. I wish the liquor cabinet wouldn't call to me....Alcohol is so NOT the answer to my problems. Alcohol just seems to cover up the problem's for a little while and make's you feel a little less like the "machine" that you and your life currently has become. I don't need to cover up my problem's...I need to figure out exactly what they are and deal with them. So far I've been pretty bad at figuring out what my problem's are and dealing with them.

You ever just have "one of THOSE" days? Recently, it seems that I've been having them on a pretty regular basis when it comes to my place of employment. I'm basically sitting around waiting for my supervisors to come up with something new and exciting to get on my case about. After basically being told that I'm the problem, I have developed a little bit of an attitude towards my supervisors. I pretty much show up do my job, go home and only talk to my supervisors when they talk to me. Now I'm not in a position where I can leave my job.....The job market where I'm at is pretty dismal.....So I'm pretty much sucking it up and being a gluton for punishment.

On top of all of my work related issues, I've had a pretty crappy beginning to 2009 also. Well, pretty much from the end of November until now (so far anyway) has been pretty dismal on good things happening to me. Which if you want the highlights you can find them in this post.

Currently, I feel like I'm nothing more than a machine. There really aren't enough changes to my daily routine right now to NOT consider myself a machine. 4 days a week I go to bed between 9 and 10 in the morning, get up between 6:30 and 7 that night, get ready for work, leave between 8:20 and 8:30, show up at work around 9, work for 10 hours and go home and do it all over again. On my days off, it get's mixed up a little bit more but not much. The last couple of days it's been raining so Ms. Laci and I haven't been going out for walks, because she doesn't "do" rain or inclimate weather real well.

to be continued.....

Tasty Tuesday

This week Tasty Tuesday has been temporarily postponed. I'm having some dental work done today and will be numb and cranky most of the day. Hoping to post Tasty Tuesday on either Wednesday or Thursday.

True to Life

Right now I'm taking some advice that I gave another blogger who is also dealing with some work related issues and journaling about it. I'm currently working on a post that I will be sharing with you all. I hope it isn't too scatterbrained for ya'll....My little ADD brain works like that A LOT. Not sure when it will be up but just wanted to put out a heads up.

Birth Plan Goes Wild..

Thank you Jamie for inviting me to guest blog today. What a wonderful chance to reach out and meet some new friends in the blog world. For those who do not know me..I am Amy and I have a blog called Our Daily Blessing..Life. Not only am I new to the blog world but I have never been a guest blogger. I hope I do not disappoint Jamie..or end up deleting her blog by accident...ha. Shoot that is not even funny..scares me to even joke about it.

So when Jamie and I talked about what I should blog about she said it was up to me...hummm...she is a brave lady. After doing some thinking about my crazy life I decided I think everyone would enjoy knowing what a crazy, wonderful, blessed, movie like delivery I had with my sweet 4 year old Cole.

Being the mom to 4 children you would think my DH and I would think that there is not much that could get us "stressed" when having baby number four. WRONG..

Living in Florida it is a given that we have hurricane. In fact living so close to the beach..11 houses we have gotten use to half watching the news and saying we will believe it when it comes down the street. Well Sept 2004..made a believer out of us.

Florida made history in Sept 2004 with FOUR hurricanes to hit in one month....and I had a baby in the middle of one and got to spend a week in lock down at the hospital. Yep...and that is only the half of it...lol

So here I am big...really big and PG . Like very soon to be mommy out there I had it planned how it would be when I had the baby...Let me share the plans..
I would gain only 15 pounds and have a birth plan typed and include a fast birth with no drugs.... My fridge would be well stocked. My baby shower done and the baby clothes washed and put away in my perfect nursery. My house clean...and well you know everything done.

