I thought I would just check this out to see how accurate it was. Just out of curiosity. Here is what it had to say about "Liza" and which parts I think are accurate.

What Liza Means

You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are incredibly wise and perceptive. You have a lot of life experience. You are a natural peacemaker, and you are especially good at helping others get along. But keeping the peace in your own life is not easy. You see things very differently, and it's hard to get you to budge. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality.

What's" Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

So, now your task is to say which parts you think are true about me. What is your perception of my personality?

Growing Up!

She's reached a milestone already. She not only can hold her rattle, but she can pick it up too. She's growing up already. In some ways...YIPPEE! In other ways I'm so sad.

My Baby is Officially 33...

oh wait, that's Chris. Libby is only 3. Wednesday was Chris's birthday and yesterday was Libby's birthday. Boy am I glad that we are through all of that. It's fun to celebrate life and the year that has been. It's fun to look to the future and wonder about the changes that will take place in the next year. But SERIOUSLY, it is draining as well...especially when they are back to back. Thank heavens my m-i-l was here or Chris's birthday would have been a flop. She really helped me take care of her baby. :) Anyway, here are some pictures from Libby's birthday.

Oh, and before you look at the cake and think I'm a bit loopy...she wanted a white cake with spots like a giraffe. All of my cake decorating stuff is in storage, so I used what I had on hand. It is actually kind of fun since it's so bright!

The Negotiator

Today, before we went to get the girls' pictures taken we went out for a bite to eat. On the front window of the restaurant was a picture of a camera for sale. Since Chris dropped ours (the old one luckily) in the mud, he's been looking for a cheapy digital camera to take pictures of the house progression. Anyway, he started looking this camera over and I said, "Not for $350, we aren't buying it." Libby immediately looked up at me and said, "How about $330?"

Easter is HERE!!!

To our family, my wife's friends, and fellow bloggers:

Here are some of our latest & greatest pictures of the girls taken at Portait Innovations here in Dubuque. We used to go to Sears in Indiana (loved it!), but we had a horrible experience at the Sears here in DBQ, and management determined that no countermeasures were necessary. Needless to say, our experience with the folks at Portrait Innovations was awesome!!! They even had a group of 60+ hillbillies that decided to get their 15+ generations of children in one shot with the great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents...all for $9.95!!! Anyway, it was interesting nonetheless. I don't know how many times we heard the management hollar: "IF YOU'RE NOT IN THE PICTURE, PLEASE MOVE TO THE FRONT OF THE STORE!!!"

Portrait Innovations' philosophy is quite different from other places. They get the subject(s) into the pose/expression that they desire, and then they take rapid shots in succession...allowing you to choose the ones you want/don't want. Some of the shots weren't what we expected, but then others exceeded our expectations. For example, some of the pics of the girls were taken while one or the other (or both) were upset...quite candid shots I must say...but they are what they are. Libby bouncing around like her normal Tigger self yielded some funny ones. Needless to say, we didn't order them all!!!

ENJOY!!! If any of these are of interest to anyone, we can gladly send you a file in .JPG format...just ask!!!

PS. JUST DOUBLE CLICK ON THE PICTURE BELOW FOR ALL OF THE PHOTOS!!!

EasterPics2008

Hip Hop Meets Classical

Wow! I saw this video on Nissa's site (met her through the UBP) and just had to post it. This is just awesome!

Easter Preview

Another Card

I tried to sneak this one for Chris. It didn't work. I ended up needing his help anyway. It's still cute though. I love the bold colors and I think it's my favorite so far. Of course, it might help that I used the cricut to do this one. :)

It's Done! It's Over!

We had our Spa Day at MOPS today! It's all over with. And the best part? It went WELL!!! I think all of the women (and the demonstrators as well) had a great time and felt pampered. I didn't get a chance to visit all of the stations, but I did get my eyebrows waxed (which was my #1 goal for myself today) and I also got to do the instant manicure and the stretching session. I enjoyed the stretching session and now I don't have an excuse as to why I haven't exercised because the instructor (our pastor's dear wife) showed us some stretches we could do with a child's ball...and who doesn't have one of those? I didn't get a chance to hit up the nail polish station, the chiropractor's testing station or the hair styling station. That's ok though. I'm just glad that Suzie, Jinty and I were able to pull it off without a hitch. I can tell you this much...I'm giving FULL credit to GOD because I am NOT an organizer and I can't believe how well it went. Ok, I'll stop jabbering about our special MOPS day now. I'm still coming off the high of having it over with.

18 Months Later

I just wanted to write a post of thanksgiving (and one to maybe encourage a dear friend who is very new to her community and has had to say good bye to all of her dearest friends in the world all too recently).

It has been almost a year and a half since we moved to Iowa now. I came from a situation where I had a difficult time finding meaningful relationships that reached deep. I think that God just needed me in an isolated spot at that point in my life. I HAD to lean on Him more fully that way. The negative side was that I struggled with lonliness while in Indiana and let it affect my vision of myself. That being said, I have a few good friends that we actually started cultivating our friendships AFTER I left Indiana. :) Point being, coming here I had a lot of hopes and fears regarding friendship. I truly wanted to form friendships yet had (and still have sometimes) this awful fear that I had nothing to offer in a friendship.

