Saturday, October 31, 2009

Halloween night!!

So, it's Friday night, and we are still awaiting the arrival of Mark's folks. And we getting ready for the Trunk-or-treat at our church and I'm so excited for Trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood! So, we picked out costumes, and both ideas fell thru, so we made up ones about an hour ago. I had Bandit's set in my mind for a while. He went as Falcor, the Luck Dragon from The Neverending Story. He's got the beard!! Ok, now I need some of your imagination on this one. You gotta picture it. Ok, now how about this? See!! It totally fits! Atreyu on his back! TADA!! Ok, anyways, I think it works. Mark went as a Pirate! It was so cool! I liked it alot! (considering we totally just made up his costume 15 minutes before the party.) And I went as a Nudist On Strike. (This is an old stand-by for me. I went as a NOS back in college, it was alot of fun.) We had lots of fun at the party, the chili was awesome! And I love trick-or-treating or any form of that. It's so fun!! But just as trunk-or-treating was getting done, Mark's folks called and they were about 15 minutes away from the house! So we went home to greet them! We had tons of fun just chatting at the house, handing out candy to the little ghosties that stopped by and rang the doorbell! I love Halloween! It really is one of my favorites! But now it's done, and I get to think about Thanksgiving and Christmas next!! Yay for holidays!!

Love to all - bry and mark

Completed project! Woot woot!

So in my brother and sister-in-law's house, they have The Family: A Proclamation to the World (it's a really amazing statement given from our church leaders) water-marked with a wedding picture. I love it! It is absolutely gorgeous!! I talked with my photographer and they said they did that kind of thing, but after my paying a year after our wedding date, I decided to try something out on my own. I got a bunch of base boards from a guy at work who is remodeling his entire house. So... I had Mark make me a frame. The big huge printer at work, prints onto vellum. I found a printer online that can print my pictures really big!! So - one thing led to another, and I've got the makings of a nice big picture that just cost me about .$50 (that's what it cost to ship that picture to me, all I had to do was pay shipping on the prints-the pictures themselves were FREE! http://www.artscow.com/). So, I'm pretty excited to get this done (no, I have not completed my Christmas gifts yet, but I'm working on it...slowly I really am!!) All I need to do it sand and paint it, then put the papers on it.


So, I finished sanding and painting the frame. Mark put a hanger wire on the back, and then put the vellum over the picture and then put them both on the frame. (I tried it a few night ago, and ended up cutting the vellum too small! So, I had to reprint the vellum out at work.) I love how this turned out. I'm posting a collage with the pictures, and also one of the original picture under the vellum. LOVE IT!



Mark's folks are on their way from Steamboat Springs. I-80 was still closed East of Rawlins this morning, so they took the way to Steamboat. They should be here soon. :) Yay!!



Love to you- bry and mark

Friday, October 30, 2009

Spook my PUMPKIN!

So, Mark and I carved pumkins tonight. It's about time! Mark's pumpkin was getting mushy on top because it froze in the snow and then thawed out... So we kinda had to, plus - TOMORROW IS HALLOWEEN! I cannot believe we waited this long to carve them! I found a good website full of ideas about carving pumpkins, and then I lost it. So, we had to wing it. Mark had very little to work with : he cut out the mushy part of his pumpkin, so it had a big gaping hole in the back (or the side...) of it. So he went with a gunshot wound. He put X's for eyes and made the big hole the blowout. It's pretty cool looking.


And then mine, my sister sent me an email, and it had a cute pumpkin face on it. So I copied it as best I could from memory. Now, my memory is good when it comes to finding things, but not so good when it comes to duplicating pictures. It could be my mind or it could very well be my hands, I'm not what the privilidged called "artistic" - so, yes, I made it up. I think he turned out looking either sick or worried. Oh well, he's still cute/scary for a jack-o-lantern. I took pictures both with the flash and without the flash so you could get the whole visual down. So you can dream about our pumpkins tonight... Yeah.



