Can you believe it's already summer? The year is scooting by so quickly I don't feel like I can keep up from time to time.
So far, Charlottesville has been blessed with fairly mild temps which is GREAT for our electric bill. It's sad when a $68 bill is worth celebrating! But, we are thankful every day that we do not need to run our air conditioning. Most of the people we know are running it about 24 hours a day at this point since we have been in the low 90's the past few weeks. But as for this Quillon home, we run it for a couple hours when I home but as soon as Paul's home and we are ready for bed, off it goes. We sleep with 2 fans going and the window open. So far I think it bugs the dog more then it does us. We are anxious to see how July and August treat us. Hopefully with the rain we are expecting, it will keep the temps low enough to manage without the a/c! Crossing my fingers.
Paul's job is going really well. It's hard to believe he's been there 2 months now. The time has flown for him. Now that the weather is warmer and people are staying out later during the week and weekends, Paul has been having more and more DUI calls that he has to respond to. It typically would not even cross my mind, but he has had to respond to a few calls close to the end of his shift and it ends up making him get home much much later then he typically would. I told him last night that I wanted to make a shift that says "Drinking and driving does not only affect you and your family! When you drink a drive and my husband has to resond to your accidnet, it affects me b/c he does not get hom when he should". That would be my venting shirt :) I think I'll pass on making it! He has really enjoyed having the police car to bring to and from work. I'm glad to see him enjoying his job again. I hope it lasts b/c he has a long long time to work with this department! I'm sure he will really love it.
My job has been going great. Last week was very interesting. I have learned a few very important lessons during my employment years.... there are some people that you run into that will never open their ears long enough to listen to anything other then the voices in their own head. So far I have really loved my residents and the other staff members that I get to work with. I spend about half of my time on the alheimers unit and half of my time on the assisted living unit. I think I fit in well at Rosewood Village. I do my very best to keep busy and keep to myself. You stay out of trouble that way ;) The best part is that I get to (for the most part) make my own schedule. That has been a big blessing because it allows me to be home most of the days Paul has off. I love it!
We went on a "date" this past Tuesday. We went to the dentist and had lunch together. The dentist was not the best, but not the worst. The experience was great. It was not AS painful as either of us thought it would be... but the outcome was not as good. We both have 5 cavities. Paul has go back in a few months to have his filled b/c they are small and it's not critical that they get filled... but as for me...sigh! I have 2 cavities that they are just watching and in 6 months if they feel they need attention, I will have them filled then. But, I have 3 right next to each other that are getting filled on July 11th. 2 are small but while they are up there, they want to get them taken care of. 1 cavity is really bad and they said if it's not taken care of soon, it will be a total root canal which would totally stink. So, July 11th, Paul will take me to the dentist and they will numb me up and drill away. I am NOT looking forward to this. I think I will take my Ipod since I HATE the sound of the drill. They better numb me up good. The dr was shocked that I have not had pain in that tooth. Funny thing is this. It actually huts now that they messed with it.
My mom and sister are coming into town from Missouri on Tuesday. We are planning a trip to Virginia beach, but as of right now, we are only looking at 1 day without rain. It's a big huge bummer since we were planning on spending 3 days at the beach. Hopefully we will be getting 1 good day in and maybe to go Paul's favorite seafood place for dinner on our way home. I know that would make him excited. They will be here until July 5th I believe. Since Paul has to work July 4th, I'm glad I will have someone to watch the fireworks with. Last summer I was about killed by a firework explosion. Let's hope this year is better. Last year was fun though :)
Paul and I's 1 year Anniversary is July 9th and I am so excited to be able to have that day off with him. We are planning a trip to Short Pump (a town near Richmond, Va). We are having dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and maybe a movie (I have not mentioned the movie part to him). I ordered his anniversary present on Wednesday. Hopefully it will be here Monday. I am really excited to give Paul his gift. A little nervous too b/c he's very specific when it comes to what he likes/wants and I'm kinda going out on a limb with this idea. I guess we can always take it back if he does not like it.