That being said, I just plugged along and tried to help out whomever would let me as best I could and made a few friends at my MOPS table. *If you aren't part of a MOPS program...HIGHLY RECOMMENDED* Towards the point of six months, one of the ladies that I truly admired, but felt like I wasn't "good enough" for (this is in MY mind, mind you, nothing that she made me feel) asked me if I would be interested in joining the MOPS steering team. I was so happy I cried! I couldn't believe that she saw such potential in...me! That was truly a blessing from God because it infused me with a confidence that had been missing for awhile and was now back in a better form (my confidence had been crushed and God's confidence restored to me). From there, things are history. I still struggle from time to time that my friends (I am even forming DEEP relationships) really only "put up" with me and don't really like me, but those are the times that I have to go to God so that He can tell me the truth.

I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalms 139:14

If a perfect God wants to be my friend (John 15:15) then why wouldn't a few flawed humans be okay with me? :)

Dear Lord, I thank you for the friendships you have blessed me with and I pray that you help me to encourage my friends and build them up (1 Thes. 5:11). I want to preserve those precious friendships and can only do so with your help, O Lord. I pray that each of those ladies that has reached out to me has a day full of blessings today. You are an awesome God! Amen.

Welcome Partiers!

Hi all! I am a mom of two wonderful girls! Libby and Grace are their names. I love my husband, Chris, too. He is great! We've been in Iowa for almost a year and a half now. I love it here and the only reason I would want to move back to Ohio is because I MISS MY FAMILY! Well, just explore my blog and I hope that I can make a new friend or two.

And the best part of parties? The prizes! If I could have anything I wanted off of the list my top three choices would be #1) Custom Blog Design by Summer (45), #2) Blog Makeover by Shauna (67) and #3) Blog Makeover by Lady in Waiting (123). Can you tell I want my blog to look cool?

If I can't have that I would like, in order: 58, 96, 122, 108, 24, 117, 60 & 132.

Go check their blogs out and see all of the cool people I met...and not just because they are giving things away. They seriously are cool people!

My Inch Worm

We wrap Grace up in this Kiddopotamus Swaddle Me every night for bed. It's the ONLY way she'll sleep at night! Well, last night...the only way she would sleep is in my arms. So, I took her to bed with me. We woke up at 2:45 am for her night feeding and I laid her down on the opposite side of the bed when we were done. I heard her wrestling around, but I had my back turned to her and didn't think much of it. It didn't take but about 45 seconds and I felt this warm little bundle cuddled up against my back. She wiggled her way to curl up with me. What a cuddle bug!

Fantastic Bugs

Today this guy showed up with something for me.This is what he dropped off for me.
This is what was inside the box.
Yea! Now I can have some real fun with scrapbooking.

Thank you Christopher!

Got Milk?

You can't see it very well, but Libby has a milk moustache in this picture. She was so proud of it that she said, "Look mommy, I have a moustache just like Tom!"

*Tom is her grandpa and right now she is into this first name thing right now.

Please Don't Go!

This was thhe scene in our house for at least 15 minutes on Monday night. Libby was NOT going to let her daddy go to bed without her...PERIOD! Eventually we had to let her cry herself to sleep. Oh, wait! That's right, she endedup in my bed for the night.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Last night we were getting ready to go out to eat and daddy was putting Libby's socks on. She had her blankie (which we call Pinky) and it evidently got in the way because the next thing I heard was, "Oh, Pinky is all jacked up with my socks."

On Friday night Libby got the luxury of sleeping with daddy. The next morning he came downstairs to cuddle with me and she got mad at him and said, "You can't hold mommy. She's too big!"

Libby to Grace, while dangling a cookie in front of her face: You can't eat cookies, you don't have teeth.

One Month

It's been a little over a month and Libby is doing AWESOME using the big girl potty. She has everything down except the fact that she can't watch herself. She likes to watch the "stream" and then it gets all over the floor. Sorry, that was probably TMI. Anyway, since she's had very few accidents, I let her choose something at the store for her accomplishment. She chose this cool butterfly mirror that you can paint. It was sort of a messy project, but quite fun.

Hallmark, Here We Come

I've decided that cards are expensive. Besides, it puts more feeling into something when it's home made. Therefore, I'm going to start making my own. Here are the five that I finished up last night while I was scrapbooking with my friends. I thought they turned out alright. I hope I can just keep the inspiration up. :)

Let Me Out!

Grace somehow manages to flip herself around in her crib EVERY night and wakes up with her little leg sticking out and kicking. I'm not sure how she manages this as she's wrapped up tight in her swaddler. I'm sure it helps that she manages to kick the bottom part off every night too.

20,000 Leauges in a Van

Ok, maybe not quite...but it felt like it after our trip last weekend. We went to Bellefontaine to see my sister in "Guys and Dolls" and to visit with my family. On the way we decided to stop at Aunt Grace's and Aunt Joanna's as well. It was a decent (although l-o-n-g) trip on the way, but the trip home was ear-splitting. Needless to say, Grace wasn't too impressed with the eight hour drive.

Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Our Navigator

Aunt Grace and Little Grace

Aunt Joanna and Grace

Grandpa and Grace


Dibbers and Libbers

The Broadway Star and Grace

Grandma and Grace

It's Starting to Look Like a House

They put the flexicore (sp?) in on Wednesday and if the weather cooperates, they will pour the concrete for the job and the porch next Monday. If all goes well the framing will be finished next week. Fingers crossed!