Anyways, I hid the trick-or-treater candy from Mark, and trust me, it wasn't in a very good hiding spot. Maybe it's just cuz he never goes into any of the closets or maybe cus he doesn't need to, I always get new towels out and new bedsheets out. Yeah pretty sure, he's never gone in that closet. Hmmm.... Well, I even told him that I bought all the candy about 2 or 3 weeks ago, and I was hiding it. He didn't even look for it, I don't think. He's got this craft project on his mind. He's been working on it for a while. It's not really a craft project I guess, but still, it's all he's been thinking about lately. (I seriously will post when it's all said and done, which will be Christmas time.)



Mark's folks are driving to our house this weekend. I'm pretty sure, right this moment they are at a hotel in Rock Springs, though. I-80 is closed due to the giant snowstorm we had here in Denver, and it appears to have gone North. So, we're hoping to see them tomorrow. Our prayers are with them, and their safe travels. Anyways, it's not like the WYO-Highway patrol hasn't had 2 days to clear up the snow out there. Way to drop the ball on that one Wyoming! And you want more funding for your roads why? Cuz you take such good care of them as it is? I think not! Anyways, we just hope they get here safely.



One last picture. Here is the Bandit in the living room looking in on the kitchen as Mark and I carved our pumpkins. He was whining so bad, he just wanted to be with us! It was so cute! His eyes always look so sad, like I have torn his soul in half, but Mark just says his eyes look that way all the time.



Love to all - Bry and Mark

Thursday, October 29, 2009

The Octizzard of 2009

Now take into account that I grew in Wisconsin, I've seen snow. I'm not scared of snow, I'm not worried about snow. They have a whole 3 week part of our 9 week driver's ed course to talk about how to drive in the snow. I get it, I know snow. Now, just because I know snow, doesn't mean I like it. I hate snow. Yeah I like how pretty it is, and how it makes everything look. But I hate being cold. I've been cold my entire life, how about some warm?! However, when it snows a foot before Halloween, that's when I don't know snow! I don't like it. Now, I know how to drive, I know how to drive offensively in the snow, I know how to counter a spin on ice. I know how to do all that. But I fear that NO ONE ELSE DOES!! Anyways, Wednesday, I had my doctor's appointment, and I don't like cancelling those, they take forever to reschedule. So I battled the elements and made it to my appointment on time. I then went into work, got some stuff done, then at lunch time, they said it was delcared a snow day, and we could go home. So I went home. I drove my little rear wheel drive truck in the snow, and I hated every minute of it. I went home, cleaned up the house, and finished my Mummy cookies, and played with the little dog (he loves LOVES the snow!!).



When I woke up on Thursday morning, my cold had gotten lots worse. I sent an email to the boss and to the other guys I work with, saying I was staying home sick, I don't want to share my cold. So I then checked my email, downloaded some files, and then sent some out for printing, (I love the internet, it makes work so easy!) And when I went out to play with the pup, I looked at Mark's truck and got an idea of how much snow had fallen on the Collards!! Mark's truck doesn't usually go anywhere, he's got his work truck, and I have my little truck. So his just sits in the driveway most days. So look how much snow is on top of that truck! I'm pretty sure we got about a foot of snow! I can tell you, his truck will not just be sitting there for the winter. In the snowy season, his truck trades places with mine. I will be driving his 4-wheel drive truck to and from work until all this white stuff thaws!

I'm pretty bummed that Halloween got snowed on, I love halloween alot, and I'm pretty excited about trick-or-treaters coming to the house. :) We'll have to see the turn-out this year. Also, Mark's parents are drving out to help some friends move. We'll have to see if the highways up in Wyoming open back up. We're excited to see them!! We're hoping all goes well on the drive here. Love.

Love to all - bry and mark

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Today's snowy adventure with doctors

