B is for Busy

It seems like I apolygize alot for my lack of blgs. I guess that is why I don't have this huge following. That is okay. I just want to make sure that I am blogging something. The Timoteo house has been so busy. Milton is finishing what looks like his last semester of course work for his Ph.D. That does not mean he is done by any means. He still has to take his comps and write his dissertation. But being the good wife that I am, I have been helping him anyway I can.

On top of this I have been finishing all of our paperwork, home study, inspections, and classes for adoption. I know this is news to some of you reading this. We have been keeping it quiet until we were further along in the process. So we are almost done with the process. It should be soon and I will let everyone know when we are license. I will have to tell the story about how we got to this decision in another blog. It is a really cool and long story, but know we know that Heavenly Father had his had in. The first question I get when people find out we are going through the adoption process is "When do you get him/her?" The answer is "we don't know." We don't know even who we are getting. We have to become completely licensed before they even look at us. So it is going to be a while. Don't worry though I will let everyone the second we get a child!!

So I will just update everyone on what has been going on in our household for the past month.

Milton knows how much I get into the holidays. So I came home one day and caught him doing this:

I was so excited!!! He was hanging up Christmas decorations. We did not do as much as we did last year but I actually think it looks better. It is cleaner. It looks really pretty. Don't worry pictures soon!!

I had to work Thanksgiving day. Don't worry though Milton got invited to two Thanksgivings. However we did have our Thanksgiving the next day. I could not not do Thanksgiving. The leftovers are the best. I want to show a few pictures of my table. Ashley ,my sister, decorated it. We had her boyfriend and her over for Thanksgiving. We were really glad to have her. We have a great time with them

The napkins I recently got as a birthday gift from pottery barn. The table cloth is a heirloom from my mother. They are from Italy, where I was born. The plates I got when I was married from my next door neighbor. She was a hoarder. She offered the dishes to me for $50 if I would come and dig them out. By the time I got done there were over 250 peices. They are high quality dishes. She claimed they were Saks Fifth Avenue dishes. I need to research that though. The silver bowl and candle sticks were wedding presents. I loved to look at the stuff and teh memories they hold. It was a very special Thanksgiving to look these things and know how much I am loved. It was great that Ashley pulled out these pieces.

We dog watched this week for one of the sweetest dogs I have ever met. This dog never barks, always listen, and brings such calm and peace in whatever household it comes into. We loved having Lucy at our house and we are so grateful that we have a family here that we can trade dog watching services with. I do want to leave you with soem great pictures. After Thanksgiving we were all tired and laying around. I look over and see this.

It is so cute. However, I do not want to leave a blog without posting a picture of my baby. I got a cheap little tripod for my camera and I have been making her pose for pictures like crazy.

Doesn't she look happy!!! Sorry for the long blog but I knew that if I broke them up into several blogs that I would get tired and probably not finish them

We Blew it Up this Year

Sorry I could not really think of a title and I wanted something more creative than "Our Halloween" We did all kinds of things for Halloween this year. We were very festive. I already showed you that we went to a pumpkin patch and corn maize for Halloween. I would like to show you the rest of the festivities as well as my Halloween decorations.

So this past Monday was family home evening. A night we dedicate to having family time with a little spiritual thought and something fun. So of course with it being Halloween we carved a pumpkin and I made carmel apples for refreshments. Unfortunely I did not get a picture of the apples but I was told by a friend that they were the best carmel apples they had ever tasted. Move over Martha Stewart! Here is the end result of our pumpkin. Sorry the picture is blurry but I wanted to get in glowing and the only way to do that was in the dark with no flash which equals blurry picture.

Then on Friday night Ashley came in for the weekend. We went to dinner and a Haunted House. It was suppose to be the 2nd Scariest Haunted House in America according to MSN. Now I get scared really easily. I get scared just being in line at a Haunted House but I did not get scared once. We were pretty disappointed but it was still fun to go out with Ashley and Ket. Unfortunely no pictures again

Thenext night was Halloween and we all decided to dress up. My mom asked why I did not put up any pictures of my house. I told her the decorations pretty much look the same as last year but at the last minute I decided to run out and take some pictures because I knew they would be put away by the next morning.