Paul and I bought a new TV last week. He has been wanting a bigger TV for our livingroom so we finally broke down when we found one on a great deal at Walmart. It's a 55 inch Sanyo. I am still getting use to how big it is. Compared to our 42 in, this this is HUGE! It looks great and I get to say I picked it out :) I pretty much pointed to it as a joke and said, that's the tv you want.
I hope everyone has a great week. This has been quite a long post. Sorry!
Love,
Liz
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Happy Fathers Day
It's day's like tomorrow that make me wish I lived closer to my family in Missouri. It's father's day and my dad will be 800 miles away (That is if he's not traveling for work). I love my dad so much and have such wonderful memories because I was his daughter. How blessed I was to have him as my dad :) I wish I was close so I could celebrate the day with him. Maybe next year! I hope my dad knows how much he means to me and how much I love him. I have always considered us to have a very close relationship. Here are a few of my fond memories I have had so far with my dad:
~Last summer I was able to drive to Texas with dad for the Stone Family Reunion. Dad grew up in Texas and to my knowledge, that was my first trip to his hometown. It was in June and my gosh was it hot. One morning, dad and I got up early to go for a walk. Jefferson TX is a very historic town with beautiful homes, mature trees and beautiful flower beds. As we walked through town together he told me stories of this place and another place. How they fit into his childhood. We ate a lot of TX BBQ that trip... but mostly we walked and talked. I was getting married 2 weekends later so we talked a lot about the upcoming wedding and my relationship with my future husband.
~When I was a little girl we lived in DeForest, Wisconsin. It's a little town outside of Madison. Our church building was (I'd say from childhood memory) a 15 minute drive. When we got done with church, dad (from time to time) would say "I know this short cut". I swear to you, it took twice as long to get home from church :)
~Dad loved to run! He'd come home from work and put on his running shorts. When the weather was warm, I would ride my bike next to him. We'd run/ride for several miles. I remember wondering how my dad could ever run that far. To me he was superman! I guess he still is in a lot of ways.
I have so many great memories with my dad. He's been such a strength in my life and I am so thankful to have him. Happy Father's Day Daddy!
Although Paul and I do not have children, he's still a dad to our sweet dog Harely! It may sounds silly to most people, but I see great fatherly qualities when he interacts with our dog. He's patient and kind. I know that when the time comes, and we do have children of our own, he will be the most amazing dad and I will continue to wonder how I got so lucky. Paul is such a hard worker and will instill this principle in our children. I love you Paul and I know you will be such a fantastic dad!
Happy Father's Day to all of the other "dads" I have in my life.
Love,
Liz
~Last summer I was able to drive to Texas with dad for the Stone Family Reunion. Dad grew up in Texas and to my knowledge, that was my first trip to his hometown. It was in June and my gosh was it hot. One morning, dad and I got up early to go for a walk. Jefferson TX is a very historic town with beautiful homes, mature trees and beautiful flower beds. As we walked through town together he told me stories of this place and another place. How they fit into his childhood. We ate a lot of TX BBQ that trip... but mostly we walked and talked. I was getting married 2 weekends later so we talked a lot about the upcoming wedding and my relationship with my future husband.
~When I was a little girl we lived in DeForest, Wisconsin. It's a little town outside of Madison. Our church building was (I'd say from childhood memory) a 15 minute drive. When we got done with church, dad (from time to time) would say "I know this short cut". I swear to you, it took twice as long to get home from church :)
~Dad loved to run! He'd come home from work and put on his running shorts. When the weather was warm, I would ride my bike next to him. We'd run/ride for several miles. I remember wondering how my dad could ever run that far. To me he was superman! I guess he still is in a lot of ways.
I have so many great memories with my dad. He's been such a strength in my life and I am so thankful to have him. Happy Father's Day Daddy!
Although Paul and I do not have children, he's still a dad to our sweet dog Harely! It may sounds silly to most people, but I see great fatherly qualities when he interacts with our dog. He's patient and kind. I know that when the time comes, and we do have children of our own, he will be the most amazing dad and I will continue to wonder how I got so lucky. Paul is such a hard worker and will instill this principle in our children. I love you Paul and I know you will be such a fantastic dad!