So, I had another appointment for today. I scheduled for 8 AM again, cuz I figured that was the best time, I didn't have to miss too much work. Well, little did I know that Denver and Green Bay are alot alike : If you don't like the weather wait 15 minutes, and prepare for snow. So, of course, it snowed last night (it's still snowing now, and it's said to continue snowing until tomorrow around 6pm.) and I figured it wasn't that much, and it wasn't where I was, but it was coming from the South. So I jump in my little S10, my little rear wheel drive truck, and head off to the hospital. As I'm driving, I'm wonder why driving sucks so much this year, it wasn't this awful last year! Then it hit me! I drove Mark's truck last year, from the first time it dipped below 30 degrees until I went in for the surgery! So of course it's going to suck! I hate driving my truck in the snow, it's horrible for traction and I slide all over the place. So tomorrow, if work is not cancelled due to a Snow-day, yes that happens at my work, I will be taking his truck! Mine will just sit in the driveway like it did last year. But anyways - back to the adventure. I get there, she runs the usual never tests to see if I can feel everything (I can) and then she runs down the latest ideas to try and how the things I'm on help/don't help. So far, no change with this new medication, but I've only been taking it since Saturday, so we've still got time. Next, she says she'd like to try oxygen at night while I sleep, not forever, just a trial thing, because the sleep study might not be for a while. I say OK-I'm about ready to agree with anything at this point. I told her that the neuro-opthamologist is scheduled for Monday (please no snow!!) and the MRI is scheduled for Tuesday (please no snow!!). So we're getting those things taken care of right away. As for a mood-change due to the new pills, I haven't seen any, unless you count coming home Monday and making cookie dough and frosting, and then coming home Tuesday and making the cookies a mood change. LOL! No, I haven't seen any side effects. Oh, and she does want me to get the Swine Flu shot, apparently younger folks have really harsh sypmtons and side effects of the H1N1 flu, so she recommend I get it, because she doesn't want me to risk all that with the migraines and my heart stuff. So, looks like I gotta find a place that have some of that Swine Flu Vaccine... She helped me out with that too. :) But I am just very happy that things are going in the direction to get the problem solved. It feels like something is getting done, and I like that a whole lot!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Baking from Scratch

So, I found a blog that had these Mummy cookies. Ok, so these aren't really cookies, they are cupcakes. But I didn't want to make cupcakes, I wanted sugar cookies. So I got it my head as I was driving home from work, I should make the mummy cookies from scratch! (Yeah, you'd be surprised what ideas I get as I'm driving home!) I already had planned to go to the store today, we are out of milk,easy food, and socks for Mark, so it was a must. I went thru the recipes (yes, that is plural!) to see what I had and what I needed. I decided to make sugar cookies and easy buttercream frosting. (I had both of these recipes!! And BOTH were way super easy!!) So I went to the store, only backtracked twice (and that was around the craft part of the store, and I have no problem going back there.) and I picked up what we needed. I came home, got out the Bosch, and started mixing! It was so easy and simple. I used a Basic Buttercream by Martha and a Soft Sugar Cookie recipe from a lady from my church in Utah. I mixed up the cookie dough, put it in the fridge, washed out the mixer, then mixed the frosting. I put that in the fridge too, and when I get home from work tomorrow, I can make up those awesome Mummy cookies!


Ok - So it's Tuesday. I got home, thawed out the dough and the frosting, and started baking! I couldn't find a plain round cookie cutter (apparently Wal-Mart only has Halloween ones, bats, witch hats, pumpkins, skulls-I suppose I could have used the skull, but I wanted my cookies to be cute not scary.) So, I found a cup, the smallest cup we have, and used that as a cookie cutter. It worked pretty dang good. And they turned out so tasty and good! (Mark stole some before they were even frosted!) I am so glad these turned out cute! I feel accomplished for making these cookies all from scratch, frosting and all!! Yay!!!



Oh, and I found some recipes for the Kong, and Bandit LOVES it!! I put peanut butter in it all the time. But lately I've been going thru the recipes. I found one where I melt PB and mix cheerios in, and freeze it. He loved that this morning!! I bought a bunch of apples yesterday, so I cut one up today, put some PB on some bread, put the apples in the Kong and then stuffed the bread in. He was busy for about an hour. Tonight I'm going to mix up some of his dog food, cheerios and plain yougurt, put that in the Kong and freeze it. He's so cute when he chases the Kong around the kitchen! He's such a cute lil dog!!

Love to all - bry and mark

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Look what I made!!