After I got home from work I volunteered Ashley and Ket to carve one more pumpkin for me.

Here is their finished result

Then it was time to change into our costumes. Usually I try to get creative with our costumes but this year I did not even think of them until the day for Halloween. I did not think we were going to dress up but we all decided to. Ashley was Rosie the Riveter (sp?) and Ket was Micheal Jordan

And..... At the last minute I got our costumes and they actually had a theme to them. So I found this kit at Wal-Mart that was a punk rocker kit that was like $5. I went to try and get it the night before but they were all gone. Well my husband being the sweet guy he is went to another Wal-Mart while I was at work and found one for me. Then I went to Walgreens and found a Pirate kit of Milton for $3 and as I was walking out I saw a princess kit for Darla. So does anyone see a theme? We all started with the letter P!!!!

YoHo Yo Ho I Pirate's life for me!!

At first Darla was pretty mad that I made her dress up. The princess would not cooperate.

But I finally got a picture of her.

We then sat outside and passed out candy while I blasted Thriller and Monster Mash on the speakers against some objections, but come on...Halloween is the only time you can really listen to those songs.

Laughing

There are things that make me laugh. I think that laughing can cure many things. I consider myself to have a good sense of humor. I have noticed that Milton is starting to pick up my sense of humor. He makes jokes that I never thought they would come out of his mouth (not because they are dirty or anything) just because he can be on the quiet side. However, lately he has been cracking me up!!

So the other night we went to get some Chinese food. We were sitting at the restaurant wrapping up dinner when we each grabbed our fortune cookies. I opened mine... For some reason I am always looking for these fortune cookies to tell me something attainable. However, mine usually says something like. "Your home is warm" or "Trust your smile" Well thanks for that jewel.

So I look over at Milton and he is laughing. I am like "What?" He is like nothing. I am like "No come on tell me!" At this point he hands me his fortune. It says.....







It made me laugh so hard!!!!

corn mazes, pumpkin patches, and candy apples...OH MY!!

So I love the holidays. I love fall. I love pumpkins, Halloween, fall colors, wearing sweaters, and all things associated with the fall season. So I have been looking for pumpkin patches and corn mazes all over the Dallas area. I finally decided to go to one called Hall's Pumpkin Farm. We had a really good time and had fun doing the corn maze. This post is mostly pictures of our time there. I look awful in every picture but they are the pics I got. By the way, I am not vain. I know alot of these pictures are of me but Milton would not let me take too many pictures of him and we do not have children besides our dog but they do not allow dogs there. So what does that equal....Tons of pictures of me.

We all Scream for Ice Cream!!!

This story cracks me up even thinking about it. It makes me laugh so hard. So on Monday I was working in our home office on some things. I was in deep concentration and focused on my task. Milton was in the other room playing his military video game that makes our living room sound like World War III. When Milton plays this game it is so hard to break his concentration. I am sure our neighbors have heard me yell "Milton!!! Milton!!! Hello?" trying to get his attention.

So here I am in the office with modern warfare going on in my living when all of a sudden I hear Milton yell "Is that an Ice Cream truck?" and comes running into the office My husband and Darla are both staring out the window looking for any sign of an ice cream truck.

Now here I am sitting in the actual office and I can not hear a thing. All of a sudden you see a white ice cream truck rolling by playing it's tempting song to lure all the "children" out for some goodies. I just start busting out laughing because only my husband could hear this tiny little melody over his war game. I mean I could not even hear the music until it was right in front of our house.

I am probably not explaining how funny this is but just picture a dog and a grown man running to the window waiting for the ice cream man. I am still laughing!!!!

( I wanted to add a picture but I am on our old computer and it is not letting me. Our newer computer is broken and being repaired)

Nothing like a little romance

I love to read. Unfortunately what I love to read is nothing that is life changing. It is nothing to form a book club around or debate or anything close. I strictly love the mushy dare I say a little bit on the smut side romance novels. I love them and devour them. I am not ashamed to say that. In my line of work, I deal with the life changing, gut wrenching, and hard to comprehend every day. I don't want to read about too. So that is why I read romance novels. A little mystery always with a good ending.

