Fixing the Fodder Again...

Good afternoon! How is everyone? I am doing pretty well.

Today is a typical day for me. I am blessed to have my wonderful in-laws staying with us! I really enjoy their visits! We stayed up last night planing our cruise excursions. I was pretty exciting! I was getting so excited about our trip, it was kind of hard to go to sleep!

I got up and made some sourdough pancakes, scrambled eggs and sausage patties. We served the pancakes with homemade peach syrup, homemade cherry almond syrup and homemade apple cinnamon syrup. Boy, did those really hit the spot!

I went out yesterday afternoon and spent roughly about two hours working on the fodder system. I had Aaron feed whatever fodder was salvageable and then I had to clean out all of the remaining trays. I took each tray, one-by-one, disposed of the moldy fodder or moldy grains, bleached out each tray, and returned each empty tray back into place. I then had Aaron help me dump the water reservoir out. I bleached that container down and refilled with fresh water. I added some bleach to the water to help keep the bacteria down. I washed out both grain buckets, then I filtered out enough grains for two trays, rinse the grain, filled it with fresh water, added about a capful of bleach, stirred it up and left it to soak overnight. Today, I drained the grains. I spread the grains out evenly between the two trays and spread it much thinner than I have been. Nathan thought maybe I was keeping the seeds too deep and that might have been causing it to mold. I put the two newly filled trays back and started enough grains for two more trays tomorrow. I sure hope this works. If this doesn't work, I don't know what to do next. I've had to scrap three full batches of fodder now and that is no fun considering the time and effort it takes to get it to grow! Let's hope the third time is a charm!

We are getting ready to go to town in a little bit. I have a chiropractic appointment in about an hour. I sure hope he can make me feel better. My back has been threatening to go out on me for about a week now, as I'm sure lugging water and grain buckets around did me no favors! Thankfully, I think it has bee karate that has kept my back from going out completely. It has strengthened me in many ways.

Well, I need to get ready to go. Hope you have a wonderful rest of the day. God bless you!

Fodder Problems

Hello everyone! How are you today? I am doing very well.

It felt very good to sleep in again this morning (anytime after 6:30 now is sleeping in)! I got up and and fixed Nathan a sausage egg and cheese English muffin and a "mtg" (mocha to go).

The boys got up and did chores. They ate breakfasts and got on school.

I was able to go through some mail and sort out most of the junk. I found a few things kind of lost in our pile of mail!

I went out and checked on the fodder again today. It is growing too much mold again. I wonder if it had to do with the heater going out on us for two days. I haven't changed anything else. I have abut two hours worth of work to go out there, get rid of all the moldy trays, bleach everything down and start all over again. This is so frustrating. Once I think I've possibly got it figured out, something changes and I get mold again. Well, I will try again tonight. I have to take Aaron to his guitar lesson here in a little while. Duane and Anita (my in-laws) are driving in from Texas this afternoon and hope to spend a few joyful days with us!

I am thinking of making a dish called African Chicken. It's a tomato based sauce with peanut butter mixed in. It has chicken and onions and green chili! It is very delicious. I like to serve it over rice. I've got my chicken on to boil right now.

I made bierocks for dinner the other night. They are bread pockets stuffed with a meat filling. For my filling, I used hamburger, garlic, onions, shredded carrots and cabbage, and diced potatoes. I sautéed all the filling ingredients together until the potatoes were done and I seasoned it with salt and pepper. I let the filling cool. In the meantime, I made a batch of refrigerator dough. I pinched off an egg-sized lump of dough and rolled it out into a circle. I placed a 1/2 c. of filling in, folded the dough over and sealed the edges with a fork. I baked them for 15 minutes and they were a hit! We asked Chad, Tonya and their kids to join us for dinner that night. They just officially moved in their apartment that night and Tonya was just going to have cereal, so I was glad this recipe made a huge batch! We ate a lot, but we still had a bunch left over. We love them as left overs.

Well, I need to go check on Jordan. I outlined him to rinse off some lava rock for me. We are trying to get all the sediment off the rocks so Nathan can build a natural filtration system for our tilapia tanks. I will keep you posted on how that goes!

Until tomorrow...God bless you all!

Last Day of Kangeiko

Good morning to everyone! How are you today? I am doing fabulous!

Well...we made it!!! The boys and I successfully completed our second year of Kangeiko! What a feeling of accomplishment this brings me. It was difficult, but it has pressed me to be a better person. It has trained me to "see" others before seeing myself. I will endeavor to see OPPORTUNITIES and not only seize the opportunities, but to use them and learn from them. I mean, what good is an opportunity if you never use it?

This year's Kangeiko training pushed me to my limits. So many times, I wanted to quit. I wanted to just give up and not run the full mile. I told myself, "No one will notice if I don't run the entire mile...I can just turn around part way. No one will notice." I was inspired by my two sons and my wonderful Sensei. My two sons were always running their best, trying to beat their own personal times. Today, Aaron was the last one to run out of the dojo doors, but he was the fifth person to make it back to the dojo. Way to go Aaron! I am so very proud of you! Jordan ran very well too! He always beat his personal best each day. One day I hope to run as fast as him. Our Sensei has a wonderful way of encouraging each of us to push ourselves beyond what we THINK we can do, but not come across as going totally overboard.

I was so proud to be able to represent our East Mountain Dojo. We had on average about thirteen people each morning for the entire Kangeiko. This morning, Sensei Caesar was by moved by the fact that many people went out of their way this year to attend. He said that Kangeiko would not have been the same this year if we all didn't come. He said that there wouldn't have been many people this year if it hadn't have been for our dojo. I appreciate my friend Jeanne Drennan who stopped each morning to pick up Ameira so she come come to Kangeiko too. Each day Jeanne picked her up and dropped her off. Thanks Jeanne! Also, congratulations to our friend Ameria. She earned the Best Kangeiko Award this year! Way to go Ameira! She showed much spirit, determination and enthusiasm. I was awarded this award last year. I am so happy for Ameira...she definitely deserved it! This is two years in a row that someone from our East Mountain Dojo has earned this esteemed award.

I ran my mile this morning. I was determined to not be the last person today! I actually took off twenty seconds from my best time this week! Maybe next year I can train and get it under eight minutes!

After training was over today, Sensei Nagatomo awarded everyone their rice paper certificates with Japanese calligraphy. Sensei Nagatomo actually makes these beautiful certificates himself. After we dismissed, we celebrated with a potluck. We had tons of food! There were breakfast burritos, French pastries, cinnamon rolls, banana bread, apple streudel, jalapeño poppers, udon noodle soup with shaved beef, juices, coffee, etc. We had a wonderful time visiting and getting to know each other better. We wrapped up around 9:00 A.M. and it is our responsibility as the lower ranking belts (any colored belt other than black) to clean up the dojo.