So, I found something something to do with those filings cabinets! (Well, I have realy found ALOT to do with them...) Michelle was looking for something for her girls' artwork. I tore apart one filing cabinet (partly for a Christmas present, partly cuz I needed to tear it apart for the Christmas present.) So I saw at a friend's house these cute little "Look what I made" artwork boards. So I after I tore apart a filing cabinet, I had 3 sides left after I got what I needed for the present. I had pink and purple spray paint and stars. I bought some bulldog clips and some cute little letters. So I helped Michelle make boards! They are so dang cute. I put a chalkboard in the middle of these two cute art boards! These were so mcuh fun to make! I'm excited to make another of these boards for Angie and one for the SIL's litte girl on the way. :) These boards turned out supre cute! Here is a picture of the finished project! (Well, almost finished, I just need to touch up the trim a bit and then we're good to go!)




Love - bry and mark

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Need recipes?

Some friends of mine started a recipe blog! One of my recipes is featured!! I made the homemade oreos! They are so freaking delicious! Check out the blog! There will be More recipes added as they are found! SweetPickles is the blog title! I'm pretty dang excited about it!! More to come later! Woot Woot!!

Friday, October 23, 2009

Migraine update

So, I got a phone call from the doctor today. She asked how the baby aspirin has been working. I told her I have noticed no change at all to my headaches, and they are still as frequent and as painful as they were before. So, she scheduled me for a nuero-opthamalogist (nuerologist eye doctor) appointment. They also scheduled a sleep study (where they put on EKG and those little nodes on my heart, to see if I'm getting enough oxygen while I sleep. She wants to set up another MRI with a different type of contrast so they can see the blood vessels around my heart and brain. They are also going to get me on some different pills, to see if they effect the migraines in any way. So, we're back to trying things again. I both happy and sad that the aspirin didn't work on my headaches because if it had worked, that would have meant my circulatory system was causing my headaches, and that might have lead to (more) open heart surgery; but sad that my headaches are still here.... So, I'm very glad that we've got all this scheduled because it felt like I was at a stand-still for a while. I know that I was on the aspirin, but it still felt like nothing was being done. So YAY for appointments and progression. I'm hoping at least one of these tests deliver results, even just a little, because that would mean a step in the right direction, and more things would come out of that little step. :) So I'm pretty excited about the latest news! Thank you for everything that you all have been doing and helping me out! Thank you so much!

Love to all - bry and mark

Leaves!! and a monster!!

So, I'm pretty excited that we have a yard. And even more excited that we have trees! Well, A TREE. But still, I like it alot! It means I have leaves to rake up, and something to hang things from (like ghosties, or bird feeders, or Christmas ornaments...) YAY! So, I bought some of those old school leaf bags that are orange and havea jack-o-lantern face on them. (Yeah, cuz that's how I roll, yo) and I came home yesterday and started raking. Once I started I was thinking - Oh, I should call Angie, she said she wanted pics of the boys in leaves... And I had Bandit outside, so all the neighbors came over, and he went nuts, so I had to wrangle the mutt, and I forgot to call her. BUT! Have no fear! She called me and asked about leaves. So she brought the boys over, and it was so funny to watch them! I picked Kai up and put him right in the middle of the pile of leaves, he didn't like it as first, but as soon as Ryker started throwing some in the air, Kai giggled non-stop! It was so funny! Kai learned he could throw the leaves at Ryker, and he made the cutest little coo sound, I don't know how else to explain it. It was so cute! After the boys were done jumping and throwing, Angie helped me put the leaves into my *awesome* pumpkin bags, which are now sitting on the sidewalk in front of my house. (A paved walk is right in front of the flowerbeds at my house, so I put the bags there...spooky, right?!) It was alot of fun! I took the pictures of Bandit before they got there, he went crazy shortly after. He liked chomping the leaves out of the air, and crawling (yes, he crawls/sneaks around, like army style for a dog....) around in the pile. It was pretty cute. (The pictures are taken with my new phone, pretty good pics for a cell!)

Thursday, October 22, 2009

love love love

LOVE




by: http://dailydropcap.com/


Sorry, these were just too cute to pass up. They are for the start of blog posts, but I don't think i am going to use them. I don't think they fit too well on my blog. So, I just decided to write a word and then tell everybody about them. Maybe if she comes out with a single font to do that with, I might use them, but not a random ones... They don't really fit my posts either. Oh well. I will definetly be surfing the blogosphere for Drop Caps that might match my blog... Who knows, maybe something will turn up. I am always looking for ways to cute-en up my blog. :)

-bry & mark

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

I'm not the only one!

