Spring is Springing!

over the last few weeks i have noticed that the trees on my one hour drive to work have an aura about them. i love this time of year right before things start to bloom. The buds with their flowers about to break through give the tree a hue of color. around here in maryland there are so many flowering trees, i think the pear tree being the most abundant. as i took the dogs for a walk this afternoon, when the the sun started coming out i couldn't resist but to come back and get my camera. on our little walk i took photos of the trees that are just starting to bloom.

i can't wait till the weather gets a bit more warm and the rain stops! Almost Summertime! maybe i should just relax and enjoy spring.

Later!

Changes

2009 brought on a lot of changes for me. i started a new job, which has sucked out any chance of me having my own life, i feel that i am constantly at work and when i am not at work i am catching up on my sleep. i have gone on a diet and have lost ab out 14 pounds! i feel great about this. i still have another 26 pounds to go till i get to my goal weight, but i think this is a great start. clothes are starting to fit that haven't fit in a while and i am starting to like my wardrobe again. I bought a new sofa and chair and 1/2, which i love! my roommate and i have changes some accessories in the living room also. other changes that are in process are installing wood floors throughout my first and on part of my second floor, redoing and rennovating my kitchen and master bathroom. i think the hardest part of this is making a decision. i hate making decisions. what if it is the wrong choice? what if i spend all of this money and i hate it in the end? Well, here is what i am thinking... (beware, picture overload...)


The living room...



so i should have closed the armoir doors, but you get the idea. this is the new sofa, i haven't taken a picture of the chair and 1/2 because i am usually always sitting in it, but it is the same as the sofa, just one cushion and not 2. (this picture is already outdated. my roomate bought a flat screen this past weekend. loving the 40 inches!)

to the right of the armoire is the walk way to the kitchen. if i put wood floors in the living room to match the kitchen, i would fear that the living room would be orange also. so i have thought of changing the color to a darker, less orangy color. i have had some floor companies give me a quote. i about fell over dead! $4000 to do approx 400 sq ft! that is $1000/sq ft. thank goodness one of my best friends husband works with a builder and has offered to come and give me a quote and i found a mennonite family that cuts wood floors, and are realitively decent price.

The Kitchen...
these were pics that i took when the previous owners were still in the house, however the basics are still the same. orange cabinets, orange floors, and blue counter tops. i have painted the walls yellow, and have black accents so it looks a little better but still VERY orange.



notice that the floors, and cabinets are all the same color! UGH!

i have toyed with the idea to paint my cabinets. there are 27 of them and that would take a ton of work! i have thought of paying someone to paint the doors and i would do the frame of the cabinets, but the one person i consolted said that oak does not paint up nicely because of the grain in the wood. i don't know how much truth there is in that. my mother suggested that i maybe think about redoing the counter tops. i hadn't thought of this before. i mean, i HATE the blue counter tops. They are the whole reason why i painted the walls yellow, i mean, common, what goes with blue nicely. with the yellow walls came the chicken accessories that my mother got for me. i used them because i didn't know how to tell her i didn't want a county kitchen.

here are some samples that i am heavily contemplating.



i would repaint the kitchen color to green and possibly install a tile backsplash in neutral colors. I would love to change out the appliances to a brushed metal, but unfortunatly they are too expensive.

Here are pics of kitchens that I really enjoy...


(courtesy of HGTV- designer Beth Haley)

(courtesy of Layla)


i would love to hear your thoughts... Thanks for looking!

Too Stinkin Cute!

This is Presley, she is my roomates dog. She bought her a new toy a couple of weeks ago and Presley is in LOVE! It is about 2 times the size of her, but Presley just loves it! I snapped these pics while waiting for my roomate to come home. Presley must have hear a car pulling up because her eyes were looking in that direction, waiting for her mama to come home.

I can't believe that we have had her for 3 years! They were just too cute, I had to post.

Later!