What a wonderful way to close out the beginning of the year! I look and feel great. I am proud of my accomplishments and that of my kids. They really are super kids. I love them both dearly. One other thing, I need to say a huge thanks to my wonderful, sweet hubby. Without him and his support, I don't know if I could survive the week of Kangeiko. He has faithfully supported me in my decision to train in karate. Not many people understand karate or what it means to me. He has supported me and encouraged me through it all. Thank you so much honey. I love you with all my heart!

Well folks, I have chores I need to do. Farm life never stops! Please take care and may God bless you all abundantly today and always!

Day Five of Kangeiko

Good morning! How are you? I am trying to make sense of my morning!

The boys actually got up early today. Aaron's got his learner's driving permit yesterday. He wanted to drive half way to Kangeiko this morning, so I told them if Aaron wanted to drive, we'd have to leave early enough to take the back roads half way there and switch out drivers as we got close to town. We made it to Kangeiko with no incidents! Aaron actually did pretty well.

I have been struggling with my back threatening to go out on me for the last two days. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to run the full mile this morning. I started running this morning next to my sensei, Sensei Caesar. He asked me how my back was. I told him not so good, but that u wasn't going to let it get the better of me! He asked if I was going to run the whole mile. I told him I would try to, but I'd have to see how my back held out for me. I was thinking about running with my friend Sandra. I knew she didn't run the entire way, so I thought if my back was killing me too much, I might run with her. I told Sensei that and he encouraged me to run with her and encourage her to run further. I really did try to encourage her, she was so close to doing the complete run, but she turned and started heading back. Since we were so close to doing the entire run, I decided to go ahead and do it. Unfortunately, when I decided to run with Sandra, I had to drop back to let her catch up with me. By the time I decided to keep going, I was in last place. I tried to pick up the pace, but I was too far behind to catch up. I ran the whole way, but I was the last runner to come in. I was pretty disappointed, but glad I did it anyways. Tomorrow, I will NOT be the last one, I will still try for my best time tomorrow.

Today was focused on making decisions. Are you really going to try? Are you motivated to make changes and push yourself? Are you going to be "professional" or "non-professional"? He gave a demonstration of a professional chef or someone who just throws something together. Does a professional chef just slop an egg into a pan to fry it or does he "press" it on the side of the pan and slide it into the pan? Am I going through the motions just slopping it around or am I going to be deliberate and focus on minute details?

Today we did back thrust kicks and back roundhouse kicks. Let me tell you something...I'm not sure I was born to do those kicks! I'm only kidding! I WILL learn to do those kicks, just not anytime soon! I looked pretty uncoordinated this morning! I'm sure Sensei Nagatomo got his moment of entertainment from just watching my antics as I repeatedly attempted these kicks! Aaron and Jordan both really did well doing those kicks, especially Aaron. Aaron is very gifted with kicking. I definitely would HATE being on the ceiling end of Aaron's kicks if he were truly defending himself. I will most definitely have to ask him to help his poor old mama learn to do it properly!

Well, we are almost there. One more day to go! I am very excited to have made it this far this year! I look forward to tomorrow's training. I have no idea what we are going to be working on. After training is over, we are all doing a potluck breakfast. I was requested to make my jalapeño poppers with turkey bacon and my homemade cinnamon rolls. I'll have to make those today sometime.

I am looking forward to this afternoon. I have two new music students that are (Lord willing) starting with me today. Please pray that my back holds up for at least one more day. Yes, I am pampering myself at the moment and no, I will not be doing any strenuous lifting.

Thank you for reading and commenting on my blogs. Take care and God bless!

Day Four of Kangeiko

Good morning to everyone out there!!! How are this fine day? I am doing wonderful!

We just got done with our 4the day of Kangeiko training and as you can probably tell...I FEEL GREAT! We are "celebrating" our success this morning over a cup a coffee and a glazed lemon filled Krispy Kreme donut! Well... I only took four bites of my donut and shared the rest of my donut with the boys! Aaron had a Double Dark Chocolate donut and Jordan ate a blueberry glazed cake donut. Nothing like fresh brewed coffee!

At training today, we focused on our roundhouse kick. I was paired up with my friend Jeanne Drennan. Loved working out with her today! Sensei Nagatomo kind of got on me about not being "connected." I was doing my kick and letting my left arm wave instead of being connected with some tension. He just walked by and started to grab my arm as I was flailing and I immediately corrected myself and guess what? My kicks amazingly were mysteriously better all of a sudden...coincidence? Hmmm...

Next, I paired up with Jeanne and I held her hand, brought my knee up, pivoted, and when I kicked, Jeanne helped lift my leg onto her shoulder. While my leg was on her shoulder, she would pull my leg toward her and stretch my leg out as far as she could get my body to stretch...it felt great! Sensei Nagatomo was really impressed with how far I was able to stretch. He teasingly looked at Aaron and Jordan and said, "You'd better be careful! Your mom really knows how to kick well!!!"

We also practiced Hein Yondan. At the last of training, we actually did Hein Yondan with sparring partners so we were a actually blocking opponents while we attempted to perform the movements of the kata. I don't know what happened to me. I really know that kata, but as soon as I was facing an opponent, I would forget what movement came next or which arm or hand to block with! I will definitely practice this at home with my boys!

Well, I need to go for now. Until tomorrow...God bless!

Day Three of Kangeiko

Good evening to all! How are this evening? I am sore and tired!

I think today is the hardest day of Kangeiko...we are sore and tired. It seems that it gets easier from here on out! I had the hardest time waking up the boys. I do not baby them at all. I will go and wake them up one time...I tell them "KANGEIKO!" and then I leave their room. It is up to them to get themselves up and get ready to go by the time I am ready to leave. If they do not wake up, I will leave them. I woke The boys up at 4:02. Jordan opened his eyes and assured me he was awake. Aaron woke up enough to acknowledge me and turn off his alarm clock that was blaring. I went back to my room and got ready. I came out at 4:21 and Jordan was still asleep on the couch! Just as I came out, I heard Aaron scoot into his bathroom. I told them, "We have 9 minutes till I'm ready to leave." We ended up actually leaving at 4:32. I did not like pushing it getting to the in town dojo that late.

Our focus of today's training was the side of thrust kick. I did much better today doing this kick as opposed to the side of snap. It was harder though as we practiced the side of thrust. On day one, we performed Hein Shodan doing front snap kicks in between each counted movement. This seemed fairly easy. On day two, we did Hein Nidan doing side of snap kicks in between each counted movement. This was quite a bit more difficult since I struggle doing the side of snap properly. Day three, we did Hein Sandan doing side of thrusts between each counted movement. This was the most difficult so far to perform. The actual kick wasn't hard, but the sequencing was difficult to achieve.