Now let me share with you my reality having Cole. When I was 32 weeks pg and well ..ummm..well past the 15 pounds gained weight...the weather man said there is a hurricane coming. Emily says ...mommy do you think it will hit us. I say..oh Emily no way..BITE MY TONGUE AND SLAP ME...yep...here comes the storm. So I have to decide what to do fast..but obviously not fast enough because by the time I figured out what to do..there was no place to go. Every other person in Florida decided to stay in the hotels ...so here we go..three children..me and DH and a cat and two greyhounds in a van...with all my photos and my baby bedding. Yep..you know I had to take my baby bedding cause it was perfect and I needed it. LOL. So we drive and we drive and we drive. We finally go and stay with my mom for a few days and make a nice visit out of it.
As we are driving home I notice I am not feeling so well. In fact I have a stomach ache. Well maybe it is a little more then a stomach ache. I will just rest. I happen to mention to Jim that I might be having braxton hick contractions but I was sure it was okay. Being the sweet and loving man he is ..he says as serious as can be..If you do not stop having the contractions I am going to pull off and leave you at the first hospital I find. Notice he did not say he would stay..LOL. So I rested and drank some water and all was good. Thank goodness or I would of been left at some hospital off I-95.
We come home to a house that is dark..hot..smells awful..no hot water..all food is gone bad...and Jim had to kick the front door in for us to even get in our house. But I have my baby bedding so all is okay.
The next day was a dose or reality. We went and stood in line to get ice from the Red Cross. It was amazing to watch our small beach town pull together . Police are everywhere. Fema is driving up and down the streets handing out food. The MRE's dried food packs. Reed was thrilled.
Off and on I notice I am having braxton hicks contractions again. I end up calling my DR and they have me come in and see the DR. My awesome Dr has me do a Non stress test and sure enough I am having contractions. So off to labor and delivery we go. After some IV medication and some fluids I was good to go ...which was good I still had 8 weeks to go in my PG.
Off and on for the next week I had pre term labor. The DR put me on meds to try to hold off labor. With rest this seemed to do the trick. Little by little I was thinking my plan of the perfect delivery would happen.
Then we watched the weather again...storms and storms and more storms. Emily says..Mom are they coming this way. I said..no honey. She looks at me and says mommy you said that last time. So I go into great detail telling her the odds of another storm hitting us. I tell her that the last one was a fluke. yep..I should of never of said that.
The next day I end up in labor and delivery with contractions. I am thinking that the DR will change around my meds and all will be okay for a few weeks. The nurse gave me a shot and the contractions stopped. Then she says The DR wants to see your first thing in the morning. Jim and I go home and plan to see the DR the next morning. I notice all night I am having contractions off and on..but not the magical number per hour to get me back at the hospital.
The next morning Jim and I go to the DR and he says..lets do a NST and have a talk...the NST showed contractions once again. The DR gave us a pep talk about mother nature being stronger then the meds..and he felt it was safer to go ahead and deliver then keep stopping it and chance a infection. So he wanted us to go to the hospital get ready for our baby to be born. I was a bundle of nerve and excited...
So off we go and get ready. After hours of laboring..it was decided I needed a repeat csection. Due to Cole being 6 weeks early the room was filled with people and there was a lot going on. But at least Jim was there to be with me..well he was for a few seconds..
Here I am...Jim tells me he feels odd...I look at him as they are cutting me open to get my precious premature baby boy out and say to him in the most stern voice I can..JIMMY you better not...yep that was all I got out..The man passes out. See he never listens to me..never. The DR was so funny. He says as serious as can be.one two three he is out..let's keep going. About this time they get Jim to his feet again and he says I am fine..then he says..oh I hear buzzing..and down he goes again. Dang him..So poor Jim has to go lay down..Amy is alone..No pictures of her sweet baby boy being born..No one to hold her hand..NO ONE to say..Are you okay Amy..NO NO NO. Just everyone saying..is the dad okay. As they wheel me to recovery I see him laying down in a room with a fan on him..If I could of gotten up and yelled at him I would of. Did I not tell him to NOT pass out? This just goes to show he never listens to me.