YAYAYyAYAYAYAYAYyyayayYAY!!!

Gwen got married this morning!!!!! They were planning on getting married in January, with a reception back home in July, but I guess didn't want to wait until January! :) So they got to the court house and did the deed! They are now offically husband and wife, and that means, Mark and I aren't the only ones!! Congrats to them! We're so excited and happy for them! :) Woot woot! I went down there on the 10th and helped her pick out her wedding dress! :)

-bry and mark

news of nothing....really

There hasn't been too much going on lately. Just work and cleaning. I have discovered that Mark and I are really boring, we really don't do anything at all, just sit at home, play with Bandit and watch movies. (We don't even have cable-TV, we just watch movies....) I had to bring work home this past weekend in order to make my Deadline of Monday end of business day. So that filled my weekend up, but we still went over to Angie and Gerrit's (even though they are getting over being sick, we're all good tho!) Mark has been pretty sick the past few weeks, and even stayed home sick one day, but now that he's feeling better, most the people he works with are sick! So his days have been super busy, and he's been getting home later than he usually does. But we see this as a blessing, at least we have jobs that run us ragged, rather than no jobs. We're grateful for the things we have. I am very grateful to be married to him. I told him last night, that I like being married, but it's him that makes me the happiest, being married to him. (Don't get me wrong, I love being married, but he makes it way awesome.) :) (Oh, my awesome husband got me a free phone! His work used to have the TMobile Express Music phones and then they realized that all the men working for them and using the phones, all have hands like Mark. So, they switched phones. Well, I asked Mark what they did with the old phones, he asked a lady there, and BAM! New phone for me! Fantastic!)


I've been figuring out more things to do with those filing cabinets, I'm going over to Michelle's on Saturday to put more of them to good use. I'm excited for that. I'm hoping to steal Mark's camera again, and take some pictures of the end result. I am envisioning cuteness, but we'll just have to wait and see. I also need to get on the ball, and work on more of the Christmas gifts. In looking at it, I've got quite a bit to finish before December. (Yeah, I know, it's 2 months away, but I started a few of these projects back in JULY!) But pretty sure I've got ideas coming out of the woodwork. I'm glad I started writing them all down, so I can save them for later, when I have time and am not in a holiday rush.


Bandit has never seen snow. He was born in February, yes, but he was also born in Arizona! The little guy has never seen it and I'm excited for him to see snow. He always chases things like bugs, leaves and fluff that falls in front of him. (One of his favorite things ever to is KILL bubbles.) It snowed today! Alot! None of it stayed around, and it eventually turned to rain, but still, it snowed!


Which reminds me, I totally need to get family pics taken. I have put it off forever! I'm hoping for a nice weekend, to head out to the park and snap some shots. Just a few, not tons, we just need to do it! It looks like it's supposed to be nice this Saturday, so maybe we'll have to do it them. Just get it over and done with!

So much still, love always - bry and mark

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Week 6 Fantasy football

Week 6:

Bry: 63 (2-4)
Mark : 80 (2-4)

So this week, none of my teams did what they were picked to do! I was projected to beat Gerrit by 47 points! HA! Yeah right! I was so excited because I was picked to win, DENIED! Mark had a bunch of guys on BYE week, so his line up was not what he wanted it to be. He lost too, so the brothers Dirkmaat totally beat the Collards. They knocked up both down to 2-4. It was pretty ugly, but not as ugly as the Bronco's throwbacks..... LOL!!

We're hoping for wins this next week, we haven't set up the lineups yet, but we're crossing out fingers.

love-bry and mark

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Pumpkin Patch yo!