Sensei Nagatomo has a pretty good sense of humor! While we were practicing the side of thrust, we broke down each kick into six movements. #1, knee up; #2, pivot hip so knee is parallel to ground as if on a table top; #3, pivot weight bearing foot and thrust kick; #4, retract kick to position #2; #5, rotate knee to position #1; #6, foot goes back to floor. So on #2, he told everyone this position is like a dog peeing! He had several of us snickering. All of a sudden, he said, "Jordan! You are peeing on your leg! Get your leg up!" So that was our standing joke today...careful, you're peeing on yourself!

Well, it's late and I need to get some shut eye before my alarm startles me awake! Sleep well my friends. I appreciate you all. Take care and God bless.

Day Two of Kangeiko

Hello to everyone. How are you tonight? I am well.

Got up this morning. Drove to the other dojo for day two of Kangeiko. Today the theme was "add spice" to your practice. Many times we go through the motions and don't seek to improve each and every time we run through a kata. We should see what we need to change to improve ourselves and not just repeat mediocracy. Also, today was focused on our side-of-snap kick. Unfortunately, it's my worst kick. Fortunately, it gave me a chance to work on it. I did manage to provide entertainment (at my expense) for Sensei Nagatomo! I was not keeping my arms "connected" and would flail them whenever I would try my side-of-snap kick. He said, " I have no idea how you can make your body move in two separate directions at the same time. You look silly!"

I ran my mile this morning. It seemed easier, but was not able to shave off time from yesterday's run. My goal this week is to shave 20-30 seconds off my original time.

Well, I hate to make this short, but I am tired and 4:00 come real early in the morning. Take care and God bless!

First Day of Kangeiko!

Good evening! How are you tonight? I am well, thank you!

I started the day with my alarm clock waking me at 3:45 A.M. (which was intentional)! The boys and I decided to tackle another year at Kangeiko. It is a week long karate training in which we train our bodies to function in adverse conditions. It's really a mental training as well as physical.

Got the boys up. I got dressed and still had some extra time so I put on some makeup for once! I usually am on the run and don't have time to put any on! Went out to the car to heat it up before we left. The car registered 11 degrees! Jordan used the scraper to clear the frost from my windshield. We left at 4:17. We arrived at the dojo at 5:00 A.M. It didn't start until 5:30, but I was surprised at how quickly we made the drive today. One thing about the main sensei, Sensei Nagatomo does NOT tolerate tardiness in the least bit. His philosophy is if you are going to be late, don't bother coming at all! We actually arrived before he did today! Tomorrow we plan on waking up at 4:00 and leave by 4:30. That should give us enough time to get there, put our stuff away and stretch out before training begins.

Promptly at 5:30, we run out of the dojo wearing our GI's (our uniforms) and tennis shoes only. No hats, gloves, coats, scarves or socks. We run a mile no matter what the weather is like. It actually warmed up to a balmy 27 degrees by the time we started running! I ran a mile about 1 1/2 weeks ago just to try and start preparing for training. I ran it then about 9 minutes 17 seconds. Prior to that one time, I hadn't run a mile since last year's Kangeiko. This morning I ran it in 8 minutes 27 seconds! My goal tomorrow is to try and get it as close to 8 minutes as I can! Mind you, the first 1/2 mile is "easy", it is down hill. The second half is up hill all the way back to the dojo! It seemed a little bit easier this time than last year. Last year, I thought I was going to die the first day!

Once we return back to the dojo, we use the rest room, get a drink, put our watches in the dressing rooms, or whatever we need to do. Then re go onto the dojo floor for training until 6:45 A.M. This years dojo theme is opportunity. You have to (1) see the opportunity, (2) grab the opportunity, and (3) use the opportunity. Today we focused on front snap kicks. We practiced Hein Shodan several times, each time trying to improve and not just repeat our same actions. Then we did Hein Shodan with a front snap kick in between each counted movement.

We had a great time training today! I was very impressed. We had I think about 10 people from our East Mountain dojo come to Kangeiko this morning. It really is a long way to come and especially being that early in the morning, it's tough trying to get people motivated to come! So after class, Sensei Caesar invited all of us (and Sensei Nagatomo and his two daughters) out for coffee. We went to the Flying Star Cafe. We had a great time visiting.

After breakfast, I headed down to Untied Blood services and donated blood...probably not such a good idea to do it the first day of training! Oh well...

Came home and the boys did school as usual. Had a wonderful dinner of rabbit stew with Nathan and the kids tonight. I really like my cornbread with butter and our honey! It's ok mom, I worked off the calories this morning! I am actually surprised. With all the cooking that I do, I have still lost a total of 25 pounds and have maintained my weight without putting on the "holiday" weight. Karate has helped me in a lot of ways. Not only has it helped me to mentally focus, it has helped me physically to trim down and also tone up. For some silly reason last week, I did something and happened to flex my arm when I noticed I actually had a muscle that went up, not sagging down! I have never had arm muscles before! My jaw hit the floor!!! Nathan was just snickering at me because I couldn't believe I actually had a muscle! Sorry...little things that amuse me...

Well, good night. I must turn in for the night if I have any hope of waking up at 4:00! Rest well...I know I will! God bless!

Aaron's Birthday Party

Good evening everyone! How are you tonight? I am beat!

I spent the entire day prepping for Aaron's party tonight. I was finally done doing everything around 4:10! I guess that's a good thing, especially since he party was supposed to start at 4:00!

I made three racks of smoked ribs. It was the first time I've ever smoked ribs. They turned out pretty good for my first try. I will definitely tweak my recipe for next time though. They weren't seasoned enough, but had a great texture and wonderful smokey flavor. I also made jalapeño poppers with turkey bacon. They were the best! I made his carrot cake and homemade vanilla ice cream. Oh, I also whipped up a batch of honey cornbread.

Luke Drennan came to the party and his mom sent some pasta salad. Sensei Caesar and his family came and brought pizza. He totally made Jordan's night! For Jordan to have both ribs AND pizza in the same night...he thought he died and went to heaven! Tonya, Savanah, and Avery joined the party as well! Haven had a nasty cough, so he hung out with Chad over at their apartment. Tonya made them some plates and they were able to at least enjoy the food! We missed them though! The Schwebach boys (Nathan and Dominic) were able to come as well!

All the kids went outside and played for a while. Jordan had bought some fire crackers with his own money and set some of them off once it got dark.

We all enjoyed sitting around after dinner just chatting. Nathan and Caesar had a great time reminiscing about the Hispanic culture...I'm not going to say anymore! Aysha (Caesar's wife) and I definitely did not share their enthusiasm of their stories!

We had a great time. There were several families that couldn't make it, but we still had a wonderful time! It kind of surprised me...I think this was the quietest party we have ever thrown!

Thanks to everyone who came and made this day special for Aaron. He really enjoyed spending time with friends and families whom he loves and respects a great deal.

