Random... So like me!

Sooooooo.... What to say... Or type!

Well, I have been canning like crazy this past week and I'm soooooo thrilled! I did some dill pickles, bread n butter pickles, relish, red beats and peaches! I am planning to do more pickles, red beats, peaches, applesauce, pears, green beans, grape juice and some pear juice :) busy... Busy... BUSY! All this canning get tiring but I keep telling myself that this winter I will be very thankful that I won't have to go to the grocery store in the freezing weather :) that's my hope!

Here are some cute stories that happened this week :)

Miss Rhya has a knack for climbing... I don't know where she gets it but it's definitely NOT from me! (I'm rather clumsy!)
While I was moving the freshly canned pickles from the counter to the table to free up some space, I noticed rhya was playing with her "walker". I had it placed right near the table, which looking back was pretty stupid! Anyway... I walked around the counter and began to wash dishes. About 2 minutes later I hear jars hitting the floor! I whirled around to find my sweet, innocent, little angel trying to climb from the table to the counter! I freaked out, ran around the counter and though..."wait.... I neeeeeeed to take a picture!" so I grabbed my camera and snapped a few shots before I rescued her from the table.(she didn't think she needed rescued but... How do you convince an 11 month old any different)

I also learned the Rhya does not like spiders! I wonder where she learned that! Ha ha ha! There was a small spider hanging out in it's web near our living room door. Rhya would not go near the door and would turn around and grab my leg if we got near it! So finally Alan disposed of the spider and Rhya slowly went to check it out. She peered around the corner and when she saw that the spire wasn't there, she acted normal! Weird, I know!

Tomorrow Alan and I are going away for our 2 year anniversary early. We going to tour some museums and just relax. It has been so long since we were able to go anywhere together and now we are finally able to get away! I'm so excited and yet I know I'm going to miss my little munchkin :( Even though not an extravagant vacation, Alan and I are so blessed to have people to care for the animals and take care of rhya while Alan and I have a day to ourselves :)

Three Years With My Best Friend!

Three years ago on the fourth of August 2007, I met my best friend and soul mate. The past three years have been a blur! We were marred in September 2008 and had a beautiful daughter in September 2009! What a fun, scary, exciting, worrisome, and perfect journey. Yes, we've had our share of ups and downs and some would say that our family has been through more than we deserve, but we are so grateful to have each other to lean on through those moments. God is good...

I don't mean to brag or anything but I truly believe that I have the BEST husband a wife could ask for... Most days! From doing laundry, washing dishes, cleaning to tending the hog barn, cows, garden, combining and field work. I don't think there's anything he won't do! We have not taken time away for ourselves since the honeymoon and we are thinking that we might take a weekend away sometime this fall. Although that isn't certain that we're going because finances are tight, We desperately need a break from our hectic lives so we can "re-connect" with each other.

Monday was my wonderful hubby's 29th birthday! We had a wonderful dinner out with his mother and sisters! We are so blessed to have family that are close! I surprised Alan with a new razor, since he had been complaining about his old one and the new KY kissable sensations! His face turned red and I won't forget the cheesy boyish smile he gave me! I am excited to see where God will lead us through our journey together!

As most of you know i have been blessed with a little girl last September and will be a year old very soon! She walking all over the place and is getting into all sorts of things she shouldn't. Even though some days a long and stressful... It is nice to see her squinty smilie face and you know shes happy to see you. We've spent these past couple of weeks working in the garden, picking green beans, cleaning, tending the pigs and cleaning up the flower beds.
Through all of this I am sooooo tired and haven't found the energy to exercise. The worst part is I know I need to do it and if I don't I beat myself up mentally. I want so badly to loose this baby weight that Im driving myself crazy... Not eating much ... And am slightly depressed about it. I need prayer to keep my mind at ease but also to help my self control so that I don't overeat. I have a tendency to not eat much one day and then the next I'll snack all day. It's like an addiction that I can't get ride of.

On a lighter note I think I kept the two pounds off and have been working like a horse this week so I'm hoping I lost more! Other than rhya walking there's really nothing going on around here! Hopefully my next post will be more exciting!

Step by Step

Rhya is walking! She's getting pretty good at it to! Alan and I laugh at her excitement about her new skill! She will stand and squeal with joy! I am overjoyed to watch my little girl grow and yet saddened by the fact that time flys soooooo fast!

There hasn't been much going on in my life recently. As most of you know our lives have been up and down over the last few years. Recently I have been really cutting back what o have been eating because my weight has gotten out of control... I don't know if it is all the hormones since having Rhya. Either way it's been almost a year and I haven't lost much of the baby weight. I've also noticed that my weight fluctuates like crazy... I'll loose a pound then gain a pound all within a week! It's terrible. I don't feel very good about it and am trying to change that! So far I have lost two pounds in about two weeks so I'm going in the right direction... I think... It has alway been a struggle for me and im hoping that someday I can feel good about myself... Someday...