The only thing bad about romance novels is it can create unrealistic expectation of men. If you have read Twilight, you know what I mean! So, yesterday I went to the library to get a few bodice rippers (literary reference meaning romance novels) to start reading. I had not read in some time because I have been busy with other things and was craving a good book.

Last night after a nice long relaxing bath, I settled on the couch in the living room to start reading my book. As I am getting into my book and reading about the handsome leading man, I see out of the corner of my eye, my hubby get up walk over toward me, move the lamp closer to me, and give me a kiss on my mouth. He looks at me and says " I just want to make sure you have enough light to read," and then sits back down.

Talk about romance!!! Now you know why I love this man!

I love Surprises!!!

So Saturday night I am sitting on my throne in the living room, when prince charming ask me if I have checked the mail. Well I had not checked the mail that day because it was pouring down raining. It is very unusually that I have not checked the mail because it is one of my favorite things to do. So since the rain had finally stopped for a while, my hubby ran out to the mail box and got the mail.

As he came through the door I hear him saying "Baby what is this brown box?" That is when I look up and see this.....

Okay it did not exactly look like that. I had started opening it at this point. I get really excited when there is a package for me, especially a surprise one. I then realize it is from my mom. So before I let myself get excited I think "Did I ask her to send me anything...Did I forget something at her house?" Sometimes when I visit my mom's house and I forget something important she will mail it to me.

Since I can not think of anything, I excitedly start ripping through the paper and package....

to find THESE!!!!!

My mom makes these coasters and sells them. They are my favorite coasters that I have ever seen and I have been meaning to ask her to make them because we just got new furniture for our living room. I thought I was going to have to buy coasters that I really did not love as much as these until I went down there to make some.

So imagine my surprise when my loving mother remembered and sent them to me. I love the fact that she did not tell me because the surprise was totally great!! It is things like this that make life wonderful!!

So if ya'll love these coasters as much as I do, my mom sells them for $25 for 4. You can email her at lisa36_99@yahoo.com or visit her blog at http://livinlouisiana.blogspot.com/. They are completely worth it and are beautiful!!!

Thanks mom for being the wonderful and loving mother you have always been. Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to stop and think of me. It makes me feel really special.

A TearJerker

I came across this blog today while blog hopping. I will warn you it is a tear jerker but I feel that this woman's grief and heartache need to be heard.

http://haileyshalo.blogspot.com

don't say I did not warn you. Make sure you get your tissues. Most of you will probably leave mean comments saying why did you make me read that, but her story really spoke to me.

People want to know

I have been asked over and over again "How do you get your Husband to do this......

AND THIS.......

on a regular basis? The Answer...................

I HAVE NO IDEA!!!!!

Nothing Like a Good Butt Kicking Letter

Okay so I am going to give you a little secret or tip that has helped me out a lot! This tip has helped me get a free computer, upgraded engagement ring, free airline tickets, and now free furniture. So what is this tip you ask............It is the simplest little thing...all you have to do is ......write a letter. I illustrate my point with a recent event. Now it is a long story I must tell you but the details will help you out for future letter writing.

So let me start from the beginning.....Two years ago, Milton and I were living in a tiny little apartment in Louisiana. We knew we going to move and wanted a new couch. Our first couch was a twin bed pushed up against the wall with big pillows and then after that my dad gave me his couch that he had for numerous years. It was nice but our whole house was hand me downs or freebies. Nothing wrong with that. Milton and I were just excited about picking out our first piece of furniture and purchasing it. So Christmas came around and my parents gave us a $400 gift card to a furniture store. I do not want to give the name of the furniture store so that way I do not sway anyone's opinion. So Milton and I started going there. At first we thought about getting a cloth couch or bedside tables. But then we came across this:

with a matching oversize chair and ottoman. It was a leather set that was going for $800. We could not believe it!!!!! We had half the money and we were confident that we could pay off the rest. So we hollared for the salesman and badgered him for the details. Our salesman went on and on about how we were getting a great deal on a leather set and how we had to take it before someone else snatched it up. He told us how you could tell it was leather because the way the couch was stitched So we excitedly told him to bag it up and went to the check out or cashier or whatever you call it at a furniture store.