I am totally wiped out. I am going straight to bed. Nathan even offered to make me a bubble bath, but I seriously hear my pillow calling my name! Sweet dreams everyone. May you truly be blessed!

Birthday Preparations

Good evening everyone! I am doing well, a little tired, but doing well! How are you?

I started out my day like I always do...got Nathan his fruit/vegetable/protein shake and got him out the door. I got the boys up and around. Jordan and I ran some errands in Moriarty today. I had to return some overdue library books. We stopped by the post office and mailed something to a friend of mine. The last stop was at the boys' bank.

I returned home and the boys had lunch. I cleaned out my cabinets and wiped them all down. I did all the dishes in the kitchen. I went out to the garage and I had to dump eight trays of moldy fodder out. I'm not sure why the water turned rank so quickly. I bleached out all the trays and Jordan helped me clean out the water reservoir tank and refill with fresh water. I decided to just start this batch all over again. We tried something new this last time with the water...maybe that was not such a good idea. So I will try it my way this time and see how the water turns out. I soaked enough seed tonight to set up four new trays tomorrow.

After I got all the fodder stuff done, Jordan helped me clean out the garage today. It wasn't too bad, it just needed a little straightening up and a big sweeping job! I also cleaned up Nathan's tilapia tank. I think he's wanting to do a water change tonight.

I am busy trying to get the house ready for Aaron's birthday party tomorrow. He's invited a few friends over for a potluck party. I decided to clean out my refrigerator. It's so clean, you could eat off its surface! I also did a load of laundry. I'm taking a break right at this moment. I still plan on sweeping my floors, vacuuming my living room carpet, and doing some food prep for tomorrow.

I am planning on smoking some ribs. Aaron has also requested some jalapeño poppers. I need to make his birthday cake too. He asked for a carrot cake with cream cheese icing.

Nathan is supposed to be on call this weekend. Unfortunately, when Nathan came home from work tonight, he informed me that he got three admissions tonight. That means, he has to leave at 8:00 A.M. and drive to Albuquerque. He will need to admit them. He doesn't expect to be home much before the party starts. Not to mention, he also got a call at 4:00 A.M. this morning...

Well, I need to go for now. I still need to do several loads of laundry, sweeping, vacuuming and cooking. I hope I get some sleep tonight...

Rest well my friends. I hope to see some of you tomorrow! May God bless you!

Music Lessons

Hello again! How are you tonight? I am doing great.

I woke up at my normal time this morning. I made some Greek yogurt with our own honey, chia seeds, fresh blackberries and granola. I also got Nathan a cup of mocha to go!

I had to run some errands this morning. I ran to Country Gas and filled our empty propane tanks. I also had to stop by the post office to pick up some stamps. I mailed an application for Aaron to be approved for a correspondence driving course. Wow! Can you believe he's actually able to drive already???

I got home about 30 minutes before I had two of my students show up. I truly enjoy teaching. I have so much fun! Crystal Willis and her daughter Sarah both had lessons with me today. They both take voice lessons. I am so proud of Crystal. She is very talented, but also very shy! She has made tremendous changes in her voice since she has started taking lessons. I don't want to make her feel awkward, so I won't say too much, but I just have to say how proud I am of her! Sarah is an absolute sweetheart! She is also very talented and has the voice of an angel! I am looking forward to seeing what she's able to accomplish this semester. She is amazing! Actually, the entire Willis family is talented beyond belief! The two oldest Willis girls, Alicia and Lydia, both started taking piano lessons from me back about ten years ago. They didn't know how to read music or play piano. Alicia now has students of her own! Lydia is currently taking voice lessons from me now and she also has violin students of her own as well! Lydia composes her own music and it is some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard. I am not exaggerating either. She has such a gift for music composition! I am blessed to know such a talented family!

As soon as lessons were over, I got the boys loaded up and we went straight to karate. Today, we celebrated Aaron's birthday "Japanese style!" In Japanese culture, it is tradition in our form of karate to have the birthday boy/girl stand at the front of the class. They assume a strong standing position while the rest of the class lines up facing the birthday boy/girl in a single file. Then each person gets to punch the birthday boy/girl to wish them a Happy Birthday! Aaron had to stand there and take it! Yes, we really do have to punch the person. It is considered total disrespect for the person if you take it easy on them. You MUST really punch! Yes, I even did this on my last birthday. It's actually pretty cool. So, we celebrated Aaron's birthday at the first class and after we all got a chance to punch him, we shared some chocolate chip cookies I made today. Then we did the second class. Again, we celebrated Aaron's birthday and shared some pumpkin spice cake and zucchini bread which I also made with my boys' help. Then we did the third class. We had a lot of fun today.

Well, I am going to go to bed. Nathan's already asleep. I need to catch up with him. Poor guy was exhausted tonight. He couldn't even keep his eyes open! I will make him his fruit/vegetable/protein shake in the morning. Hopefully that will help boost his energy level. Those usually seem to help him! Sleep well. May you have sweet dreams. God bless.

Bon Voyage!

Good morning everyone! How are you this brisk morning? It is a balmy 8 degrees where I am this morning. It's supposed to get up to 40 degrees today...heat wave!

Well, let me get right to the point today...

Mom and Dad, are you sitting down? Nathan and I are (Lord willing) celebrating our 20th Wedding Anniversary this April. Nathan's and my honeymoon was a little less than 24 hours. He has booked us a Mediterranean cruise over our anniversary! It is a twelve day cruise! Now here's where I need your participation...

I have several people reading my blog who are from some of the countries that we will be making our ports of call in. I am looking for any pointers for things to do, things to see, and what and where to eat. Here are the places we will be stopping in:

Barcelona, Spain
Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Marseilles, France
Oliba (Sardinia), Italy
Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Italy
Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy
Naples, Italy
Messina (Sicily), Italy
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Venice, Italy

These are all the ports of call. We plan on flying into Barcelona a day or two before the cruise starts and staying in Venice a day or two after the cruise, so any suggestions what to do while we're there would be greatly appreciated!

I am soooo excited! Nathan is pretty excited too! He is a scuba diver. Anyone have any recommendations where there is good diving around our ports of calls?

Thanks for your input. Please, please, please, leave me some feed back! I would like this to be a memorable trip!

Well, I need to get my boys up and around to start their chores. I look forward to hearing from you all! Have a great day. God bless you!

Happy Birthday!

Good morning everyone! How are you? I am great!

Just woke up a little bit ago. Today is my oldest son's birthday. Fifteen years ago today, God blessed us with our first baby boy.

Nathan had been hesitant to start trying for a family. After two years of being married, I wanted children, but he wasn't ready. So, finally after 5 years, he agreed we could start a family. We were told by our doctor that it would probably be a year before I could get pregnant. Two weeks later...

Nathan had been on a business trip. I found out I was pregnant before he came so. He called me the morning he was supposed to come home and one was so excited and told me he had a surprise for me. I laughed to myself and said, "Well honey, I've got one for you too!"

