Haven't done one of these in YEARS!

1. Do you like Starbucks? And are you a fan of their seasonal coffees?


Nope, if I go, I get the coffee cake and OJ.

2. How do you decorate and prepare for Fall?

I don't really, I have a wreath for the door but I can't find my wreath hanger and I am looking forward to carving Gibson's first pumpkin!  I do love pumpkin spice candles though!

3. Will you participate in your college's homecoming activities?

I went to A&M, every home game is homecoming... I would love to go to a game, but I haven't been in years!

4. What is your favorite Fall clothing item or accessory?

Jeans and cute boots... wish I had both!

5. What was your favorite Halloween costume as a kid?

Big Bird!  I was 3 or 5 (I was probably 4, but my parents tease me relentlessly about how everything happened when I was 4!).  My mom made the costume and it was awesome!

6. Do you like Halloween/Horror movies?

I enjoy a good scary movie, but not a gory movie... psychological thrillers yes, the Saw movies are not scary, they are pointless and bloody...

7. What is your favorite Fall activity?

The fair!  My birthday!  Halloween!  Thanksgiving!  Family!  Cooler weather!  Changing trees!  those so are activities... but I love fall:)


8. What is your favorite Fall recipe?


Peppercorn crusted pork tenderloin with my mom's spinach salad and corn casserole.  YUM!  I think I need to go to the grocery store...

9. What movie coming out soon are you looking forward to seeing?

I have no idea what's out... I didn't have a tv for 2 months!  I got a tv and a sewing machine for my birthday though... who has time for movies!
10. What will you miss most about Summer?

The lake... I love the lake!

11. When do you start your holiday shopping?
LOL, uh, December... if I see something before then and have the money then I will get it before, but that almost never happens... plus if I buy it too early, I inevitably lose it or give it early.

12. Favorite exercise/activity?

Water aerobics and yoga... didn't know I was a 75 year old hippie, did ya?

13. Best book you've read lately?

The Help, Eat.Pray.Love, The Love Dare

14. Do you make your bed every day?
Oh this question just made me laugh... if I'm home all day, then usually I may straighten the covers as I throw them toward the head of the bed... all my decorative stuff is completely off the bed for summer so not really, but my mom has been here alot lately so I will come home and it has been made for me:)  she cannot stand an unmade bed!

15. If you could choose a personal chef or a personal shopper, which would you choose?
tough one, the chef if its a good one could probably get me to eat alot more good for me stuff, then again I'm really picky so I don't really like fancy food... a personal shopper would be nice cause I cannot find ANYTHING to fit my body now... I'll take one of each please

16. Which TV show are you most excited for this Fall?  Glee and Castle and a couple guilty pleasure shows I won't ever admit to watching let alone liking!

He's in the Army now...

Danny did it!  He was measured today at MEPS, put on a bus to the airport and shipped to Ft. Benning until January 31st.  Hoping these 4 months totally apart will give each of us the time and space we need to figure out what is best and what each of us want.   Hopefully it will help us prioritize our family and get some perspective on what is really important in life.  I am sad cause I will miss him (I know that is crazy after the last couple months, but I cant help it, he is my husband and I love him), but I'm also excited that I won't have to deal with all of it on a daily basis.... I feel like a huge weight has been lifted!

Giveaway!

Fun giveaway at http://www.mybeatlesbabies.com/ !  Friend of a friend's blog... Hope I win!

I am married!

I changed my relationship status on Facebook tonight to married again.  I had just deleted the status altogether.  I've regretted doing it since.  Fact is I am married.  Nothing that has happened changes that.  Nothing has changed to make me show to the world that I am married.  Except for me realizing that papers have not been signed, legal proceedings have not begun, and lawyers have not been hired.  I am a married woman.  Right now, it may just be a technicality because my husband is AWOL, but still.  I have always been conflicted on the subject of divorce.  My friend Stephanie and I talked about it tonight and we came up with this explanation for ourselves.

