Thankful (Part 1)

I have seen all over Facebook people pledging to post what they are thankful for daily! While this is a great idea- I will admit I'm not very good at remembering to go on there daily and post- so I'm going to do a week at a time on the blog! Although I will probably log in daily and type my thankfulness I will only probably post weekly.... Or every few days..... Here goes.......

November 1- I'm thankful for my Husband. Although Matt and I disagree and have our arguments and 'spats' deep down we love each other. I can't imagine where I would be in life if he hadn't stayed in mine. There were many times when I didn't think he would stay in my life, but somehow we got through them, together, and we continue onward! We celebrated our 4th year of marriage in June and I can't wait to celebrate many more in the future!

November 2- Today I'm thankful for my parents! They are the steady rocks when I'm on shaky ground, if you know what I mean! No matter what they are here for me- throughout the past 28 year of my life they have loved me unconditionally and supported me with (almost) any crazy idea I've had.

November 3- Today I had planned on being thankful for my brothers- but instead I want to change to random encounters with total strangers. I didn't feel good today, I was having a down day- kinda depressed and spent most of the day with an upset stomach, but HAD to go shopping for some necessities at my house. I ended up going to Walmart (I really do kick myself every time I go there- but it I just so convenient!!) at 8:30 at night. By the time I found 90% of my list- the last 10% could wait because I was irritated with the other shoppers and lack of respect and self dignity- I waited in a semi short line, forever, because the girl in front of my had an exchange and worked at Walmart so she knew everyone. When it was finally my turn, the cashier, an older lady, was very chatty. At first I was kind of annoyed, I really just wanted to be home in my pajamas, but she asked me if I was married - yes- if I had any children- no- and then he said that she hoped if I wanted them they would be in my future- yes please! She then started talking about one of her co- workers who wanted a baby so bad and could not get pregnant and how unfair it is that the ones who would make great parents (Me Me Me & Matt!!!!) struggle with fertility and then there are the baby making machines (my phrase- not hers) and how they make producing children a full time job and we support them! She said she sees so many 'baby makers' come through her line and she just feels for the children and hopes they stand a chance in life. It took probably 15 minutes for her to check out my is but I didn't mind at all. Walking away from her line I felt renewed and relieved! She was genuinely nice and I really feel like I was meant to Speak with her tonight- she was meant to change my attitude- at least for tonight.

November 4- my brothers. Even though they both drive me nuts from time to time- I love them. They are here when I need them and I'm there if they need me- at least when it really counts!! (Don't get me started on Adam and the trim in my house!!) ;-*

November 5- My Dog- Growing up I was never a 'Dog Person'. I really didn't care for dogs. My family always had pets and I loved our first dog Nikki, My parents had her before me, we also had many outside dogs. After Nikki passed away, Alex begged my parents to get another dog, and we got Abby. Although Abby was a good dog, I was not into having a pet dog anymore. After Matt and I moved to Washington, he wanted to get a dog, although we already had a cat, I caved and said we could get a dog. I remember my mom YELLING at me because we got a dog and were completely unprepared for a dog! I remember thinking it was a crazy, stupid idea, but figured, 'why not?' I can't imagine my life without Tucker now! He's our 'discount puppy' because he was on sale and the last one from his litter left. Nights like tonight, while Matt is at work, I love nothing more than curling up on the couch with the Dog and either reading or watching TV. Even though Tucker drives me nuts most nights, I would be lost without him! He really is one of my best friends, he knows all of my secrets and manages to keep them to himself, he doesn't judge me, even if I'm having a bad day, he doesn't hold a grudge and stay mad at me, and no matter what he loves me.

November 6- The Election is over!! I'm thankful for all of my rights as an American, but sometimes I hate politics in the USA. I'm all for using the media and social media to take a stance and state your opinion, but when people take it to the extreme, I hate society. I prefer not to state my political views on social media. I like to think I'm fairly open minded, but WOW, there are a lot of people on Facebook that are not! Oh- Well, I'm thankful that the election is over and I really hope that when I wake up tomorrow I'm happy with the out come of the election!