When he came home, he brought me a coffee mug with my name printed on it (which I still have). I have dubbed it my "pregnancy mug"! So he asked me what his surprise was. I led him over to our recliner in our living room and sat down on his lap. I was speechless! I mean, how do you drop a bomb on an unsuspecting husband??? I looked into hips eyes and said, "So...how was your trip?" He immediately knew I didn't know what to say about something that was bothering me. He said, "Michelle, what's going on?" I said, "Nathan, you're going to be a daddy!" Boy was he shocked! He wrapped his loving arms around me and cried tears of joy, at least I think they were!

Nine months later, I was suppose to be induced because Aaron was a week late. Dr. Kacenga admitted me to the hospital the night before. Oh, by the way, Nathan worked at the hospital. He ran the Emergency Room at the time. Nathan is also a nurse, for those of you who don't know. It was all arranged. I was supposed to be induced first thing the next morning. They gave me a gel to prep me for the next day. They told me not to worry, it causes contractions, but that only 1% of women actually go into labor. They also had me take two heavy duty sleeping pills at around 9:00 P.M. They told me to send everyone one home (if I wanted to) so we could all get a good night's rest. The plan was to have Nathan and Anita (my mother-in-law) in the delivery room. So I sent Nathan and Anita home at 10:00 with very clear instructions to Nathan to be there no later than 6:00 A.M. So, they both went home. It is about a fifteen minute drive from the hospital. When Nathan got home, I guess he couldn't sleep right away and he stayed up and watched a little tv. At 11:00, my contractions were still going strong and I couldn't sleep. I called the nurse in and she was surprised I wasn't passed out from taking the two sleeping pills! She thought I might be in labor so she checked me and said I wasn't. At midnight, I called the nurse and told her to call Nathan and tell him he needed to come in because I couldn't handle the contractions on my own. Again she checked me, and again she said I wasn't in active labor. So she called Nathan and asked him to come back in. He had just fallen asleep when she called. She told him I wasn't in active labor but that I needed him. Being the sweet darling man he was, he got dressed and came in...he told me later that he grumbled to himself the entire way to the hospital! Lol! Just minutes before he walked in the door, my water broke! Boy, did he feel a little sheepish for grumbling!

We called Anita immediately and told her to come in. We also called Joe Casey (one of Nathan's best friends since 6th grade) to also come. Joe was studying to be a nurse and he had to follow an OB patient and write about it, so I let him come too! I got an epidural and I didn't realize how quickly my labor was going to go. As he was trying to place the epidural, I felt the need to push. He told me not to and hold still. He had to try three times before he got it in. I felt so good, I almost wanted to kiss the man! The rest didn't take long. Aaron was born at 2:59 A.M. The second he was born, those stinking sleeping pills finally kicked in. The nurse came back in and said he weigh 6lb. 9oz. I was so groggy I thought she said 9lb. 6oz.!!!

He was born on January 14. There's a story behind this date. Several years prior to this, I was at work and I got a mysterious call from Nathan. He said, "after you get off work today, go home, dress up nice, and be ready to go." I had no idea what this was about. So I did as he asked. When he got home, he changed. He put me in the car, blind folded me, and leaned my seat all the way back in a reclining position. He started driving and making all kinds of turns so I couldn't follow in my mind where we were going. He started singing to me (to the tune of Happy Birthday To You), "Happy Valentine's Day To You..." I busted up laughing! I sat up, pulled the blind food off and said, "Honey, today is January 14...Valentine's Day is February 14!" He woke up that morning thinking it was Valentines day and that he was not going to be able to get dinner reservations at our honeymoon restaurant in Bisbee, Arizona, called Cafe Roka. So we still went and had dinner at Cafe Roka that evening. While we were still on our way there, he said, "Do I still have to celebrate Valentine's Day or does this count?" What kind of question is that?? Of coarse we still had to celebrate it, so ever since then, we celebrated Early Valentine's Day on January 14! When Aaron came along, I finally let Nathan off the hook and now we just celebrate Aaron's birthday!

Then there's the name game...Nathan couldn't decide if his name was going to be Aaron or Josiah. I teased him that he was worse than a woman changing his mind! I felt so great, I was already showered, dressed, and I was walking the halls by 7:30 A.M. The nurses all thought I was crazy...must have been! So Nathan came in the room and said "Well, is it Aaron or Josiah?" I told him it didn't make a difference since I liked both names. I told him to make the decision. He said, "Ok. His name is Josiah. I am going to run down to the ER and let everyone know." He was gone about a half hour. He came back in my room and said his name is Aaron! I said, "Ok. That's it! No more changing names. His name is Aaron!"

Now our son is 15 today and he is such a huge blessing in our lives. Everyone who knows him, loves him to pieces. He is such a kind and compassionate young man. So unselfish. He always sees the needs of others and seeks to help them in any way he can. Very responsible and dependable. But most of all, we are so proud of him for making his decision to love and serve our wonderful God. He is a treasure! I know God is working many wonderful things in his life and I pray God's blessings upon him! Thank you Aaron for being such a sweet and loving son. I truly hold our relationship dear to my heart! Happiest of birthdays to you! Love ya!

Beginning of the Year Training

Good evening everyone! How are you all? I am very well thank you!

Woke up extra early this morning to get the boys up and around doing their morning chores. They (for some odd reason) were not difficult to wake up and get out of bed today! Gee...I wonder why??? I made oatmeal and heated up some English muffins for breakfast with some coffee.

As soon as we scarfed down breakfast, I went and ironed Jordan's and my GI. We had to leave the house by 8:30 since Nathan had an eye appointment in town. He dropped us off at the main dojo in Albuquerque, then went to his appointment. He ran some errands while we did our beginning of the year training.

Training started at 10:00 this morning. My sensei, Sensei Caesar, is notorious for joking with me and pulling my leg. The bad thing about it, is that he is so serious when he does it. He will keep going for 15 minutes. At first, I don't believe him, but then he keeps going at it and he finally convinces me to go along with him...then he lets me feel really silly for believing him. Each time he does this, I say I am NEVER going to believe him ever again, but he ALWAYS manages to get me! I guess it doesn't help matters that I am taking medication for an under active thyroid. If I forget to take my medication at all, I cannot concentrate and my mind is the first thing to go. Sensei Caesar told us at class this week that he thought Beginning of the Year Training began at 10:00 and went to 12:00. I triple checked with him because I thought for some reason it was 9:00 - 11:00. Nathan's eye appointment was at 9:20, so he dropped us off at the dojo and 9:15. For those who do not know about the main sensei, Sensei Nagatomo, he does not tolerate tardiness EVER. Basically, if you end up being late, you better not show up at all. So, at 9:25, I got a call on my cell from another student going to training. I had to call Sensei Caesar and he started telling me, " Sorry, I'm on I-25. You need to get to the dojo ASAP because training starts at 9:30!" Sensei thought I was still going to show up at 9:45. He wasn't aware that I was already at the dojo!!! I told him, "Nice one Casear! You'd better hurry up and get here then! I'm already here at the dojo...you'd better not be late!" I was laughing so hard! He couldn't get me this morning!