Happy Father's Day to all of the other "dads" I have in my life.
Love,
Liz
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Beautiful day in Virginia!!!
I cannot believe the weather we have had yeserday and today! Paul had Saturday, Sunday & Monday off and it was wonderful! Saturday we ran errands around C'ville and it was so sunny and warm. We went to the dry cleaners, Target and I forced Paul to go to Bath & Body Works so I could take advantage of their semi annual sale. I think by the time we made it to the check out counter, he was glad we went. Their hand soap smells awesome and I enjoyed knowing that he actually likes having nice smelling soup in the kitchen/bathrooms. We even found a soap that matches our teal color scheme we have going on in our downstairs bathroom. Apparentlhy the sale is going on through the 1st of July.... soooo... I'm thinking I may have to go back and buy a few more hand soaps that match our bathroom. If you have not discovered the Wall Flowers at B&BW, they are a MUST HAVE. We have one in our kitchen and another in our bathroom. They smell so good but do not overpower a space. They are awesome :)
Sunday we had Stake Conference. I will be honest, it was very very tempting to stay in bed and sleep all day... but we got up and went. I am really glad we did. The talks were wonderful. Since Paul has started working evenings we don't get to bed until 2 or 3 am. Even when he's on his breaks from work, we have found the our inner clocks are set to this new schedule so Sunday's have been a test of faith. We make it work though. Sunday evening we went to Todd and Lauren's for pizza and to watch a movie. I think we talked more through the movie then we did watching the movie. They are great to be around. After getting home I noticed my stomach was getting really upset. I went to bed Sunday not feeling well at all... but by Monday morning I was feeling much better. The stomach bug has been going around really bad in this area. I'm glad that it was not what everyone else has had.
Monday we ran more errands and I'll tell you what... the weather was BEAUTIFUL. I think it was a high of 85, clear blue skies and you could just about smell summer! We picked up Paul's work clothes from the cleaner, stopped by Best Buy so Paul could buy a cd player for the police car since his radio does not work out in the country where he typically works and then we went to Walmrat to do some grocery shopping. Monday evening I made Goulash for dinner and it was soooo yummy. Paul had been requesting it so I picked up everything I needed for it while we were at the store and made a big pot of it so we could eat on it throughout the week. I'm thinking that will be my dinner tonight. Here's the recipe: (Paul LOVES a lot of bacon in it so I put in about double the bacon)
1 package of bacon (cut into little strips)
1 large onion chopped (as big or small as you would like, we like ours really chunky)
1 lb noodles (We like the pinwheel noodles but they are hard to find here so I use sea shells)
2 lbs hamburger (or turkey)
1 lg can of tomoato juice (I believe it's the 60 oz ish)
Salt
Pepper
2-3 Tbsp sugar
In LG pot, boil water and cook pasta until it's cooked, but still a little firm. It will cook a little longer when you you add it to the meat and tomato juice.
In a LG skillet, brown your bacon until it's cooked but still a little soft, then add your onion. Cook until onion begins to feel tender. Add your hamburger and cook together until hamburger is cooked through. DO NOT DRAIN. Add salt and pepper to taste. The bacon is going to add some salt to the dish so take that into consideration. When hamburger is cooked, add the large can of tomato juice. Finally, add your noodles and cook on med/low until you get a low boil. ENJOY!
Paul started day 1 of 6 today. I love having him home so I always hate it when he has to go back to work. But, since he has to be at work I am going to take advantage of the time I have alone and the wonderful weather we have been having. I have been wanting to get the yeard cleaned up so I have been working on that since he left for work. We have had so much rain the past several weeks that under all the leaves is a nice layer of mold that may be the death of me.... but I'm being strong and I know that once the leaves are up, I will feel much better about my yard!