Okay so no baby pictures. That was NOT in my plans but it will be okay. Then Cole had to go to the NICU. Even though he was a big baby he was a young big boy. Okay..that was okay too. Because after talking to the NICU DR it was best he was out. Not part of the plan but it was okay...Cole was born.
So they send Jim home because he is worn out from passing out...lol..and they want me to get some rest. I decide I really need to see Cole. So I talk the nurse into taking me to the NICU ...what a sweet beautiful baby he was. As we are coming back in the wheel chair..I threw up all the way down the hallway. Maybe the nurse was right..I should of rested ...that was not part of the plan.
The next day my mom calls and I say when are you coming. She says..well I can not come till I see what the storm does. Now..let me just add that being that this was my 4th csection..I was hurting and on a lot of meds. I say Momma..the storm is over...it is time to come. She explains to me there is a new storm ...on it's way..yep the same storm I told Emily that would never come. Guess what. yep.
The next day..the evacuation order comes in for the beach so my inlaws take the kids and leave. Here I am..in the hospital with a preemie baby and a hurricane on it's way again.
The hospital starts getting ready and all heck breaks lose. People are flooding into the hospital to cover shifts. They are putting the shudders on the windows..except on my floor because..oh they got damaged 2 weeks prior in the last storm. People were sleeping on the floor of the hospital..they allowed family of the staff to stay there. The power went out and we were on generator. No TV..No Internet..Do I need to tell you that this was not a part of my birth plan?
As the storm passes..I start to get anxious about the house. Was it okay. Did it make it. Was there work that needed to be done. And I also knew that I would need to be discharged without taking Cole home with us.
So with a lot of tears and sadness Jim and I pack up my room and try to leave the hospital. After having to climb over people sleeping on the lobby floor..we finally find a guard to let us out of lock down. I hated to leave ...but I was discharged .
As we go across the causeway to the beach side we have to dig through our bags to find our licences to show we really live beach side. Because of the storm they have closed it off. Reality is seeing the national guard with guns directing who can go where.
As we get home..I walk in..no baby...no power..no food...no water.. a week of rotten food from no power....nothing like this was in my birth plan. We find candles and we cooked some defrosted TV dinners on the gas grill. I figure that it will all be okay. How bad can it get? Oh it can get bad...
I wake up and my boobs are about to burst open. Yep my milk is in. And since I nursed 3 babies already..my body knew what to do. So I have this wonderful electric breast pump..and NO POWER. Panic sets in..I am sweating like a pig..sticking to the sheets...Boobs are pounding and hormones are raging.
Jim goes to our neighbors house who are having a party and says I hear your generator..can my wife come and use her breast pump? HUH? LOL. So they say yes and off I go to the garage..and I am high on pain meds..they are drunk on wine and I am pumping both breast in a strange garage of someones house with people peeking in saying ..wow what is that. Someone even asked if it was some type of dialysis. Did I mention there was drinking ?
Is now a good time to mention that this was NOT part of my birth plan?
That minute I decide we are going to the hospital...Oh ..no..there is a curfew..bridge is closed. So I decide I am buying a generator..No there is not one to be bought...So I decide that my mom is going to buy one and bring it with her from SC..but she calls everywhere and there are NONE to be bought...they have all been sent to Florida..Well...atleast my mom can come now and make me some food. That was part of my birth plan..my mom would cook for me. What ? Oh just something. So my mom comes and goes to every store in town ..no meat. There is no meat in the store. There is no cold foods..just boxed food. Hummm....
Okay about this time I figure out that my birth plan is not going to work..LOL. None of it...
The day the power was back on and my mom showed up..the DR called and said..your baby boy is ready to come home...
But after all of that...wanna know what was important ..and the best ..and in the end made up for everything?