Training this morning was a blast! Aaron, Jordan and I went. I truly enjoyed spending the morning with them! This year, the dojo theme is opportunity. We as individuals need to look for opportunities that present themselves to us, in our personal lives and our "karate" lives. We can apply everything we learn in karate to our everyday lives. Last year, our theme was motivation. Our Sensei Nagatomo encouraged each of us to write down a personal goal for ourselves for this year. My goal this year is to help my music students realize their full potential this year and to get their desire for learning music to catch fire underneath them! I plan to do this by demonstrating my love for music and my enthusiasm for learning. Who knows...maybe it'll spread like wild fire! My other goal this year is to train better in karate to prepare myself for my black belt testing. What I mean by this is to strive to make changes each time I practice and to not continually repeat the same mistake over and over or just not strive to improve. I don't want to settle for less.

I am pretty sore and stiff from karate on Thursday and training today. I hope to go soak in the tub tonight!

Nathan and I took a short road trip this afternoon to go pick up hay grazer for our animals. We got to spend quality time together just talking the whole way!

Well, I think I'm going to start drawing my bath water! Good night everyone. Sleep well and God bless!

A New Day!

Hello! How are you tonight? I am not doing so well tonight. I think I over did my back yesterday. I was soaking enough seeds to fill four trays and I was lugging it around outside to drain it and back in to spreads them on the trays. I did lift the bucket four times to pour the grains into the trays. I guess my back just didn't like it.

We all got up this morning. Aaron just popped right out of bed this morning! That kind of surprised me! I asked him why he was up so easy this morning and he said, "It's amazing how easy it is to wake up after you've had more than four hours of sleep!"

I was so proud of my sweet Aaron. He woke up this morning with an awesome positive attitude. After his not so positive experience this entire semester, one would expect him to have kind of a bitter taste in his mouth so to speak. I was so proud of his can do attitude! He told me, "Mom...smile! It's a brand new day!" What a precious kid!

We all had coffee and several slices of Kolachi for breakfast. I am going to attach a picture of the finished product! After we ate, I got the boys started on school, ran to Walmart to buy birthday invitations, came home and celebrated with Aaron. He passed History! We were kind of worried if they were going to count all his extra work he turned in yesterday.

Aaron and I left for his violin lesson and for me to teach a voice lesson before karate tonight. We attended karate and had a great time. I know I will be sore tomorrow, but don't worry...it's a good sore!

I am exhausted tonight, so I will turn in for now. Sleep well. God bless.

Getting Caught Up In More Ways Than One!

Hello to all of my friends and family? How are you this evening? I am tired, but I feel good!

I woke up extra early this morning to make Nathan some Greek yogurt with honey, fresh blueberries and granola for breakfast. I also packed a lunch for him. I got him out the door and went back to bed (only for a half hour though) :) !!!

I got the boys up and going this morning earlier than usual. I offered to help Jordan pour up the milk and wash up if he got up earlier and got the milk in sooner before my first music student showed up. While the boys were out doing chores, I set up four trays of seed for fodder and started soaking enough seed for four more trays for tomorrow. I checked on Nathan's fish. There is one big white male and he was bullying all the other fish in the original tank, so we moved him and a matching female and one smaller fish. He's been picking on her all day (I'll explain more later). I also started two loads of laundry. Jordan brought the milk up to the house and I started pouring up. My student at 8:30 showed up before I finished pouring everything up. I taught her voice for 30 minutes and piano for another 30 minutes.

The boys were busy at school when I got done. Aaron had to meet his major deadline by midnight tonight. For those who weren't aware, I homeschool our two boys and it's based through a charter school in Farmington. The school put Aaron on a wait list at the beginning of the school year and contacted us a month and a half into the school year to transfer him into the school we really wanted him in. They didn't accept his school work from the online school he was registered in. After the fact, they decided that he needed to turn in every bit of work from the beginning of their school year, plus keep up with the regular students. Aaron is very gifted and bright. He is usually a straight A student. He has been keeping long hours at school for the last 3 1/2 months trying to continually get caught up. Bless his little heart! He has been staying up to about 1:30-2:00 almost every night. He's even pulled a couple of over-nighters. We are so proud of him. He has been very diligent in his studies. I pray God would bless him for his hard work and diligence. He is finally in bed right now, this is the first time in probably 3 months that he's been in bed long before me! I usually am a night owl, but he's outdone me the last few months! I pray he sleeps well tonight. He did meet all of deadlines tonight though...hallelujah!!!

I spent a couple of hours trying to help Aaron organize things and get them turned in at school. Then I spent about 2 1/2 hours cleaning my kitchen! It looks amazing! I wonder how long it'll stay this way??? Lol! I doubt less than 24 hours!

Jordan and I met Nathan at church tonight. Aaron stayed home so he could meet his final deadline in history. Jordan had the lesson tonight and he read Job 1-3. He did a very good job. I was very proud of him. He's come a long way. He used to be terrified of reading in front of people, much less speaking and just winging it. He's getting more relaxed. Way to go Jordan!

After I got home tonight, I made a huge batch of homemade hot cocoa mix. I used a vanilla caramel creamer instead of just plain creamer and added also a bag of mini marshmallows. Yummmy! I also felt an inspiration (probably because my kitchen was so clean) so I made two loaves of Kolachi. It is a Polish sweet bread with filling in it. My filling has tapioca pearls, cream cheese, vanilla and sweetened with a little bit of sugar. After it bakes, I drizzle it with icing! The boys are going to have a great breakfast tomorrow, I guess to make up for them having to eat cereal today!!! Lol!

Well, speaking of which, my oven timer just dinged. I need to pull the Kolachi out of the oven. Until tomorrow...God bless you all!

Fish, Fish, and More Fish

Hello everyone! How are you feeling tonight. I am fine, a little bit of a headache, but fine!

Had a quiet day today. I got up and made breakfast for Nathan before he went to work. He wanted me to make him a fruit and vegetable protein shake. I had a terrible time getting my boys out of bed though...the story of my life! Aaron usually isn't too hard to wake up, but the last three mornings have been absolute torture for me. Finally got BOTH boys up and out of bed (albeit an hour later) and got them doing chores. When they returned from completing all their morning chores, I fixed some sourdough English muffins (they eat them like they're going out of style), sausage patties and scrambled eggs. Aaron and I enjoyed our usually cup of mocha!