November 7- Grandparents. Today is the first time we 'celebrated' my Grandma Harmon's Birthday without her. This year has been really rough and from my previous post you can see I'm really not feeling this year!
:( Make sure you take time everyday to appreciate your grandparents. I so thankful for the good times I had with my Grandma Harmon this year. Its been many years since my Grandpap Harmon passed away and I still think of him often. Any time I see anyone wearing a flannel 'cowboy' shirt as I call them, or a tiny old man, and I mean tiny because my grandpap was probably only 120 lbs when he passed away- he was tiny. I'm thankful he married my grandma and accepted her children as his own. He was always there for my brothers, cousins, and I and never treated us as 'step' grandchildren.  I'm also appreciative of the time I had with my great grandma. It has been 2 years since we lost her and I still miss her everyday as well. She taught me so much about life that everyday I'm still influenced by her. I'm also Thankful for my Grandpap and Grandma Monticue. I get to see them several times a week and I'm grateful for all they do. I enjoy chatting with my grandma daily, even though she talks about people she thinks I know (but really don't) I'm so grateful to sit there and listen to her chat. My grandfather gave us a scare earlier this year, but everyday he looks better and better, and for that I'm very grateful!!!

November 8- High School Girlfriends! I choose today to be thankful for my High School friends for two reasons. Today is April's Birthday. April has always been there for me! I was the maid of honor in her wedding, she travelled to Florida for mine, I was one of the first people she called when she got the 'official' word she was pregnant, and one of the best friends a girl could have!! I'm also thankful for High School Girlfriends because tonight I'm meeting Michelle and Lyndsey for dinner. Its always a good time when get together. Its nice to reminisce and catch up with whats going on in life now. We are definitely three different personalities and yet we mesh so well.

November 9- My UPG Girls! :) I love my UPG girls- I"m so glad we all became good friends, and it all started with Candy and rain! No matter how much, or how little time we spend together, its like we are never apart. Even though we all come from different backgrounds and lifestyles, we all get along! Its always a relaxing time when we have a dinner night, go out to eat, or even a weekend trip to the spa! I'm so thankful for all of the time we have had together. We have had the opportunity to travel on many occasions together and I look forward to many more in the future!!

November 10- Today I may seem a little shallow- but I'm okay with that! I'm very thankful for all of my 'stuff'!! With most of it having been in storage for the past year, I love opening boxes and remembering what we own! I'm very thankful that Matt and I are blessed financially and are able to have discretionary income to purchase 'stuff'!! Although I am in the process of downsizing, and getting rid of junk, I still enjoy my 'stuff'!

November 11- I'm thankful for extended family- specifically my Maternal Side. Today we had the opportunity to meet the 'new' family members. As I mentioned in a previous post, we recently found out that my grandfather was adopted and came from a quite large family. Today my mom, dad, Aunt Betty Jo, Uncle Johnny, and I traveled to Indiana, PA to meet my grandfathers older sisters and a few of their children. It was very interesting to speak with them, and hear how their lives differed in the way that my grandfathers did. Overall, the experience was quite interesting, as I find family history to be quite interesting!

Two Thousand Twelve Review

I haven’t really gone into too much of my personal life on this blog, but I’m in the mood to write about personal life tonight. Now if I actually post this or not, will be a whole other story, so if your reading this, I guess this means I went through with posting. J

I was told that the way you ring in the New Year is the way you spend your year ahead. I rang in 2011 sick with a nasty stomach virus and ended up sick probably 6 more times that year! My friend *C* said she started 2011 at work, running around, and not making any money (she works in a tipped position, as a waitress) and hardly made any money in 2011. So our group of four UPG girls decided we were going to ring in 2012 together. It just so happens that *J* and her boyfriend had a New Years Party! We had so much fun!  I had really high hopes for 2012, this was going to be a great year, with great things happening, but unfortunately, it just doesn’t seem to be in the cards. (Yes- I’m aware it is only October, however, this year has been filled with much more heartache and pain than happy memories. Read on to see why I feel justified in being ready for 2013!!)

It all started January 1, 2012 with my Grandmother, who has COPD, as well as a lung cancer survivor, woke up and could not breathe. My grandmother ended up in the hospital more than she was home in 2012 and sadly passed away May 9, 2012. Some days it does not seem real that she is gone and some days it feels like forever since I have talked to her. I miss her constant nagging over small things, yelling at me for only ever cooking frozen pizza for dinner, and her incessant use of the word “WHATEVER”.  I used to get annoyed with her constant questions, about everything!! I spent a lot of time watching her the beginning part of this year, and I’m very grateful for that time we had together, although there were some really rough times, as she became severely depressed, we had some laughs in there as well.