Friday's Blessings

It's Friday again and I'm back on track. I'll be honest this was NOT a good week for me at all really. There were very few good things that happened to me to be honest. Work has been well....NOT so good. I guess the only good part about work right now is that I have a job. So let's just say I have a new attitude towards most of my job duties and my supervisors...Unfortuanately, it's not all good attitude....Not gonna lie.

We are hopefully going to be adopting a second dog into our family. I did a little post about 3 of our 4 candidates....The 4th one just got added to the list, I'll post a little bit about her at the bottom of this post. So we're super excited here at my house. I can hardly wait to see who we come home with! I deleted the original poll that I had up with our first 3 candidates on it so that I could add our 4th candidate to the poll, so feel free to re-vote.

The weather has been phenominal! I was actually running around in SHORTS yesterday! I think that spring may have finally arrived in Wisconsin....Even if just temporarily. It's supposed to be 70 degree's here today!

I put out a request for guest bloggers yesterday for Saturdays and possibly Sundays as well...Tomorrow we will have AmyB from Our Daily Blessing....Life. Amy's blog is AWESOME....Her son Phillip has been through a LOT in his life and Amy herself has been dealing with NON Hodgkin's stage 2 cancer. I hope that you will go and check out her blog. Amy and Phillip are real inspirations. If you would like to be a guest blogger please drop me an e-mail at jamiehanna84@gmail.com and I'll add you to my schedule.

Now let's move on to our 4th candidate that could potentially be a new member of our family....This is Ari.

Ari is a almost 6 year old Mountain Cur/Hound mix. Here is what the shelter has to say about Ms. Ari:

ARI has a sweet disposition and loves attention. She loves going for walks, but does pull some, especially if she sees a rabbit because of her breed. She loves to ride in cars and will ride up front like a queen. She will make a great couch potato if allowed. Ari gets along with most calmer or smaller dogs, is ok with cats but may chase them and is excellent with children.


Now don't forget to cast your vote in the poll in my sidebar.

It's official!

Hi my name is Jamie and I'm a swap addict. Mamarazzi is having another one of her AWESOME Favorite Things Swaps. I am soooo game! I hope to see some of you there! I had an AWESOME time the last time I participated in this bloggers swap.....Had an AWESOME swap partner too.

NOTE: Click on "Favorite Things Swaps" to go to the current swap post.

Looking for Guest Bloggers

I found and participated in this idea over at Juls blog. I am looking for guest bloggers for Saturdays and possibly Sundays here on my blog. We're going into one of our busiest "seasons" at work besides Christmas and all the sleep I can get is a good thing. Topic is up to you just as long as it's appropriate. If you would like to be a guest blogger either leave me a comment here or email me (I would just like to add, that if I can't respond directly to your comment I would totally love it if you would e-mail me or leave an e-mail address in your comment please...Makes setting up day soooo much easier.) at jamiehanna84@gmail.com and I'll add you to my schedule.

Thanks!

Jamie

Reasons to consider adopting a Adult/Senior dog

In my last post I blogged about how we were considering adopting another dog into our family. Well in this post I've blogged about reasons why you (if your considering adding a pet to your family) should consider adopting a adult/senior dog. Now I'm not knocking puppies and puppy ownership, but there are some families out there in the world who just don't have the time, money or even the energy for a puppy and all that comes with puppy ownership.


The first dog that we ever owned was a 2 year old Black Lab/Cocker Spaniel mix named Shawna. My Grandfather adopted Shawna from the local animal shelter for my brother and I about 17 years ago. To this day Shawna has been the best dog that we've ever owned, more than likely because she was the first dog that we ever owned, but does that really matter? A little over 13 months ago we adopted Laci a then 5 year old Cocker Spaniel from the same shelter that we got Shawna from and couldn't be happier. So below are a few reasons that we've come up with for adopting a Adult/Senior dog plus a few that I found on the internet.


