Snow day!!

On Wednesday night I was tired. I thought I would go to bed early, but I didn't make it.

About 5:30 am on Thursday morning, my cell phone rang. I answered, groggily. It was my Dad... he said, "I just got a phone call, Putnam County schools are closed today" So I went back to sleep...until around 9:45. I was so glad for those extra hours of sleep.

I wasted most of the day with sleeping, laying around, watching TV, and playing on the internet. Then I exercised, showered, and went to Walmart. We needed some milk...and I wanted to make stir-fry for dinner and we were out of brown rice.

I baked some orange drop cookies that didn't turn out very well. :( They had frosting on top and it made them gooey and too sweet.

I cooked my Chicken Stir-fry and it was SO good. I usually use those frozen bags of mixed veggies...but this time I cut up my own green peppers, onions, green onions, carrots and broccoli. I HATE frozen broccoli. They always give you the stalks!! YUCK! I also put some slivered almonds in it...fresh squeezed orange juice, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger.

I loved it so much that I can't wait to make it again. I told Jesse that I was going to cook it again next week! I brought some for my lunch at school today! :)

After dinner we went to Mike & Alyson's house. We watched the Oklahoma and Florida game there. Alyson is about ready to pop out a baby. Actually, shes scheduled for a C-section on Jan. 13th. I'm gonna have a new neice named Leah Alyson. :)

Well gotta go talk about Tom Sawyer!

doing nothing...still busy

Lately I haven't been working (because I'm waiting for Putnam Co. to get me set up in their substitute teacher system!) but I still feel like I've been very busy. Its funny but I find more time to blog when I'm working.

So...this week has been fun! I enjoy not working..hahaha.

On Monday... which was Labor Day... We all (Jesse's family) went to Jesse's Mom's house in Charleston..... We had a cook-out and swam in the pool. A bunch of them (not me) took rides on John's 6-wheeler out in the woods. It was a good time.

After that...we all came back to Teays Valley and the boys played baseball at the Valley Park. While that was going on some of the ladies took Luke (Mike & Alyson's dog) over to the Wave Pool for the Annual Dog Swim. It was CRAZY over there! I never would have imagined that SOOOOOO many people would bring their dog to swim in a pool. It was so crowded...there were dogs jumping over the edge....fetching floaty toys...crapping in the shallow end!...it was insane. You couldn't have paid me to get in that water.

On Tuesday.... Jesse and I went to the library and then we hung out with his Mom who was babysitting Caylan at Sarah & Jay's house. On Tuesday night I made (a healthier version of)Broccoli Cheddar Chicken Casserole and a delicious salad. It was all so good, in fact, that we decided to have leftovers on Wednesday night too.

On Wednesday I decided that I wanted to drive to Marshall so I could use their computers. I needed a web publishing program and access to my V-drive. I want to make a website for my new Mural Painting business that I'm calling "Murals By Erin" (Even though its against the acceptable use policy at Marshall to host a business website on their server, Ooops!....its only temporary... I'm going to buy a domain name eventually)

Well, I made a website and it looks really REALLY good ( I think) but when I got home and tried to pull it up the links don't work.

If you are curious...you can view the sites...just realize that the links don't work.

http://users.marshall.edu/~browning28/murals

http://users.marshall.edu/~browning28/murals/abouterin

http://users.marshall.edu/~browing28/murals/murals

http://users.marshall.edu/~browning28/murals/caylansroom

http://users.marshall.edu/~browning28/murals/otherart

I can't wait to get it all up and running. I need some more business!! :) Let me know if anyone wants a MURAL!!












Also.... please notice that I have placed a "Followers" gadget on my blog. Its in the top-ish right hand corner-ish. If you read my blog... click the link, its pretty cool!! Thanks!

Back in WV

So... Friday was a crazy busy day!!

We woke up at 5:30...packed up...got a wonderful cup of coffee and the most delicious lemon-filled doughnut EVER from the breakfast buffet....and then, we were off.

Jesse drove most the way... I drove the last 2 hours.

Then I had to get dressed and put some makeup on and head out the door again for my first teaching job interview. Jesse drove me there. We went down Johns Creek past Hannan so I could see how far it was and what the road was like. It took 25 minutes to get to Hannan...but it took 50 minutes to get to Point Pleasant!! :(

My interview took only 20 minutes.. Afterwards I could have kicked myself because I know I could have done better! Oh well! I really hope that I get the job, but they didn't tell me anything. So, I guess I'll be getting a phone call soon.