There is a world view and a Christian view.  The world view is telling me that I have been treated poorly, that I deserve better, and that I should let him leave, sign the papers and never look back.  The Christian view is that God can give you the strength and tools you need to fix anything if you just have faith and believe.  Yes, in the Bible (don't ask me where cause I don't know but I know its there) infidelity is the one out for a marriage to end.  However, it is still a choice.  I made a vow in front of my friends, family, Danny and God that I would love him and honor him for better or for worse, til death do we part.  I cannot control Danny any more than I can control the wind, but I can put it all in God's hands.  I've been trying to do that, but I got so caught up in the drama of everything, listening to everyone and not truly handing it over to him.  I'd put it in His hands, but I hadn't let go yet.  Its time I do that.  Danny goes to the hotel tomorrow at 4pm.  He leaves for Basic on Tuesday.  I didn't get to say goodbye...but maybe, just maybe its because with us there is no real goodbye.  He will be gone until January.  He will then either go to Airborne school or his first duty station wherever that may be.  I pray that this time away from everything and everyone he knows will give him the space he needs. I still love him, in spite of everything I do.  I gave him my heart and I'm not going to give up on our marriage.  So we will just have this time apart and if he feels the same way after Basic, I won't contest it.  But for now, I will continue to love him, support him and care for him the way I have the last two years.  I love you Daniel Evans Easterling and I will not stop believing in you or loving you.  I miss you already!

Scrap the last post...

I made Danny mad again and he took the camera back again.  So now I will have to use my phone to document Gibson growing up... fantabulous.  I hope he reconsiders that part at least... 

I have a fancy camera!

When Danny and I found out we were pregnant, we bought this big fancy camera, a Nikon D3000 to document out growing family.  I am so glad we did because it truly takes wonderful pictures that are high enough quality to blow up without looking fuzzy.  What's tough is that its a big, fancy camera.  Its bulky and requires it own bag.  The pictures I am able to get when I remember to get it out of its case are fabulous, but part of me really would like a little bitty snap and shoot camera that I could throw in my purse or diaper bag and grab at a moment's notice when Gibson is being his charming little self!

Good weekend!

There wasn't anything particularly spectacular about this weekend.  Friday, Gibson fell asleep about 7 and slept throught the night giving me ALOT of mommy time!  Seriously, I got laundry done, cleaned up around the house, searched for important items that were unfortunately in a pile rather than a file, talked to Steph for hours, discovered this really cool educational website (the39clues.com, too high for my kids, but random entertainment to me), and got a full nights sleep.  Saturday morning was just lazy... played with Gibson and didn't hurry to do anything.  Then we drove to McKinney and met my mom for lunch at Fuddrucker's.  Then we went to the Naturalizer outlet and I got a pair of comfy (and not too grandma looking) shoes and a purse!  I love, love, love shoes and handbags!  I haven't had a new purse in sooo long!  Last night, Gibson went to sleep early again (I think the antibiotics for his cold make him a little drowsy) so I talked to Kimi and Steph.  I also got to talk to my mom (we had some great laughs to share over a ridiculous little situation) and got to talk to my sister-in-law Sonya.  I hadn't talked to her in a while and it was good to get a chance to talk.  I miss Sonya and BJ!  They have the cutest little boy, Trey, and they are expecting a new addition next year!  I hope that no matter what happens, we will always be in touch... I want Gibson and Trey and the new little guy (or girl?) to be great friends! 

Today we were going to go to church, but it was just one of those days that didn't get started right.  We woke up on time so I wasn't hurrying.  Gave Gibson a bath, played, started to get him ready and he had a great big poop.  Lovely.  We are talking massive, had to bathe him again messiness.  And he was NOT happy about having to get another one.  By the time I got him ready to go, it was time to go and I was still in my PJs.  So we prayed, and then we played.  He is really starting to reach out and grab things.  He smiles these great big smiles and almost laughs.  It is the cutest thing!  We took a nap.  Then I decided it was time to get out of the house!  We went to JoAnn's where I found fabric I like to redo my bedroom.  Went to the bank, then headed to Lowe's.  I can get in trouble in that place, but I was good today.  I got a filter for my a/c (finally found one I didn't have to special order!) and then we collected samples.  Glorious samples of countertops, took pictures of flooring with my phone, picked up paint samples and that is when I found the greatest thing of all.  My kitchen needs to be redone.  But since I owe approximately what the house is worth because of housing values in this area, I cannot spend alot to do it.  So laminate countertops will have to do.  I was impressed with the selection, but of course, the ones I like are premium laminates and about $150 more than the standard.  But I got my samples and went toward paint to pick out colors for my bedroom, hallway, living room and kitchen.  As I am walking toward the paint color cards, I see counters out of the corner of my eye.  I double back... there is a paint finish product to redo laminate countertops!!!  With my tiny kitchen, it would only take one kit.  The savings compared to a new counter would be enough to pay for the floors!  I'm so excited!  Of course, I can't start any of these projects anytime in the near future, but with deals like that, I can start sooner than I thought!  I cannot wait to get this house ready to sell!  I hate being here... too many memories.  Plus, if I move closer to work, that is so much more time with Gibson.  Less gas money, less wear and tear on the car.  Closer to friends.  The benefits of moving far outweigh the practical staying put to me right now. 