1. You’re not starting from scratch. When you buy/adopt a puppy, you're basically bringing an "infant" into your home. An "infant" who is completely untrained, possibly undersocialized who thinks that the crate you bought for him/her is a jail cell. And like a human baby will wake up during the night to get out. That newspaper you wanted to read before heading off to work, well with a puppy, that's just another thing that needs to be shredded, your shoes...well they are sooooo much tastier than the rawhides you bought for your puppy to chew on. Your brand new carpet....well that's just an excellent subsitute for grass when nature calls. Because rescue dogs spend time in foster homes before they are adopted, they come to you with at least some social skills and some degree of housebreaking!


2. Training is easier. Whatever additional training needs to be done with a rescue dog will be much easier than training a puppy. It’s like the difference between training a one-year-old child and an eight-year-old. Dogs who have been around for a while just “get it” faster than puppies-especially housebreaking!


3. The bond is strong. Dogs who have not gotten off to the best possible start in life-who have been neglected or even abused-tend to be very loyal and affectionate. Remember that dogs are pack animals, and they take their treatment by the “pack”-their owners and families-very much to heart. A dog that has been neglected or abandoned once is usually eager to become part of a loving pack, where she feels safe and secure, and is likely to act accordingly. We find that rescue dogs are generally eager to please their new owners. Puppy mill rescues often want to be in your lap at all times and will follow you from room to room, just to be near you.


4. Fewer vet fees. Rescue dogs have had physical examinations, have been spayed or neutered, have been tested for heartworm, and are up to date on shots. When you buy a puppy, you pay for the dog AND for puppy shots, spaying or neutering, and any other basic medical expenses.
What you see is what you get. When you buy a puppy, you can never really be sure what type of dog you’re going to get. All puppies are cute and playful, but their adult personalities aren’t visible until they’re about two years old. So you don’t know whether you’re getting a dog who wants to play all the time (ALL the time!) or a couch potato. When you rescue a dog, you know what the dog’s personality is like and whether it fits with what you want in a dog companion. You also know, in advance, about any problem areas the new owner will have to address.


5. It teaches your children good values. Face it-we live in an extremely materialistic society, in which TV teaches kids that everything can be bought, that they should get their parents to buy them everything, and that anything worth having costs a lot of money. Adopting a rescue dog for your family presents a wonderful opportunity to teach your children basic values of compassion and caring, and also about the value of second chances.



6. If your looking for a purebred....They can be found in shelters, plus there are breed specific rescue groups all over the internet....A good place to find to find rescue groups or animals that are looking to be rehomed in your area is petfinder.



7. What you see is what you get....When you adopt a adult/senior what you see is what your going to get. With a puppy, especially if the pup happens to be a mixed breed, your never quite sure what your going to get size or personality wise.



8. The "frosting" on the muzzle?.....well that's just icing on the cake. Don't let the "frosted" faces fool you. Technically, most dogs are considered to be "seniors" when they are between 5 and 7 years of age (depending upon size). A little "frosting" doesn't mean "old" and "run down"....to be honest some dogs just have "frosting"....Our dog Shawna had a frosted muzzle from the time we adopted her at the age of 2. Our Shawna moved around and acted 1/2 her age (she almost saw 20 years old) almost right up until the very end, even more so after we added Laci to the brood.

9. Not ALL dogs in shelters have "issues".....A lot of people have misconceptions about dogs that are in shelters. One of the bigger misconceptions is that the dog has "issues"....While yes there are some in shelters that have "issues" animals end up in shelters for any reason....Our Shawna was surrendered because her family was moving and she couldn't go along. Laci was surrendered due to a death in the family and financial struggles.

Now let's open this up for discussion. I seriously want to hear your thoughts or stories about this post. Do you prefer the puppies or are you like my family and love the adults too? Have you ever adopted? If so, I would soooo love to hear your adoption tale(s). If your someone who is considering getting a dog, was this post helpful to you in considering an adult/senior dog?

We may be adopting again

Recently, we've started thinking about adopting another dog to add to our family. Over the past 17+ years we've had 2 dogs that were both rescues from our local animal shelter. In our family, we're big on animal adoption, there are plenty of animals out there in shelters who are ready to shower you with love.