On the way back to WV on Friday I called the VP of Huntington High School back. He said, "I owe you a big apology" He said he got really excited and thought that he was going to be able to hire someone young and full of energy and he started calling people and leaving messages. But...when he got to the end of the bid sheets he saw that he had one from a Cabell Co. teacher who was under contract and had 33 years of experience!! OH WELL! I guess that ones out.

I even asked him if the other teacher had left a position open....and he said that she had been teaching something else for the past 33 years. so POO!

On friday night I made pizza and we just hung out and watched the Olympics. We both fell asleep really early on the couch.

This morning... I had breakfast...did my Self; Sculpt Sexy Legs Fast DVD....took a shower... went to the library and got a new DVD, a cookbook and a new James Patterson book. Then Brian and Jessica stopped by ..when they came in Brian made a comment (as he has at least 4 times) about 2 of my prints on the wall being crooked. It made me really upset because he was like "I've been gone for a month and you STILL haven't fixed that." So I was like, "I DO FIX THEM ALL THE TIME, BUT THEY MOVE EVERY TIME YOU HIT THE LIGHT SWITCH OR CLOSE THE OVEN DOOR HARD!!!!!" and I said, "ITS GETTING ANNOYING AND I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT AGAIN!" I was very mean...and I felt bad about it later. Sorry Brian!!..... at least he won't say anything again! hahaha..... I wish I could have said it with a little more tact. ***note to self: work on that*****

After that craziness....we went to Jaiden's 1st Birthday Party at the Valley Park. The boys played tennis...Jessica and I sat and talked. They are going to "adopt" Mike & Alyson's dog, Wilson since they don't want him anymore. I can't wait to hear how that's going.

For the past hour and a half I've been sitting, watching the Olympics and looking up recipes online. My back hurts.

weekend = no time 4 blog

I had a really fun weekend....or maybe it just seemed really fun because I had a really boring week! :)

Friday wasn't too exciting. I cooked yummy beef stroganoff in the slow cooker..

Saturday we slept in a little...and then I picked some James Patterson books that I reserved online at the library. (YAY!!) Then.... Brian and Jessica came over and the boys played tennis and then we went over to Alyson's dad's house to swim in his pool...which was very fun!

After that Jessica and I came back to my house and did my Self:Sculpt Sexy Legs Fast DVD.

Then I had to hurry and get ready for my Grandma's 70th Birthday party! It was at my parent's house... my aunts and uncles and cousins were there...even one great-aunt and uncle. We had a ton of food and I probably ate half of it! haha...ok, not really but I felt that way. My mom made fruit salad and I think I could probably eat my weight in fruit salad. (In fact there are still leftovers in my fridge right now!)

Sunday we went to church at Maranatha and then to my mom's house for our typically sunday lunch. After that we stopped by Brian & Jessica's for just a sec....They were painting their bedroom.

Then back home to get ready for Cracker Barrel in the morning!

Happy 4th Birthday, Abagail!

This morning I was up and kinda just hanging out when I got a call from my friend, Kaylyn. We had been trying to get together and today we decided to go to Rio for lunch. It was soooo yummy! I had the Nachos Fajitas Jr....a deal at $4.75. It was great! So we enjoyed our time together and I gave her a little gift as a thank you/graduation present. She helped me this past semester while I was out of the state. She entered some of my artwork into Marshall's Student Juried Show (where I won $100)

After our lunch date... I watched Oprah and ran on the treadmill. Still LOVING my shoes!!

Today is my niece's 4th birthday! At around 6 we loaded up in Mike & Alyson's minivan with Emma, Abagail, & Hannah and headed down to Barboursville. First we stopped at Subway and had a little dinner. (Jesse and I split a prime rib sub...OMG, its so good!!) I entertained the girls by taking some pictures.

Then we headed to Billy Bob's. We had a good time playing. They had a new game based on Deal or No Deal and we (adults) had a good time playing that one! :)

Here's the Birthday Girl!!

Here they were singing "Herman the Worm"along with Billy Bob

(By the way....this is Jesse wearing his dad's helmet. Jesse can't have a motorcycle because he'd kill himself)Say hello to Caylan!.......

This is Jesse and Jaiden... he's a hefty lil guy.

After all that fun, we went over to a little playground and played some more!

whole lotta nothing

Nothing too interesting has been happening lately. Maybe that's why I haven't been blogging much.

Sunday we went to church at Maranatha...then we went to my parent's house and later hung around with Brian and Jessica....

Monday I spent the whole day trying to get all my stuff together so I can apply for a job with Putnam County Schools. It took forever..and our printer wouldn't work..so we had to go to Jesse's office to print stuff out.