Time Flies

wow...how time flies by so fast. i guess you can say i have been neglecting my blog. good thing i haven't neglected everything in my life, i assure you ellie has deffinaly been fed and walked twice daily (thanks to my roomie). christmas and the new year has come and gone. with the new year came a new job as well, so now i am working 4 days a week. january was a very busy month working almost 5 days a week with orientation. february has settled down a bit and in march even more (i hope). my sister came up to visit the begining of february and we had a lot of fun at the aquarium and she got to play alot with my neighbors daughter. over valentine's weekend, my neighbors and their little girls moved. i am really going to miss them. they were great neighbors. i got to know them shortly after they found out they were pregnant. her and my sisters due date was only three weeks apart. it was fun to see ally grow, especially since my own neice was 3 hours away. regan always has a playmate whenever she comes to visit. i think we watched ally when she was about 1 1/2 years old. I remember walking up to the high school playground and ellie was just a pup and wouldn't walk. we put her in the bottom basket as we walked home. after we got home, i put ally in the bath tub to wash away the sand and my roomie thought that it was weird to bathe a neighbors child. i am going to miss the summer days when i would take the dogs out and ally would come out to play with them. i am going to miss the little knocks at the door to see if amanda was home or if she could come out and play. in october we got to meet ally's little sister emerson. i am going to miss seeing emerson grow the same way that i have seen ally grow. i can't wait for them to move into a new house so we can come over and visit.
on thier last day ally came over becuase she was having a nervous breakdown as any 4 year old would when they see their toys being put into boxes. we made sugar cookies from scratch. here ally is hard at work...











well... as you can see i have been very busy. the next few weeks are busy. I am looking forward to the end of the month when i am going to my mom's to celebrate regan's 4th birthday! Until next time...

Top 10...

It is that time of year that it seems that everyone is doing a Top 10 something or other. Everytime you turn on the radio or the TV there is some countdown. Everynight David Letterman has a top 10, so I thought that I would add my top 10, the top 10 stupidest (is that a word??) reasons why people come to the ER. Now this is a list that a doctor that I work with keeps and has updated with some of the patients that I have taken care of. Some of these people have stories and some of the stories I don't know, but it is still intreguing to hear what people come to the ER for.

10. Ubbilical stump falling off - not that I understand why people come in for this, but for new parents, the umbilical stump can look rather gross and after falling off there can be dried blood and whitish areas that still need drying out that can look like an infection. I know it sounds gross.

9. Fever for 2 hours in an older child - usually we give them motrin and send them home.

8. I want an ultrasound picture of my baby - this is a frequent request however they are usually only 8 weeks pregnant and don't realize that you wouldn't see anything by a beating little blob.

7. My shoes are too tight - yes we actually had someone that came in with this, actually his complaint was that his feet were hearting, but he continued to say that it was cause he thought his shoes were too tight. I don't blame the kid, I blame the parent for bringing them in the the ER for this reason.

6. My yearly check up - and she wasn't talking about a physical.

5. My nose has grown slowly over the last 2 years - yes, she was very concerned about this and other blemishes that are normal in a child going through puberty.

4. My daughter has not gone to school for 3 days - I don't really have anything to say about this.

3. Goosebumps - again, not really a lot to say.

2. Almost bitten by a dog - I think this person was upset more that his pizza was stolen and wanted the doctor's note and a free pizza.
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. and the NUMBER ONE reason why someone came to the ER is ... drumroll please...
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1. I sweat and breath hard after running.

So there you have it. The top 10 stupid reasons NOT to come to the ER. Maybe this is why there is a Healthcare problem, but that is a discussion for anothere day.

You've been elfed

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Everyone should do this!

1. Untitled, 2. homemade'>http://www.flickr.com/photos/aloalosabine/2477749601">homemade fresh tomato salsa & guacomole, 3. BCC'>http://www.flickr.com/photos/manuelasiener/2169226945">BCC (I), 4. Bygone'>http://www.flickr.com/photos/nsaum/92779487">Bygone Era, 5. matthew6, 6. Refresco, 7. Navagio'>http://www.flickr.com/photos/dkilim/2753126743">Navagio (shipwreck) beach, 8. Super'>http://www.flickr.com/photos/frostedfakes/2608341339/">Super Realistic Ice Cream Sundae, 9. Sunset'>http://www.flickr.com/photos/waq3y/572160680">Sunset Photographer, 10. Love'>http://www.flickr.com/photos/firenzesca/1249393754/">Love Gift, 11. Tender'>http://www.flickr.com/photos/araleya/2053280825/in/photostream/">Tender Love and Care, 12. 149'>http://www.flickr.com/photos/herr_akx/79756559/">149 ~ 2005-12-21 hilos

The concept:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.

b. Using only the first page, pick an image.

c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?

2. What is your favorite food?

3. What high school did you go to?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

6. Favorite drink?

7. Dream vacation?

8. Favorite dessert?

9. What you want to be when you grow up?

10. What do you love most in life?

11. One Word to describe you.

12. Your flickr name

ENJOY!!!