In March, I was able to take a fabulous vacation to Europe with Candy as my travel buddy! We went to Paris, France, then London, England (where we witnessed Amy and Andy say their vows to each other on the Tower Bridge) and ended our trip in the gorgeous Irish countryside.

In May, eight days after my grandmother passed on, and six days after we laid her to eternal rest, Matt and I flew to Barcelona, Spain to catch a Cruise to celebrate his younger sister marry Paul, our new brother in law. The cruise was a new experience for sure. I’m not sure if I would ever do another cruise in my life. If I did, it would have to be a Caribbean cruise before any other! I would also consider doing an Alaskan Cruise, as that is on my bucket list!!

In July my Grandfather was scheduled to have surgery to remove polyps from his colon. It was to be a few day stay in the hospital. It was apparent a few days into his stay things were not progressing as they should have been. He couldn’t eat and looked as though he was 9 months pregnant, as his stomach was that bloated with gas he was not able to pass. My grandfather is a small man and he looked miserable. The doctors eventually found out he had a kink in his Intestines and had to have a second surgery to untwist the kink. He ended up staying in the hospital well over 2 weeks. He missed witnessing my cousin Andy marry his lovely wife Rachel. I had a wonderful time at their wedding! Everything was so laid back and so well put together! They had a fun photo booth, adorable decorations, and used mason jars with your name on them for the favors/drink cup for the night! Oh and they even had a caterer who looked like Santa Clause and had my adorable (then) three year old niece on her best behavior!!

Two weeks after Andy and Rachel said their vows, Alex and Liz joined the ‘marriage club’.  Everything turned out wonderful at their wedding as well! It was stressful for ALL the last few days leading up to the wedding, but it all came together and everything was great! Everyone had such a good time!!

Sadly, Grandma was not the only loved one family members lost this year. My youngest brother lost his best friend, Ralphie, in a tragic car accident on October 3. That was one of the most horrifying nights ever. My brothers wife was on the fire call and didn’t know if my brother was in the car with Ralph or not, as they had been out together. My mom got a call to go look for him, and her and I found him, sleeping in his truck in front of Ralph’s house. Seeing the pain and anguish as the reality set in he had lost his best friend was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to watch. Any life lost is hard to handle, but a young life, in such an unexpected, tragic way is much worse.

My mother lost her father when she was 16 years old in a car accident. Her father, James, was a twin to John, who lives in Alabama. My mother found out that John’s wife (her aunt), Willodeen, passed away on October 15, 2012 (Coincidentally the two year anniversary of my Great Grandmother Frye‘s death, whom I still miss everyday).   The circumstances surrounding her she found out about Willodeen are quite unique and what has prompted me to write this post!

There was rumors told to my Maternal Grandmother after my Maternal Grandfather, James’, death. It was rumored that he and his twin were not in fact the biological children of his parents James and Kathryn.  My mom had tried to research it a few years ago, but all she could come up with was a birth certificate issued for her father with James and Kathryn as his parents. The odd things was the birth certificate was issued at the age of three. That couple with the fact there were no pictures of my grandfather and his twin until they were about 3 years old made my mother and her family very suspicious, however, they never proceeded to investigate further.

On Sunday, October 21, 2012, my mom received a call she never expected in a million years. The man identified himself as a Trumbull who lived in Virginia and he called to say he was calling because her father had been adopted at the age of three and his biological sister was trying to find him. The gentleman explained that he had met, Maxine, at a Trumbull family reunion over Labor Day, and he himself was a retired genealogist and still liked to compile family trees in his spare time. He was very intrigued by Maxine’s story about how she found all of her siblings except for her twin brothers, who were a year younger than she was.

The guy from Virginia was able to trace that Walter and George Armstrong had their first names changed at the time of adoption as well as their last names. Once he found they were changed to John and James Hess- he found my mother and contacted her.
My mother has since spoken to her Aunt Maxine and we will be meeting that side of the family on November 11- Eeeeeek- Neevous but really excited!!!!

{Does anyone else think this sounds like something out of a movie?}

So, although much of 2012 has been less than ideal- I'm quite looking forward to the last two months, and I'm ready for 2013- now to just bring on the New Years Resolutions!!

Holiday & On-Line Shopping!

If anyone out there needs a Halloween Costume check out Amazon's Selection! Order now and you can have it in time for Halloween- but HURRY- time's running out!!