I must get some sleep tonight!  Tomorrow starts off a new week and I'm determined to make it a good one!

GRRRR!!!

And the stupid facebook drama continues.... I went to login to my account (essentially reactivating it) to get to my photo albums so I could save all the pictures I didn't have on my computer.  Apparently, my account has been deleted completely.  I still have the email saying it was just deactivated.  I'm so annoyed!  I just wanted my pictures, then I would have deleted it probably.  I don't know...

Singing in the rain!

I absolutely love the rain!  I love the sound it makes on the roof.  I love wearing my bright pink rain boots and splashing in puddles.  I love twirling an umbrella.  I love the way the rain comes and refreshes everything and makes it new again.  Grass is made greener, plants stand up taller, streets are washed clean, allergens go away.  It just makes me happy.  I see every rainy period as a new beginning.  It rained the day Gibson was born until we brought him home.  Now, when I need it, the rain came back.  And it just keeps coming.  I love it!  Last night I sleep great for the first time in so long.  It was wonderful.  Plus my mom came down to take Gibson to the doctor today so I didn't have to wake him up.  Added bonus!  My baby boy is sleeping so well in the night!  He has been going down about 8:30 or 9 and I usually have to wake him up at 5am to feed and get ready for our day.  I absolutely have to be out the door and on the road by 6:15am.  Turns out he just has some drainage which is causing the cough, we just need to continue to watch it.  She did go ahead and give him an antibiotic for his ears, they weren't bad yet, but they were heading that way.  I hope he feels better soon, that little cough is heartbreaking! 

Little side note, just before I deactivated my facebook account, I noticed Danny had changed his relationship status from married to "in a relationship with Holley Diane Hardin."  Someone had already commented "I thought you were married?"  I had to laugh.  Its just too much.  My mom saw it the next morning and it took all the strength she had not to comment that he is in fact married, to her daughter no less and to continue telling him all the things she has held back to this point.  If she ever gets the chance, I hope I get to be there.  My dad's anger is one thing... it has always been explosive, he would never hurt anyone, but the sheer volume and shade of red he turns can be terrifying!  My mother's temper is a whole different story.  She doesn't say things, she talks to those she is angry with as she drives down the road (I get this from her).  People on 75 must truly think she is crazy during this past month and a half.  She knows she will get tongue tied or not say things just the way she wants to say them and end up dwelling on a point she isn't truly that angry about because all the emotion with the point she is truly angry about is just too much.  I don't know if my mother has ever been this angry at one person.  I have seen the temper only a few times in my life and I have nightmares about it.  My mother is one of the sweetest people you will ever know and it is VERY difficult to get on her bad side.  God help the ones that do.  Danny has since removed my parents as friends on Facebook.  I find this funny.  He forgot to delete my brother (also in protective older brother mood and hoping never to see Danny again, he was warned before our wedding not to hurt me...), my ex-sister-in-law, aunts, cousins, etc.  Oh well.  Its all very silly.  Perhaps if I had a TV I would have something else to focus on.  Being as the computer is my only form of entertainment (when Gibson is sleeping of course), I had gotten way too wrapped up in the day to day lives and ponderings of my friends and family. 

The rain has come and given me a new hope for tomorrow.  A better day, a better future for all of us.  It's a new adventure and I am excited to see how it goes!

Done with Facebook

I had my facebook account for the last ten years.  I kept it when everyone went over to myspace and then went back to checking it when everyone returned.  What I have come to realie is that it is a sick obsession.  I didn't look for good things.  I got the bright idea last night to look back through my husband's girlfriends statuses to see when she changed her relationship status to "its complicated" (uh yea, dating a married man with a kid can be complicated)... I didn't get that far.  She had quoted him on July 30th with a pet phrase he always said to me.  I was LIVID!  That means he did in fact start cheating before he ever said anything to me.  He was gone before I ever knew a thing.  But I digress, I went kinda crazy, started commenting on her facebook page.  Basically I acted like I was her age, not mine.  I'm not proud of that.  I realized that the only way I can not look is to not have the account.  I know myself too well and if I have it, I'll look.  I have no will power whatsoever.  So I said goodbye to the people who have done nothing but support and farewell to the evilness of facebook.  I posted a link to this blog so hopefully people will keep up with it that way.  A new design is coming!!