Monday night Jesse and I went on a bike ride with Mike, Hannah, and Abagail... Jesse rode with Hannah...and Mike rode with Abagail. I ran. Earlier that day my running shoes arrived from Zappos. I was really excited to try them out. We ran quite a little bit and my left shoe felt fine, but my right one was killin' me! When I was done running I had a HUGE blister on my right pinky toe. I gotta figure out what the problem is....and fix it.

Today... I finished up the teaching stuff I was working on yesterday. Its so frustrating how many hoops you have to jump through just to be a substitute teacher!!

Later, we drove to Winfield for Lunch at the Asian Wok Lunch Buffet. It was very yummy! Then, since we were in town, we visited with my parents for awhile.

Tomorrow my new washer and dryer are coming! YAY! I need some clean clothes! hahaha

rain wind and fire

I will say that I had a memorable fourth of July!

At first Jesse and I just hung around the house because it was really dreary and rainy outside. My parents visited us for the first time at our new place...but just for a few minutes.

Then Brian called and wanted us to come to their house in Winfield for a little cookout. We had burgers, fries, and chicken.

After we hung out with them for awhile we came over to our house...and then we went over to Teresa's (Jesse's Mom) apartment and met up with pretty much all of Jesse's family. Then we walked over to the Wave Pool Park for the fireworks. They started at 9:45 pm...and the rain started at 9:50 pm. In those first five minutes I had some great feelings of patriotism. Its amazing to me that Americans have been celebrating with fireworks for over 200 years!

Anyway...right after that thought we had to scramble to our feet and hold a thick, fleece blanket over our head. When the fireworks were done we had to walk all the way back through flooded ditches. I was really glad that I wore my white flip-flops. (sarcasm) WE WERE SOAKED!!

After the fireworks and the traffic died down we came back to our house with Brian and Jessica. They spent the night with us. We stayed up late playing a board game that I bought at the Goodwill in Winston, called "Battle of the Sexes." It was pretty fun. I guess it was worth the 3 bucks I paid for it...even though the boys won.

Today was a lazy, hang around the house day. I made whole wheat pancakes for breakfast. They were not very good. I need a better recipe.

After that I went for a jog outside. It was a good run today. My knees didn't hurt. Since my knees have been hurting lately I decided it was time to FINALLY get some new running shoes. I bought them at Zappos.com. They should be delivered here on Monday!! I'm very excited. Here's a link to them. I liked the ones with the green swoosh on the side, but they didn't have them in my size. So I got the pink ones.

After the run I painted one of the canvases I bought for Jesse. I really hated the way it turned out. Blah..I gotta think of somehow else to do it so it will work.

For dinner tonight I made a whole wheat crust pizza (As you can probably tell I am experimenting with the whole wheat flour I bought for the first time the other day) The dough turned out pretty good. This was the first time I've ever attempted to make my own pizza dough at all. It was actually very easy...at least with this recipe. Next...whole wheat banana bread! YUM!!

AAAAAHHH!

This has been the craziest few days!!! I haven't had time to blog at all. I still have a lot of stuff to do, but I need a short break.


The last time I posted was Wednesday and we were in the Outer Banks.

On Thursday we went over to the pool and enjoyed the sunshine. I was just getting hot and wanting to get in the pool when I found out that they were closing the pool for 3 hours! Evidently someone puked in the deep end and they had to skim it out, add chemicals, and let all the water cycle through the filters before letting anyone get back in.

So we just stayed and laid out. I got in the baby pool to cool off.

Jesse and I left the OBX at around 2 pm. He drove the whole way back and I finished off my James Patterson book, "The Beach House." Wow, that one is my favorite so far. I read it in less than 24 hours.

On Thursday night Mike and Alyson came to Winston and stayed with us. We went to dinner at Qdoba's. I had 3 chicken tacos that were very good!

On Friday the boys loaded up the truck and I cleaned...booo. It sucked. I did a good job so we better not be charged for anything on our deposit.

When we started to drive back a HUGE MONSTER storm blew in and we had to drive in it. I just got out of my car for 3 seconds to turn in our apartment keys and I was soaked. Jesse had to take out some trash and he was DRENCHED!

It was a scary drive. It was storming like crazy in Winston and then it rained from Princeton to home. Kitsy and I made it though!

Friday night we spent the night at my parents with the truck parked outside. Then on Saturday morning we unloaded the truck in our new place!! Jesse's mom and John, her husband, Brian, and Jeremy helped us. I started unpacking...and I'm still working on it.