At the check out, we were offered the protection plan. At first I thought it sounded like something that came with big meaty guys with Italian accents that protected our couch while saying "forgedda about it" or "you talkin to me!" However, we were quickly informed that if anything happened to our couch.... anything from stabbing the couch to writing Amanda Loves Milton on it with a sharpie that they would either repair the couch or if it is not repairable they would replace it. So we were like "Absolutely" I know this is turning into a long story but I promise it has a point and it will help you out.

So fast forward to June 2009. I am sitting on my couch and I look over and see this.....

What you can not see it. Let me go a little closer

Are those cracks and rips in my couch?!!! Yes they ARE!!!! How does that happened when only two people live in my house and both are mature adults that would not damage furniture. I immediately am upset, but then I pinch myself and remember that we have the protection plan that covers ANYTHING! So I call the protection plan and I am told that the plan only covers accidents and that this is considered normal wear and tear. Well I do not take no for an answer. So I ask what I can do? I was informed to call the store where I bought the couch because it was a manufacture defect. So I call the store and tell them the long story to only be told to call the service center. So I call the service center to be told that the manufacture only covers the product for a year. The rep with the service center advised me to call the store manager where I bought the couch and ask him to cover the repair of the couch since it was since employee that lied about the protection plan.

So I call the store manager to go through this long story. I tell him that when we bought leather couches that we wanted them to last longer than two years and how my parents have had their leather couches for like 10 years that are still in good condition. This is when the store manager interrupts me with his greasy southern accent and says "Ma'am did you say that you bought leather?" I replay "Yes" to which he replied "Ma'am your couches are not leather, they are VINYL." As I stand there in shocked disbelief, he tells me with a little smirk in his voice that you can not buy leather couches for the price that we did and he should know better. From here I go on and on how his sales person told us lie after lie. His only reply is ..."I am sorry you were lied to." At this point, he makes empty promises that he will see what he can do and will call me back.

Again I promise you there is a point!!!! So a week later, he calls me back and says the couch is discontinued and they can not repair the couch. Now before getting off the phone he offers me a word of advice in his sly little greasy southern salesman accent. He says "Now Ma'am your protection plan covers "Accidents," and if there was an "Accident" to happen to the couch that they would see that the couch is discontinued and you would get a store credit for the leather set." This really upsets me. I am an honest person and I have integrity and I expect others to also. Well as I stated, I do not take no for an answer. Plus I called my mom whining and crying and she reminded me of my letter writing skills and all the stuff it got me in the past. What would we do without good rationale moms that remind you of your best qualities? Well I would have probably "accidentally" tripped with a knife in my hand while running towards my couch!! Just kidding!! Oh come on...sometimes people drive you to do things that you would not normally do. I digress!

So I write a letter and call another store from the same chain of furniture store to ask who to send a complaint letter. After hearing my story, they give me a name. So I send my complaint letter with all my evidence certified to the name given.

A week later I get a phone call from this person telling me that he was REALLY impressed with my letter and they are giving me a store credit for my couch and to go pick out what I want. Little did I know I was talking to the owner of the company. He was the nicest guy and really made up for everything I went through. So I got two bedside tables and a twin bed for the guest bedroom.

I did not want to make the same mistake twice of buying a couch at this furniture store. However we went to another furniture store and bought these...

So my point to this whole story is.....The way that I have gotten the above mentioned free stuff is by writing a letter. My family thinks that I have gotten so good that I should start a business. I do not write a complaint letter unless it is really valid. I also suggest to always be polite and never to yell or anything that shows less class. Companies are more willing to work with you if you are nice and polite. However, I do want to say that not all letters have to be complaints. You can also write about how much you love someone's product. Right now I am writing a letter to appeal a denied medical insurance claim. I will let you know how it turns out.

I like to waste my days....how about you?

So I am now back from Louisiana. I know that everyone was missing my daily post! Wait! What? Nevermind. It was a fun and I love being around my family. It was hard to leave them but I was so excited to come home to my hubby. However, day one I went right back to the grindstone they call work. I had to make up the days I missed and work two long nights. I know! I know! Awful, right?

So I have a riddle. What do people do when they don't have kids and it is 10:30 at night?