Sunday we had Stake Conference. I will be honest, it was very very tempting to stay in bed and sleep all day... but we got up and went. I am really glad we did. The talks were wonderful. Since Paul has started working evenings we don't get to bed until 2 or 3 am. Even when he's on his breaks from work, we have found the our inner clocks are set to this new schedule so Sunday's have been a test of faith. We make it work though. Sunday evening we went to Todd and Lauren's for pizza and to watch a movie. I think we talked more through the movie then we did watching the movie. They are great to be around. After getting home I noticed my stomach was getting really upset. I went to bed Sunday not feeling well at all... but by Monday morning I was feeling much better. The stomach bug has been going around really bad in this area. I'm glad that it was not what everyone else has had.
Monday we ran more errands and I'll tell you what... the weather was BEAUTIFUL. I think it was a high of 85, clear blue skies and you could just about smell summer! We picked up Paul's work clothes from the cleaner, stopped by Best Buy so Paul could buy a cd player for the police car since his radio does not work out in the country where he typically works and then we went to Walmrat to do some grocery shopping. Monday evening I made Goulash for dinner and it was soooo yummy. Paul had been requesting it so I picked up everything I needed for it while we were at the store and made a big pot of it so we could eat on it throughout the week. I'm thinking that will be my dinner tonight. Here's the recipe: (Paul LOVES a lot of bacon in it so I put in about double the bacon)
1 package of bacon (cut into little strips)
1 large onion chopped (as big or small as you would like, we like ours really chunky)
1 lb noodles (We like the pinwheel noodles but they are hard to find here so I use sea shells)
2 lbs hamburger (or turkey)
1 lg can of tomoato juice (I believe it's the 60 oz ish)
Salt
Pepper
2-3 Tbsp sugar
In LG pot, boil water and cook pasta until it's cooked, but still a little firm. It will cook a little longer when you you add it to the meat and tomato juice.
In a LG skillet, brown your bacon until it's cooked but still a little soft, then add your onion. Cook until onion begins to feel tender. Add your hamburger and cook together until hamburger is cooked through. DO NOT DRAIN. Add salt and pepper to taste. The bacon is going to add some salt to the dish so take that into consideration. When hamburger is cooked, add the large can of tomato juice. Finally, add your noodles and cook on med/low until you get a low boil. ENJOY!
Paul started day 1 of 6 today. I love having him home so I always hate it when he has to go back to work. But, since he has to be at work I am going to take advantage of the time I have alone and the wonderful weather we have been having. I have been wanting to get the yeard cleaned up so I have been working on that since he left for work. We have had so much rain the past several weeks that under all the leaves is a nice layer of mold that may be the death of me.... but I'm being strong and I know that once the leaves are up, I will feel much better about my yard!
Friday, June 3, 2011
What a productive week :)
For everyone who has not been keeping up with my life on Facebook, our stove the past several months has been puttering out. It get's hot where it should stay cool and foods that require an hour of baking take almost an hour and a half. Well, we decided that we would take advantage of the Memorial Day sales at Sears and we finally purchased a new stove. Thanks to our friends Todd and Lauren, we were able to take advantage of Lauren's grandma's Sears discount. Her grandpa retired from Sears so we were able to get an additional 10% off the sale price of the stove. Paul and I have been like kids in a candy store the past 2 days. We want to cook and bake everything we have in the house. Last night I came home to brownies and since we have made taquitos, meat loaf, mac and cheese, pizza bites and hot chocolate. All I can say is... the stove is AMAZING! And, it matches our new fridge that we got a few months ago. The kitchen is looking great! Great investment.
The week we got married we came to the conclusion that we needed to buy curtains. We needed to go to Lowes to buy random items for the house and found that Lowes has wonderful sales from time to time on curtains. This past week Paul mentioned to me that we should probably invest in some black out curtains for the living room to try to keep the cooling bill down this summer. The brown sheer curtains we (until today) had hanging in the living room did not keep out much light and we noticed that it was getting a little warm in the living room/ dining room/ kitchen areas. We need a couple other items from Lowes anyway so I mentioned that we should look and see if they have any sales on curtains. We sure did luck out. We were able to get really nice brown black out curtains for $13.00 each. That was only a $39.00 investment. We chould not have paid that little at Walmart or Target. We also purchased 10 solar walkway lights. They were originally $3.00 each but were buy 2 get 1 free which means we paid $2.00 each. We live in such a wooded area that when we get home late at night you can not see anything when we try to walk from our car to our front door. We got them set up as soon as we got home and a few minutes ago we walked outside to see how they looked and we were very very happy with what we saw. As long as they stay lit until aprox 1:00 am, it will be a success. That is what time Paul tries to be home by.