I checked email, answered them, and did some general work on the computer. I fixed lunch for the boys. We had pinto beans and cheese and crackers. It was really good! Aaron's been trying to finish getting caught up in school. Wednesday by midnight is his deadline. Please pray for his endurance and my sanity between now and then. Jordan started back to school today...yippee!

Nathan had a pretty rough day at work today. He was so very busy that busy doesn't even begin to describe how his day went. Tonight, I made dinner so we could eat early and head over to the Schwebach's to pick up some pinto beans and popcorn for storage. I made some steamed rice and homemade eggrolls. My guys and I pretty much cleaned up supper...look Anita, no leftovers!!! While we were eating, Nathan got a call from Mr. Schwebach and they asked to reschedule our pick up since Mrs. Schwebach's father is not doing well, so please pray for her and her dad.

After supper, Nathan decided to go ahead and set up the two fish tanks I picked up for him the other day in Los Lunas. I just got done boiling some water so the heaters wouldn't have to work so hard to heat up the tank. The fish are becoming too stressed since they are too crowded in just the one tank.

We ran into some problems with the fish pond reservoir under the aquaponics system. The water was becoming too fouled with the grains that it was growing too much mold. The moldy water would drain back into the pond and continue getting slimy and nasty. I've been having to bleach my trays before spreading new seeds each day, but the murky, decaying water fouled the seeds anyways. We have traded the large pond out for a large rubber maid container. It won't hold near as much water, but we think this will be more manageable and we can change the water more frequently.

Oh well, I hope things run a little smoother for a while! A word of praise for Nathan's Uncle Jerry! Aunt Judith just posted that the doctors think they've figured out what has been the main cause for all of Uncle Jerry's problems. They found out that he's allergic to heparin, which he's been on for a while now. They have since stopped using it and we are waiting to see the outcome. They fully expect him to make a complete recovery. Praise The Lord! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for praying for him. I will keep you all posted on Uncle Jerry's progress!

Rest well my dear friends! God bless!

Happy Hunting!

Good evening to everyone! How are you this blessed day? I am very well.

Well, as my post suggests, two of my three guys went hunting this weekend. Jordan went on his first duck hunt ever today. They had one "lucky duck" (pun intended) that flew overhead. Between Jordan and Nathan, they shot six times and it never came down! It had to either be really good luck or divine intervention! They did get any ducks this morning. I got a call from Nathan this evening and Jordan shot his first duck! He is so excited! He can't wait for us to cook it up. I am actually thinking Nathan should smoke it for us! Yeah, I think that's a GREAT idea! Nathan and Jordan are staying up in Farmington with Nathan's cousin Darin and his family. Darin's oldest son Dakota and Jordan were the primary hunters and they both got their ducks today! Good job boys! I am very proud of you for bringing home the ducks!

I had a somewhat interesting day! I could not go to sleep last night. I never sleep well when Nathan is gone. It was around 3:30 when I headed to bed, but couldn't sleep. I remember looking at the clock at 4:00. I woke up at 7:30 and tried to wake Aaron up. He couldn't sleep either and he actually stayed up till 6:00 and worked on school since he couldn't sleep. I can't wait for him to get officially caught up in school so he can get back on a regular routine and sleep at a normal time again. Aaron and I were going to go running first thing this morning. We were going to start training in preparation for Kangeiko which is coming up later on this month. Kangeiko is a once a year week long training in which we push ourselves to the limits and force our bodies to train under adverse conditions. It sounds crazy, it probably is, but it is a lot of fun and it truly is a life changing experience. My boys and I completed the training last year and were awarded highly sought after certificates. I was actually awarded "Best Spirit of Kangeiko 2012." The actual training starts each morning promptly at 5:30. Sensei Nagatomo does NOT tolerate tardiness whatsoever. He would prefer you NOT come at all if you are going to be late! We wear only our GIs (our white uniforms) and running shoes, no socks, gloves, hats, coats, scarves, etc. we run a mile. The first 1/2 mile is all down hill, then we turn around and return the second half all uphill. Once we run our mile, we run inside, put our shoes upstairs, grab a quick drink of water, then line up for stretching. After stretching, we do a regular training until bout 7:00, then we are dismissed so people can go to work or school. We do this for six days straight. I usually have to wake my boys up at 3:45, get in the car by about 4:15, then the drive is about one hour to get to the main dojo in town. The first three days, I thought I was going to die! Then I really enjoyed it! I am so looking forward to it this year. This year I have decided that I don't want to just survive, I want to excel!

I survived my run this morning. I couldn't get Aaron to wake up, so I ran by myself. Probably was a good thing, since Aaron runs a lot faster and longer than me! After I got back. I thought I was going to be sick. I felt like I was going to cough up a lung! Btw, can you all tell that I am NOT a runner by nature??? When I finally recovered and felt like I wasn't going to be sick, I tried waking Aaron up again...no such luck! I got the milking equipment together and went out and milked our cow and our goat. I brought the milk back up to the house and started pouring it up. I was finally able to rouse Aaron enough to get him to do feeding and watering chores.

I treated Aaron out to breakfast at one of our favorite breakfast places in Edgewood, Carl's Chili Hills. Aaron surprised me by not ordering his usual. He usually gets the Brama Buster (beans, Mexican rice, fired eggs, hash browns, cheese, and all smothered with red and green chili sauce. It is really good. I got my usual, the same thing, except minus the beans and double hash browns. You know me...I love my potatoes! Aaron actually ordered the biscuits and sausage gravy with fired eggs.

After breakfast, we went to two feed stores to pick up chicken food. Aaron was a sweetheart and offered to carry out an elderly lady's order to her car since she had a huge bag of dog food. I don't think she could possibly lift that herself. I was glad he offered to do it for her! The world needs more people like him!!! Was a sweet and thoughtful young man he is becoming.

I came home and finished making the new batch of sourdough English muffins tonight. I also made the filling to make Kolachi (a sweet bread with a cream cheese and tapioca filling). I plan on making the dough tomorrow. I haven't made it in several years and I know my guys love it!

Well, my eyes are going cross-eyed. I'm going to take that as a sign that my body says it's time for bed. Please remember to keep Nathan's Uncle Jerry in your prayers. He is not doing well and has taken a bit of a turn for the worse. They had to hook him up to a respirator today. Nathan's grandmother, Nanny, is doing ok. She is making progress each day. She continues to walk, but is still in quite a bit of pain. She is having major difficulties remembering things. She wakes up and has no idea where she is or what has happened to her.

Sleep well. I pray for God's blessing to surround you tonight. Until tomorrow...

More Fish Tanks!

Hello to all out there! How are you this chilly evening? It's been pretty cold over here, but I've been keeping a fire burning pretty much all day long, so it's not been too bad.