Onto a lighter note ... We were able to go out on the boat a few time so far this summer and I was able to get some really cute pictures! Rhya and Emma enjoy the river just as much as we do!

What we've been up to!

Hey there everyone! We finally have a source of Internet for now! Yeah!
Here's what Rhya is up to now-a-days!

She is everywhere! Sometimes I think she's dancing to the Winnie the pooh song "up down touch the ground..." You know the rest! Lol! She is constantly standing up the squatting back down. One of these days she's going to start walking... Yep I said it! She's gonna be walking! I can't believe it! She's already taken a few steps but she doesn't know she's doing it!
Rhya LOVES big people food! She will boycott her baby food just so she can have a bite of pizza... Mac n cheese... Cheeseburgers... Ice cream... You name it, she's had it! She hasn't had any trouble with any foods but carrots... Her stomach just can't handle them :(
We had her 9 month "well baby check up" two weeks ago and she is doing so amazingly well! She is 16 lbs 8 ozs and 29 inches tall! What a big girl!
Rhya is sooooooooo smart! Thanks to her aunts, Both Grammys, pap pap, and daddy! We are consistently telling her what things are and letting her explore! We have been teaching her the word "NO" since she started crawling and I'm proud to say she knows it but.... Not so proud that she has here mommy and daddy's strong will! Someday I know that trait will benefit her... I must trust that God will give Alan and I the knowledge we will need to teach her how to use her gift to please him. When Alan and I say "no", Rhya will turn and look at us with a big grin, and a look that says "oh yeah well what are you going to do about it" and keep touching whatever it is that she's not supose to. We then say no and flick her patties. She likes to throw a HUGE fit and then go right back and touch it again! It is draining when she does this three or four times but she does eventually learns...


So what have Alan and I been up to...

Alan is combining and loving every minute of it! The combine is doing extremly well the is year for him and he is so proud. He put so much time modifying and tweaking the machine until he has it running where he wants it to be!
Me... Well I've been working on a local dairy behind our farm and am enjoying it.
I've been helping Alan in the hog barn also... We have little pigs coming in now and we just finished putting all the mats, heat lamps and flipping the feeders earlier this evening.

Alan and I were finally able to get out on he boat for the first time this year and I'm pretty sure Alan is sore from wake boarding... He won't admit it but he was kinda of walking funny today! We had a blast with our good friends Jared and Sarah. Jarred is a very good wake boarder and I was able to get some really cool pictures of him attempting to do a flip.... On our way back it started to rain so jarred put a small canvas cover on the front of the boat for Sarah and I so we could try and stay dry... Key word, TRY! Alan was wake boarding and it started to rain buckets! Sarah and I are cramped up under this canvas thinking " boy we've got it pretty good" HA yeah right! It didn't take very long for the canvas top to start leaking like crazy! When we finally wiggled our way out we were soaked... Not as wet as the guys but def close!
We had such a fun time and I want to thank Jarred and Sarah for being great friends! It is a blessing to be able to have good Christian friends close by!

A Rainbow To Remind Us

A double Rainbow to remind us that he loves us!

Memorial day was quite the day this year! Our family worked around the farm cleaning up and working in the flowerbeds. We have made a goal this year that we're going to try our best to keep up with them!!!!! Its hard sometimes because we get busy but... if we put our minds to it, i know we can achieve our goal! After I headed off to the dairy for the afternoon milking, I thought...

" It's awful hot today... maybe we're finally going to get some rain and it'll cool down..."

Well... It turns out that the weather did more than rain... It poured and when I say poured I mean you couldn't see anything past 10 feet in front of you for almost 30 minutes if not longer. There was water EVERYWHERE!!!!! We saw water running in every direction, hail pounded the cars and ripped the leaves off the trees. So much for our flower beds! They ended up a muddy mess but most of the flowers and vegetables were salvageable.

I am amazed at how God has protected us but still allows us to be reminded of what he is capable of! When I watched the water running down through the yard, driveway and roads and it just kept coming down from above in all different directions, I wondered what went through the minds of Noah's family as they watched God's wrath towards the people of the world so many years ago. I also realized that sometimes we get so caught up in how the storms mess with our plans or our hard work, and that we don't praise God for protecting us and our family's. I was reminded on Monday that life is precious ...

Here are a few pictures I took with my phone about an hour or so after the storm...

Do I... Don't I... Do I...

I am thinking about starting up a photography business but haven't had the clearest sign if I'm to pursue it of not. I love capturing photos and seeing the end result from the editing but do I take the risk to make it a business... It seems like now-a-days everybody is starting to get into the photography thing and I feel like it not as special... I am hoping that God will give me a clear sign whether I'm to pursue this dream or not. I have been praying hard about the different steps I would have to take and the push I will need. I would like to use my gift as a witnessing opportunity and do pictures for people who can't afford the "nice" pictures. You know what I mean. Todays society is crazy! Everything is sooooooooo expensive!!!!

If anyone has any ideas or thoughts PLEASE let me know :)