They meet at Wal-Mart! That is right!! We like to do our shopping midnight style. So after we cruised the isles of Wal-mart with the rest of the late night reclusive peeps, we decided to come home and cook a late night dinner. However, in our defense is was grilled chicken, brown rice, and veggies. We then decided to damage our minds even more by watching the X-factor on MTV until two a.m. This is what happens when you do not have children to get off to bed or wake you up early in the morning. You develop the sleeping and eating patterns of a teenager.

So I finally aroused myself at 10:00 a.m. this morning so that I could go lay on the couch until 11 so I could follow up that with taking an hour before I went to the gym. I consider my time at the gym, charity work. My presences alone drives up sales and keeps people health concious so they don't become couch potatoes and look like me. I finally decided....Amanda, you need to get your lazy butt up and do some work or run some errands. So I drive the long (not really) drive to Target for the tedious task of shopping for bedding. I know, I know. Most of you are thinking to yourselves..."Thank goodness I get to slave away at work, come home to cook dinner and clean. I would never want the grusome chores that Amanda has to do."

I finally return home to prepare the hubby and I lunch around 2 in the afternoon. (for those of you that do not know, Milton has a flexible schedule where he can make his own hours and come home for lunch) Apparently, this tuckers us out because we then proceed to retire to the guest bedroom so we can watch a movie and play on facebook.

An hour later, Milton is out the door for class and work. Around 4:00 in the afternoon I decide that it is now time to take a shower. After this I am on facebook once again to only be put to shame by all the wonderful wives out there that are REALLY cooking and cleaning and do homework with their kids and paying bills. I am reading status like this ..."Jane Smith is glad that she can finally rest after getting up at six this morning to milk the cows for homemade waffles, get the kids off to school, clean all the bathrooms with a toothbrush until they gleam, drop off a casserole for the lady in our church who just had twins, sew all the kids costumes for the school play, do ten loads of laundry(washing, drying, folding, ironing, and putting them away), make after school snakes that look like butterflies using nothing but healthy stuff, pick vegatables from the garden for dinner made from scratch, difuse a bomb, read "War and Peace,"bake my hubby's favorite dessert, help the kids with homework, save a kitten from a tree, bath the children, massage my hubby's neck, and now I am sitting on the couch knitting a sweater for the charity auction next week." or basically something to that a effect. My first thought is "I wonder if I can hire these people?" followed by "Amanda, stop being lazy!!! Get to work!!!" So I did what any self respecting woman would do at 6:00 at night after realizing she is a lazy wife....."I loaded the dishwasher!

and then .........

I realize that the job of Superwoman has already been filled, so why try. I know I have it hard, but someone has to do it.

Check it out

I love this blog. It is one of my favorites because it is about Louisiana....and my mom is the publisher. This has been one of my favorite post she has ever done and not just because I am in it. I am not that vain. I just think it is real cute. So check in out!!!

http://livinlouisiana.blogspot.com/2009/08/real-wives-of-louisiana.html

I just have not been up for it

I have not been feeling like blogging lately. I blame it on being busy. Ashley left on Monday. It was sad to see her go but I know it was for the best. She has to finish school. I do miss her. and all the great times mwe had. I miss coming home and talking to her. I miss our spountanous late night hip hop work outs. I miss eating popicles with her. I miss coming home and seeing her cooking a new recipe her and ket decided to cook. I just miss her.

Later that day, Milton came home and we had errands to run and groceries to buy. It is funny how a few errands take most of the day. Tuesday I worked. Wednesday we took Milton to get his MRI, ran more errands, worked out , and then had a friend over. Thursday, I went to work out, cooked dinner, and went to a late night movie with Milton.

That is one of the good things about not having kids. I mean I have to focus on the positive! We went to a 10:00 p.m showing and did not get home until 12. Then we stayed up and had a Midnight snack. I am so grateful to always have my best friend with me. It was fun!!

Today, well it's a long story for another post but we went shopping with a $500 store credit I got, dinner at our of our favorite restaurants, and then home to lay around and snuggle. I just feel like our lives are too boring to post. On a good note, I switched my make up to MAC. I am really liking it. It stays on a long time and it is easy to put on and go. Exactly what I need.

I head to Baton Rouge for a week to take care of my momma. I hope everyone is doing fabulous. I am going to kiss and cuddle with my hubby now. Night......

I just read this post and I sound like a self absorb moron. Sorry!! but it is all I got.