So, Mark and I went to get pumpkins with Angie and the boys yesterday! I love getting pumpkins, it shouts HALLOWEEN IS CLOSE!! I love carving pumpkins and making those funny faces! I am excited to have the pumpkins and I'm already thinking of what I'm putting on my pumpkin. What kind of face do I go with? A scary face? A funny face? I've got no idea which kind of face!! So I'm having fun trying to decide which face to make! I always screw it up though, so I might just have to make one up... Hmm.... Anyways, here's a picture that Angie took for us. There was this mountain of pumpkins that kids were climbing all over, it was prefect for a photo op.

Love - bry and mark

Saturday, October 17, 2009

In my next life....

So, I have found something I unknowingly feel in love with! (That's only happened once before, and look, now I'm a Mrs!!) I am making something with those filing cabinets I got from work. Yes, it's a Christmas gift, and No, I won't show you all of it. I have it partially done, the base part is done, so I'm going to steal Mark's camera, and take a picture of the base part (nothing is on it yet, it's seriously just "bare bones" of the project. :) But in my next life/house/mansion whatever you call it, I want to decorate using cabinet doors, I love them so much! They are so cute! You can vinyl on them, draw on them, chalkboard them, Holiday them up, WELCOME, put your last name on them, put BEWARE on them - the possibilities are endless, for reals! I know I am not the first one who has discovered decorating with cabinets, but I think it is such a cute touch to a kitchen! I have seen people decorate with front doors as headboards or coffee tables or shelves, I've seen shudders used as headboards or bow hangers or shelves - I love those too, but I don't have shudders or a front door to do that with. I totally got these filing cabinets for FREE from work - score! So I'm pretty excited to get this project going! :)


Also, in my next life, I will have a dog as cute as the one I have now! We took him to his puppy class and ended up buying him a new toy. I've been wanting to get him a Kong since forever, and we finally bought him one (it was 25% off with out Pet Perks card.) and I put peanut butter in it, and threw it out into the yard. It spun and was like one of those water sprinklers that spins, and the PB went everywhere! Including onto Bandit's head! But he loves that toy! It is so easy to just fill with PB or bananas and then leave or go back to bed - it keeps him busy for about an hour, depending on what I put in it! :) Even Mark likes it, and he was very against it at first, didn't know why we needed one. Now he says it's one of the best toys ever for the Bandit! :)








Love to all - bry and mark

Friday, October 16, 2009

Brain Freeze! If only!

Aaaa, the dang awesomeness that has been my bane for the over a year now, is migraines. I went in to the doctor's over a year ago because I had a migraine for a whole month. Not a migraine everday, or everyother, but one big solid migraine, all day, all night, for a whole month. Some nights the pain was so intense, I would wake up crying at night, Mark would pick me up, put me of the sofa, and put in a Disney move (one I've seen a million and three times so I don't have to pay attention really, if it's a new movie I pay attention to every detail, Disney movies, I know all the words to, and what is happening and when it's happenening, without having to watch it, just listen.) I have gone thru the loops and hoops and around the track with trying to figure out what is going on. The doctors are limited on what they can do because of my heart. I have been to eye doctors, heart doctors, nerve doctors, respiratory doctors, pediatricians (sound funny, but I am technically still in the Peds because of my heart condition, there are no doctors for adults yet...), chiropractors, you name it, I've seen em. I feel like we have tried almost everything to no avail. And it seems to me, like the doctors aren't really trying hard anymore, to find out what's going on. It feels like these headaches are just something I am going to deal with. Which sucks, because the migraines are getting to a point of my not being able to function really. I used to be able to work right thru them, or I'd take an Excedrine and it would knock out the migraine enough for me to do my work and get on with my tasks. Now, the Excedrine doesn't even TOUCH my migraines. (I have tried almost everything on the PAIN RELIEF shelf at Wal-Mart, not sure where to go next.)

Medical - I went in to the Dr's to find the cause of the migraines. They did all kinds of tests, MRI's, CT scans, bubble study, echoes, and they found 2 holes in my heart in October of last year, and I went in for Open Heart surgery in February. The surgery eased the migraines for a few months, then they came back in full force. Pretty sure I am also going to stop taking Excedrine, no more of that. At least I am going to try. I read on a Migraine Blog that sometimes over the counter mediactions can cause headaches rather than relieve them. So I'm going to try that for a bit.