Amazon Halloween Shopping


P.S.- Any suggestions for me if I decide to go out?


Don't forget its never too early to start thinking about Gifts for the Winter holidays! Start with Amazon- everything is shipped right to your door (or theirs) without the stress of the crowds at the mall!! Click below to start shopping now!!

Shop Amazon- 2012 Holiday Toy List

Until Next Time,

Amanda

Life gets in the way of Blogging

It's hard to believe it is October already! Not only October, but the 18th already!!! Time sure does fly!!

I have started probably 5 blog posts to update on the house, and never finished a single one of them. My saying lately has been 'I suck at life' and I'm pretty sure my lack of follow through for posting is another notch in the 'Suck' column!

We ARE living in our unfinished house! Woo Hoo- maybe?!? I'm so grateful to be living here finally, but I'm also frustrated because none of my closets have shelves so I can't put anything away, so I have boxes and stacks of clothes everywhere! I only have one finished countertop in my kitchen, the rest are going to be pored concrete but I need to go with Adam to order the edging and stain, but we never have time, I have been eating microwaveable and toaster oven food for the past two weeks--- BLAH! I can't wait to get my DOUBLE ( yes,TWO!!!!!!) oven hooked up and my kitchen Island built and the cooktop installed on top!

While so much progress has been made, there is still so much more to go!!

In news other than the house, I've been busy working for Alex up at Monticue Sales and Service! I'm starting to learn more and more- which makes me more productive around the shop! Anyone need a tractor? Now is the time to buy!! End of the season Sales happening now!! If you know anyone who is in the market, tell the to call me!
In addition to working at the shop I'm still watching my 4 year old niece 'Sparkles' every other Tuesday and every Thursday! Tonight Sparkles and I are going to meet my friend April and her little guy H for dinner. Yummy Pizza!! That's all for now! More updates soon!

Updates

I have not updated in SOO long because my life was consumed by tasks for my Brother's Wedding, August 4 (it was beautiful, but more on that in another post!!!) and working at the house!!

THE HOUSE

Where to start.... Well, I guess where I left off would be the best place, we installed the five windows upstairs and had the dining room window installed in the last photos I posted. The new living room window was installed after my last post! This means the window installations are complete!!! WooHoo!!

Since the windows were all in, Matt was able to focus on wiring, followed by closing up the walls!!  The 'framework' for the bar between the kitchen and living/dining area is complete, the tile counter tops with wood edging is laid and just needs grouted, and the refinished hard wood has been

hung' for the book case on the one side of the bar.

What used to be two windows........ Became one big hole for one window!

The entire house is ready to be painted, and is almost completely painted! We settled on a tan color for the bedroom, and decided to do an accent wall (although Matt did a little more than just one wall) in "Orange Spice" with the rest of the walls being white. The Kitchen, Dining Room, and part of the Living Room are white, and the living room will soon have a tan accent wall (the same color as the bedroom).

In the upstairs Matt decided to put cedar boards between the beams the whole way up to the peaks in the rooms. Although its hard to describe, it looks AMAZING!! The pictures I took do NOT do it justice! (Below: Office with Orange Paint and Cedar Planks)

Matt started back to The University of Pittsburgh yesterday so his work time at the house is at a bare minimum for the next 3.5 months! Luckily, (for us) my brother, Adam, is laid off from his Carpenter Union job, so we made him an offer he can't refuse to get our house ready! :) Our goal is September 30 to be living in our new house!! I really hope we make it! I can't wait any longer!!

 The current Master Bedroom

The Orange office with the start of the cedar boards!

Shopping on Amazon

If anyone out there, like me, LOVES Amazon.com, you can shop straight from my website! There is a link at the bottom (p.s. I get 'credit' for your shoppping so I'm all for YOU using the link!!)

~Amanda

Cookies

Matt is ending the end of his semester at Pitt so we haven't had much time since installing the windows to work at the house (window pic below).

I've been busy making cookies for weddings. My cousin Andy is marrying Rachel on July 21!! Mom said we would make Raisin Puff (YUCK) and Thumbprint. I found lilac dye when I went to Washington for the selling closing of our last Washington County Property!! The color looked wonderful, I think!

Next week starts the cooking making for Alex and Liz's Wedding..., that will take a while longer since we are making Raisin Puff, Thumbprint (with pink and charcoal icing), Mini Nut Rolls, and Mini Apricot Rolls (My Favorite)!!!