I had a busy morning trying to make breakfast for Nathan before he left for work, while also trying to finish getting him packed up and out the door for the weekend. Once a year, Nathan makes time for about three days with one of the boys. They schedule a father/son weekend to just spend quality time together. Each boy gets to pick what they want to do and when they get to do it. This weekend, Jordan cho to go duck/geese hunting in Farmington, NM. He and Nathan left today as soon as Nathan was able to get off work.

I left the house this afternoon about 2:45. Nathan had me drive down to Los Lunas (about 25 miles south of Albuquerque) to pick up two fish tanks he found on Craigslist. The fish we received yesterday were a LOT bigger than Nathan anticipated, so when he saw a great deal on these two fish tanks, he got them. I took both boys with me and we got it all loaded in the back of my Pilot. We almost didn't get everything to fit inside, but we did! Jordan almost didn't have anywhere to sit, but we manage to cram him in one side with a seatbelt to boot!

After we picked up the aquariums, we drove to Sportsman's warehouse where we met up with Nathan. We transferred all of Jordan's gear over to Nathan's car and went inside to get Jordan's habitat stamps and to also pick up some ammunition and snacks for the trip. They called me a little earlier to let me know they arrived safely.

I got home, did some more dishes, cleaned my kitchen again and made another batch of sourdough English muffins. Nathan seemed to really enjoy those, so I hope to keep those on hand more often!

Well, I'm going to head to bed. Rest well. Till tomorrow...

God bless!

Fishing Anyone?

Good evening! How are you today? I am feeling much better today. I finally got rid of my two day old headache. Lots of caffeine did the trick for me!!! I knew there was a reason behind buying Starbucks Dark Roast!

I didn't sleep too well last night and I got up a little earlier than usual this morning. We had Nathan's cousin Darin and his family sleep over last night. They are one their way home from visiting Darin's dad, Nathan's Uncle Jerry. I got up to make breakfast before Nathan had to leave for work. I made some homemade sourdough English muffins, sausage patties, and scrambled eggs. I must say...those English muffins were pretty good with some softened butter and my freezer strawberry preserves!

Late this afternoon, the doorbell rang. Guess who? Our tilapia finally arrived!!! I opened the box and was shocked that they were not shipped in an insulated box. All nine of them were dead as a door nail, floating belly-up. I got my cell phone and called Nathan immediately to let him know. The water the fish were in was really cold. They were all floating upside-down and no one was breathing. They only shipped them in a normal box with two bubble envelopes ripped open, three newspaper sheets on the bottom with two small hand warmers and they were covered with three newspaper sheets on top. No wonder they were dead! They were shipped from Ohio. They're didn't realize that it was cold here. Nathan said he would call the fish supplier that we ordered the fish from and let him know. Nathan told me to go ahead and float the bag anyways just in case we could warm them up and bring them back from the dead!

I floated the bags. I kept watch over them and saw nothing. I turned away and started prepping our fodder trays for tomorrow. When I turned back around, I looked at the bag and I saw one the smallest fish swimming around the bag! I waited and then I saw another one of the smaller fish move a little. Maybe there was hope after all! I kept watching and none of the big fish were moving whatsoever. Jordan helped me start pouring some of the tank water into the bag. After about one minute, I saw one of the big fish flick his fin! After about ten minutes, all but one fish was swimming! We dumped all the fish into the fish tank. We let them settle into the tank and when I came back later to check on them, ALL of them were happy and healthy!

Nathan had called the guy we got the fish from and he asked if we still had the fish in the bag. The last message Nathan left for him was that all the fish arrived cold and dead. He was hoping I didn't throw the fish away yet. He let us know that they had added a chemical to the water in the bag that paralyzes them for transport! I had never heard of such a thing! Boy, was I glad I listened to Nathan!

I am supposed to drive to Los Lunas tomorrow to buy two used fish tanks with a stand to keep all the fish separated. Jordan will, Lord willing, help me and then I'm supped to drop him off at Sportsman's Warehouse to meet up with Nathan. Nathan and Jordan are doing their once a year father/son trip. They are leaving tomorrow to head up to Farmington for the weekend. They are planning on staying with Darin and Leslie. The purpose of this trip is to spend quality time together and to get some serious duck and geese hunting in!!! Jordan can't wait to break in his new shotgun he bought for Christmas.

Well, I am attaching some pics of our tilapia. I hope this all works well. I am ready for bed tonight. Sleep well my friends. God bless you all!

Death By Chocolate!!!

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope and pray that each of you were able to ring in the new year safely this year!

We were invited to ring in the New Year at the Heckendorn's house again this year. The Heckendorn's are a very dear, sweet family that we know through homeschooling. Cathy is also the director of the homeschooling drama group the boys are in.

Let me back up a couple of weeks ago...

We had our end of the year training at the main karate dojo in town. After that, the main Sensei, Sensei Nagatomo hosted an end of the year Christmas party at his house. Every year, they have a chocolate fountain where you can dip stuff and eat it! This was Nathan's first year to attend and he loved the chocolate fountain! So, he mentioned in passing that he would eventually like to get one before we have our next big party at our house. Well, I bought him a chocolate fountain for Christmas. Let me start out by saying that Cathy Heckendorn is a HUGE chocoholic.

The Heckendorns invited us to their New Year's Eve party and Nathan wondered if they would mind if we brought the chocolate fountain. I told Nathan that Cathy would probably be upset if we DIDN'T bring it! So we went to the party and we brought the fountain with us. I had stopped by the store and bought lots of goodies to dip in the chocolate. I got large marshmallows, Oreo cookies, Nutter Butter cookies, coconut cream wafers, fresh strawberries, cantelope, mangos, pineapple, and bananas! It was the hit of the party. The teenagers really liked it, but I think Mr. Jackson enjoyed it the most!!!

The Schwebach's youngest little girl, Addie, came up and asked her momma if she could pretty PLEASE have another smarshmellow with lots of chocolate...she was way too precious!!! She had apparently already had several. Her mother, Ive, looked at me and said, "I suppose. Ok, Michelle. When Addie is running around at 1 A.M. with all this sugar, I'm going to let her call you!" I said, "Absolutley! I hardly ever sleep anyways!" Ive got Addie another chocolate smothered marshmallow and Addie took a big bite. She had chocolate all over her mouth and her momma said, "Ok Addie, give Mrs. Cogburn a HUGE kiss!" Addie leaned over and gave me a sweet chocolate kiss. I told Addie that was so sweet and that I'd leave her chocolate kiss on all night and she said I couldn't because that would make my pillow case all dirty! I busted up laughing and I told Ive that I was really impressed that Addie is only three years old and worried abut me dirtying my pillow case! So, all night, Addie would run up to me and check my face to make sure I didn't wipe off her kiss! What a sweet darling little girl!

We pray that in this new year that God would bless each of you with life, health and happiness! May you find joy in knowing Him and sharing your life with friends and family. My life is so full. God has blessed me more than I ever deserve. May 2013 be a joyous one for all. Take care. Be safe. God bless!