On Sunday I was excited because we finally got our washer and dryer hooked up and I really needed to do laundry. So I started to wash a load and I walked upstairs to get more clothes. I took a little longer than normal because I got distracted by something...and when I walked down the stairs I heard the water still running. I thought, "That's odd." So I went to the kitchen where our laundry closet is and there was about 3 inches of water all over the floor!! I screamed for Jesse and turned the water off.

We started towelling it all up and I drove over to Mike's house to get his wet-vac. Then we got it all sucked up.

We decided to give Jesse's mom our old set of washer and dryer and see if her husband, John, who is a plumber, can fix it.....and we went to Best Buy and bought a new set.m Unfortunately it won't be delivered until next Wednesday.

I took my laundry over to my Mom's house...and during my 4th load the electricity went out. After that, the dryer wouldn't come back on!! Somehow I managed to break a washer and a dryer in the same day!!

Today I got up and ran around a nearby neighborhood. Since then I've been working on the house....and playing with my new cell phone. Jesse and I got new silver LG Shines. I've been shopping for a case for it! :) I really like my new phone. My old one was over 2.5 years old and almost embarrassing...hahaha!


ok... I guess I need to get back to work now.

beach tomorrow!!!

Yay! I'm leaving for the beach tomorrow. As I type now I am sitting in my living room with Jesse and my mom and dad and we are watching the Women's gymnastics Olympic Trials. These girls are good!





Earlier we ate at Monte De Rey and then we went to McDonald's and got dessert. I got a vanilla cone! YUM!





Kitsy is so sweet and laying right beside me! I'm really gonna miss her this week!





I was told the other day by Jesse's brother (Hi Mike!) that he really enjoyed reading my blog lately...until he read about my vomit the other day! haha.. of course I laughed but I want to say that I'm sorry if I grossed anyone out. I hope Mike continues to read the blog..haha. From now on if I'm going to be nasty I'll (try to) warn you first.

Yesterday I worked literally nonstop packing and cleaning from the time my feet hit the floor around 9 am until 2 am when I went to bed. I was thankful today that I got all that stuff accomplished yesterday though. I was able to rest a bit today. Jesse and I went to the library and I picked up a few James Patterson books for the beach. Then we went to the Goodwill for old times sake.





Now its around 11 and my parents are getting ready for bed. Jesse and I will probably be up a little later....tomorrow we'll be up around 8 am and on the road by 9:30!! I can't wait... I think I'm mostly excited about going someplace different, someplace I've never been before.





Don't worry!.... Jesse's bringing his laptop so I should be able to blog a bit while we're there! Pray for us to have a safe trip tomorrow!





Good Night!

back to NC

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Welp, I'm back in NC tonight and I'm glad that I get to sleep in my own KING size tonight! Sleepin' at my parents house means a FULL... I'm just glad Jesse and I are little people (not midget "Little People" like Little People, Big World "Little People" but just small) I can't imagine 2 bigger people in a full size!!

We made it in the WV pretty early on Thursday night. We went straight to Jesse's brother Mike's house in Teays Valley. Of course...to watch Basketball. Basketball has been the bane of my existance since the whole March madness crap began! We even had to watch the Davidson/Kansas game on his laptop in the car on the way home today!)

Thursday night was the WV game of course...and they lost. But it was a good game. I enjoyed myself watching my neices Abagail and Hannah & chatting w/ Alyson.

On Friday Jesse had to work a little bit... Mom and I did a little shopping. I got a cute new brown dress from Elder Beerman in Teays Valley. She got some new stuff for their front yard from the Craft store.

Friday night we spent w/ Brian & Jessica. We played darts and ping pong in their garage.

Saturday morning was Haleigh's birthday party. It was at Bozhi's Gym Nest in Barboursville at 11 am. It was a lot of fun watching the kids play but it sucked that the adults weren't allowed to play on anything. booo :( I have some photos to upload but I left the camera out in the car so I'll get to it tomorrow hopefully)


After the party we all went to Moe's for lunch (I get the John Coctostan with Chicken & Black Beans....Jesse always gets a Joey Bag of Donuts) and then we walked around Pullman Square a bit. It felt good to be back home in my HUNTINGTON again!!


On Sunday we went to Maranatha of course...and then back to my parents house for lunch! We left around 4:30 and got back to NC around 8:25. I drove from about Galax, VA to here... and it stunk. I hate driving w/ a passion....especially Jesse's car :(

I'm gonna go to bed now I guess... I gotta go back to the CB tomorrow..but at least its only 11 to 3! YAY! More tomorrow...

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