The black fella above is Spooky. He's one of the dogs that we're considering. He's a young (almost 3 year old) Black Lab mix. Poor Spooky, he suffers from "Black Dog Syndrome."

This is Flick. He's another young (almost 2 years old) Lab mix that we are considering. Poor fella, he's been adopted once already, but because he had 3 mini seizures he was brought back to the shelter. He's a bigger fella too...about 65 pounds of lover from what the shelter said....No "Black Dog Syndrome" here.

This is Missy...She's another dog that we are considering adopting. While the other two dogs that we are considering are younger animals (2 to 3 years old), Missy is a very young 7 years old. While technically considered a "senior" dog she's still got a lot of years left in her especially if she's been well taken care of in her "past life."

In my sidebar I've put up a poll where you can help us pick our new family companion should we proceed with the adoption process. The poll closes on April 22.

Tasty Tuesday ~ Potato Sticks

This week on Tasty Tuesday we are making Potato Sticks. This is a really simple recipe and doesn't really take all that much time to put together either. For some reason Blogger is not allowing me to move my pictures around like I would like them so I am in the process of putting together another blog for all the photographic "How To's"....I'll let you all know when it's up and running.


Potato Sticks

4 Medium Potatoes (peeled)
2 1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
1/4 cup butter

In a 9" glass dish make 2 layers of potatoes, seasoning, cheese and butter. Sprinkle with paprika, microwave covered for about 16-18 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes....Then enjoy.

Movie Numero 6 ~ Facing The Giants

My blog giveaway is right HERE....Not to late to get in on the action!

Here is movie number 6 on my list of "Top 100 Movie's I Think You Should See Before You Die" Facing The Giants. This movie was made by the same production team as Fireproof and is another movie that has religion as a major "focal point."

For this review I'm actually going to borrow a review that I found on Amazon about the movie. I hope after reading these reasons to see this movie.....You will want to see it too.

There are basically 10 reasons "Facing the Giants" is a movie that every family in America should watch together:

#1. This is a movie about overcoming great obstacles, something every family faces.

#2. This is a movie that does not rely on sex, violence, or profanity to carry a weak or boring plot.

#3. This is a movie that examines the relationships between family members, and offers sound Biblical advice on how to make those relationships more successful.

#4. This is a movie void of famous actors with large egos to build upon, which means cast was able to focus on the overall production and not worry about the performance of one actor or actress.

#5. This is a film that stirs all kinds of emotions and can definitely clean out clogged up tearducts.

#6. This is a movie with some great football action scenes that rival any larger, Hollywood, big-budget film.

#7. This is a movie written and produced by Christians dedicated to their work of reaching out to a lost world with the message of hope and love.

#8. This is a movie that celebrates the power of the human spirit to rise above what we think is possible.

#9. This is a movie that just seems to have the Lord's blessing on it throughout the post-production, production, and distribution.

#10. The DVD has many extras that give the viewers a taste of the amazing character and the pure hearts of the people who helped make this film a success!

I've just listed 10 very good reasons to purchase "Facing the Giants". It is not my goal to write a review of this movie that spoils the plot, declares one actor better than an other actor, or compares the storyline to another movie. My review is to let anyone who reads it know that this is a movie worth owning and sitting down to view with the family. See ya next review!

My favorite scene in the movie

Happy Keester!

ALL I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LIFE I LEARNED FROM THE EASTER BUNNY

Don't put all of your eggs in one basket

Walk softly and carry a big carrot

Everyone needs a friend who is all ears

There's no such thing as too much candy - AMEN TO THAT

All work and no play can make you a basket case

A cute little tail attracts a lot of attention

Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day

Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits

Some body parts should be floppy

Keep your paws off other people's jellybeans

Good things come in small sugarcoated packages

The grass is always greener in someone else's basket

An Easter bonnet can tame even the wildest hare

To show your true colors you have to come out of your shell

The best things in life are still sweet and gooey

My blog giveaway is HERE.