We had 2 happenings with Harley this week. 1. We have been leaving him in the house alone for longer and longer periods of time. We have decided that we think it is safe to leave him home alone while we go to work. Next Wednesday will be the ultimate test b/c Paul and I will both be at work so we will see if he can be good for that long. I have high hopes that it will be a successful event. He refuses to eat or drink when he's confined to his little room... so hopefully he's more relaxed having free roam (to an extent) of the house. 2. We bought him a pulling rope while we were at Walmart tonight and he seems to really have a good time with it. We walked him to the golf course and played keep away and he had a great time tugging on the rope and acting like a normal dog.
Paul and I's job's are going well. Paul has signed up for a couple overtime shifts in the upcoming weeks and I am going to try to work as much as possible on the day's that he's working. I'm really enjoying the job. I have realized that I have missed working with old people. They sure do make me smile. I hope that with me being a PRN employee, I will not get too frustrated with this job or feel overly stressed by it. I think I will fit in just fine there.
I hope everyone is doing well and has a wonderful weekend. One of my good friends, Becca Bailey, is getting married in the LDS Nauvoo, IL Temple next Thursday and I want to wish her the VERY best of luck. Becca you are so beautiful and I wish I could be there with you on your special day!
Love,
Liz
The week we got married we came to the conclusion that we needed to buy curtains. We needed to go to Lowes to buy random items for the house and found that Lowes has wonderful sales from time to time on curtains. This past week Paul mentioned to me that we should probably invest in some black out curtains for the living room to try to keep the cooling bill down this summer. The brown sheer curtains we (until today) had hanging in the living room did not keep out much light and we noticed that it was getting a little warm in the living room/ dining room/ kitchen areas. We need a couple other items from Lowes anyway so I mentioned that we should look and see if they have any sales on curtains. We sure did luck out. We were able to get really nice brown black out curtains for $13.00 each. That was only a $39.00 investment. We chould not have paid that little at Walmart or Target. We also purchased 10 solar walkway lights. They were originally $3.00 each but were buy 2 get 1 free which means we paid $2.00 each. We live in such a wooded area that when we get home late at night you can not see anything when we try to walk from our car to our front door. We got them set up as soon as we got home and a few minutes ago we walked outside to see how they looked and we were very very happy with what we saw. As long as they stay lit until aprox 1:00 am, it will be a success. That is what time Paul tries to be home by.
We had 2 happenings with Harley this week. 1. We have been leaving him in the house alone for longer and longer periods of time. We have decided that we think it is safe to leave him home alone while we go to work. Next Wednesday will be the ultimate test b/c Paul and I will both be at work so we will see if he can be good for that long. I have high hopes that it will be a successful event. He refuses to eat or drink when he's confined to his little room... so hopefully he's more relaxed having free roam (to an extent) of the house. 2. We bought him a pulling rope while we were at Walmart tonight and he seems to really have a good time with it. We walked him to the golf course and played keep away and he had a great time tugging on the rope and acting like a normal dog.
Paul and I's job's are going well. Paul has signed up for a couple overtime shifts in the upcoming weeks and I am going to try to work as much as possible on the day's that he's working. I'm really enjoying the job. I have realized that I have missed working with old people. They sure do make me smile. I hope that with me being a PRN employee, I will not get too frustrated with this job or feel overly stressed by it. I think I will fit in just fine there.
I hope everyone is doing well and has a wonderful weekend. One of my good friends, Becca Bailey, is getting married in the LDS Nauvoo, IL Temple next Thursday and I want to wish her the VERY best of luck. Becca you are so beautiful and I wish I could be there with you on your special day!
Love,
Liz
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