Movie Numero 5 ~ Fireproof

Don't forget about my giveaway! Not too late to get in on the action!



Here is movie number 5 on my list of Top 100 Movie's I Think You Should See Before You Die" Fireproof. I'd already seen one of the other movie's that was made by this group of people, which will also be making this list too. I was kinda luke warm at first about this movie....It deals alot with religion and I realize that there are some out there that don't really care for that sort of thing when they go to see a movie. But after watching it I was really happy that I took the time to watch it.




Lt. Caleb Holt (played by Kirk Cameron) is a firefighter who lives by the old adage: Never leave your partner behind. Inside burning buildings it's just one of his natural instincts. In his marriage, not so much. After being married for a decade, Caleb and his wife Catherine (played by Erin Bethea) have drifted so far apart that they are ready to move on with their lives....Without each other. Yet as they prepare to enter divorce proceedings and a certain Dr. tries to make a move on Catherine, Caleb's father asks his son to try an experiment: The Love Dare. While seriously hoping that The Love Dare has nothing to do with his parent's newfound faith, Caleb commits to the 40 day challenge. But how can Caleb even attempt to love his wife while avoiding God's love for him? Will Caleb be able to demonstrate his love over and over again to a person who is no longer receptive of his love? Is this just another marriage destined to go up in smoke?

I'm Guest Posting Today!

Today is the day! I'm guest posting over at Every Day Is A Crazee day! Hope to see you there! Don't forget about my blog giveaway! Have a great holiday weekend everyone!

My FIRST EVER blog giveaway!

I've been saying it what seems like FOREVER and now I've finally gone ahead and done it. I'm FINALLY having my FIRST EVER blog giveaway! I'm psyched.....How about you?! So let's check out the loot shall we!? From the above photo of all the goodies I'll be giving away, minus one, because it hasn't been made yet, we have the following:

1. A fashion scarf

2. A bandana

3. A packet of Sweet Pea seeds

4. One of Two Twilight keychains

5. Colgate Wisp in Cinnamint

6. Two different shades of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear nail polish (Purple Potion and Ice Coffee)

7. Cover Girl Eyeshadow trio in one of two trio's (Sea Glass or Cafe' au lait)

8. Nivea's Kiss of Moisture Hydrating Lip Care

9. Vaseline Total Moisture Conditioning Lotion

10. Sam Brocato Peppermint Scrub Purifying Shampoo (use once or twice a week only)

11. Sam Brocato Peppermint Scrub Restorative Hair & Scalp Masque

12. A copy of Radio
13. A copy of The American President
14. A copy of Twilight
15. A folder full of my favorite recipes
16. A Handmade Cloudberry Creations Apron (which hasn't actually been made yet so there isn't a photo, sorry)

Now here are the details on how you can win all these goodies:

1. For 1 entry, blog about this giveaway on your blog. Please leave a comment or a link here to let me know so that I can visit you back.

2. For another entry, follow my blog/join my Country Club. Leave me a comment here letting me know that you've joined the Country Club please, if you already follow me please leave me a comment letting me know. If at the end of the giveaway you want to unfollow me that's ok...I can't stop you, but if you decided to stay a member of the Country Club that would TOTALLY ROCK MY SOCKS OFF! I

3. For a 3rd entry, follow me on Twitter....Please leave me a comment here letting me know that you are following me please.Again if at the end of the giveaway you want to unfollow me that's ok....But if you decide to stay again it would TOTALLY ROCK MY SOCKS OFF!

4. For addition entries, each additional comment on my blog (ANY POST) counts toward your entries.

The giveaway begins as soon as I post this post and will go until THURSDAY APRIL 23 at 11:59 pm. Package will be mailed on MONDAY APRIL 27th. Happy commenting!

Jamie

Geese Photo

Tree Photo

April is "Tell 'em you're a fan" Month

I found this over at Betty's blog and I thought that I would pass it along. The month of April has been dubbed "Tell 'em you're a fan" month. So, let your favorite bloggers know that you are a fan.

Here are the rules:

1. Leave a comment or an email for your favorite blogger telling them that you are a fan of the site.

2. Feel free to copy and paste the award, or you can get the code at Sited and Blogged to present to your blog friend or post on your site when it is awarded to you.

3. When you receive more than one fan, put the number of fans you have received under the image.

4. The more fans you receive the better! So, what are you waiting for...tell someone you're a fan of all their blog...HAVE FUN!

Tasty Tuesday at Bumps In The Road

Welcome to the first edition of Tasty Tuesday at Bumps In The Road! Here's my tastyness for this week: Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken Barbecue

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 4 hours

Ready In: 4 hours 10 minutes

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

6 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1 (12 oz) bottle barbeque sauce (to add variety to the flavor try different types of BBQ sauce)

1/2 cup Italian salad dressing

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 Tablespoons Worchestershire sauce

Directions:

1. Place chicken in a slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the barbeque sauce, Italian dressing, brown sugar, and Worchestershire sauce. Pour over chicken.

2. Cover, and cook 3 to 4 hours on HIGH or 6 to 8 hours on LOW.

Operation Petticoat

The next movie on my list is Operation Petticoat. A comedic war-time movie starring Carey Grant and Tony Curtis. If you love a good laugh you will definately enjoy this movie.

Cary Grant is the Commander of the Sea Tiger, a submarine with more problems than crew members.
His troubles begin when the sub sinks before even leaving the harbor during a Japanese raid. Commander Sherman (Grant) and his men begin working to repair and bring up their beloved sub despite the fact that their requisition orders rarely are filled.
Due to the fact that some of his men were reassigned to other duties after the raid, Sherman is granted some "replacement's"--enter Lt. Nicholas Holden (Tony Curtis).

Holden is in the Navy not for the purpose of country but for the uniform so he can impress his rich girlfriend back home. Since he is no longer winning the rumba championships with the Admiral's wife he must settle into a role on the Sea Tiger--scavenging for items to repair the sub.

With new and inventive ways of obtaining supplies the Sea Tiger once again becomes sea worthy-- just barely.

But none of Holden's scavenging compares to the unexpected "guests" that are brought aboard the Sea Tiger....I'm not going to give it away....See this movie!

Cary Grant is charming as ever and deals with the many, many problems and situations thrown at him in such funny ways. Tony Curtis is equally charming and lends very much to this film.

Highlights of the movie: "Sea Men Hornsby," the unusal color of the sub

Best line of the movie: "Get that THING out of my engine room!"

A scene from the movie

Holy crap I totally missed Friday!

I usually post my blessings for the week on Friday's but I was having a "moment" and totally forgot to do them until right now. So here we go:

We won't even touch the work front because there is absolutely NOTHING good that happened at work last week....I could hardly wait for it to be Tuesday morning so I could clock out and not be owned by anyone for 3 whole days. I guess that was the only good thing that happend work related wise...Tuesday finally arrived.

Wednesday I tried a new bread recipe....Which I really like and will definately be making again. If you want to check out the post that I followed to make this recipe click HERE. I made 5 loaves of bread for the cost of a bag of flour....You can't even go out and buy 5 loaves of bread for the cost of a bag of flour right now in our economy.

I'm in the process of working on my list of 100 movie's I Think You Should See Before You Die....I've already got three posted already, Secondhand Lions, The Searchers, and Friendly Persuasion. I've even come up with a SUPER HUGE Giveaway for when my list is complete....You could win a copy of every single movie on my list plus a few extra little added bonuses too.

I don't think spring will ever show up here in Wisconsin. It's been colder than hell around here for the past few days and it's apparently not supposed to get warm again at all the rest of this week. Mother Nature is about to get some "not so fan mail" from a very dis-satisfied customer!

That's about all I know for this week. Maybe next week I'll remember to do my blessings on time. :)

Jamie