Emotional -Next thing I am going to try is a fitness club, I'm going to try yoga and see if that works for the stress. I think stress could be causing my headaches and eating me apart. It doesn't seem like I have alot of stress, but I know it's there. I think I need to concentrate on relieving the stress and relaxing, for real relaxing, no fake relaxing for 10 minutes. I really do think it is stress, and I'm not sure how to get rid of the stress, because I'm my mind, I'm not stressed about anything. We took care of our money stress, now that's gone, and I really have nothing else to stress or worry about!

Physical - I've been trying to exercise a bit, like take the Bandit for a walk and get up and get out of the house for a bit. So far all it has been is a theory. But I'm going to try taking him out for walks hopefully everyday. I've just gotta put forth the effort. But, now it's getting cold, and we all know how much I lOVE the cold! HA! Not at all! So, we're still working on this one!


Mental - It could just be in my head, all made up, and just a state of being that I can't seem to get over. I really hope that's not the case, but it could be. I've tried to listen to different music, change my attitude, change my way of thinking, nothing seems to work. I've been trying to be more optimistic, and more forward thinking, more positive. (Some days, it's pretty dang hard tho!) Mark has been helping me be positive about it, and I try really hard not to complain. I've been trying to keep my mind off of the headaches and the pain. At work, sometimes it's easy to block out the pain, I listen to Books-on-CD, and that usually works, plus if I'm working on things, that does the trick too. :) At home, it's a different story, at home, we sit there and relax, when I'm just sitting there, that's when they hit the hardest, so lately, I have been crafting my little heart out (LOL!) and that keeps my mind on other thing, so I don't think about the pain. As you can see in my other posts, the crafting has really taken off!

So, we are still talking to doctors and we're still in the process of figuring out what is causing my dang headaches. But I really am at a point where I'm not sure where to turn next, what to try next. So, we've just been trying to do the things we're supposed to be doing, and go from there. We're just trying to do the things that have worked so far. :)


love to all - bry and mark

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

What a Sick oooooo!

So (almost) everybody in my office is sick! Coughing, sneezing, blowing noses, throwing up, all kinds of good stuff like that! I have been sitting next to the Sick Guy, he coughes and blows his nose and coughes some more. I told him to go home (no I don't have that athority) but I do NOT want to get sick!! Ugh! I have been slathering on the Hand Sanitizer stuff like it's going outta style, and I have been washing my hands, I'm not even touching my face with my hands, and just today I have started wearing one of those doctor masks (yeah, it's that bad!)!! I'm not getting sick cuz some loser figured they'd be tough and deal with coughing at work. Sorry, that does NOT fly with me! Sure, I come to work when I'm not feeling the best, but mine is different. Different how, you ask? My "not feel good" days are MIGRAINES!! You cannot catch my headache like I can catch your flu or cold. Sorry, drive thru. If I get sick I am going to be so mad! I don't want what they all have. By they all, I mean the entire engineering department, yes ENTIRE! They are all not here today, because one guy brought it in, used the microwave right after coughing, and the temp girl nuked her food and started bitting her nails! HA! I bet that guy thought he wasn't "that sick!" I don't care if I look like a dork in my mask, I will be the only one at work who is NOT sick! :P I am so glad I have my own phone, my own desk area, my own computer, I don't really share anything. And I also have my own bottle of the hand sanitizer, BAM! All mine! No touchy! And I'm not all that worried about Swine Flu (H1N1) I'm not really in the demographic that catches that, but I'm more worried about getting sick, getting better and then sick again, cuz my immune systems has been fighting from getting sick and is weak! I'd rather not get sick the first time! So, yeah, I go home and make sure Mark and I both take some Echinechea/Golden Seal, and some multi-vitamins. I'm not worried about getting sick at home, cuz I know who is there, and I know how we both feel, at least he tells me. Here at work, I'm worried, I don't know everybody and I don't know how everyone feels. So yeah, work kinda sucks right now cuz everybody is sick! I just want them all to go home, get better then come back to work when they aren't coughing, wheezing, blowing noses or sneezing, yeah come back then!

To health - bry and mark

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Week 5 Fantasy Football

Mark : 97 (2-3)
Bry : 83 (2-3)

Mark and I both won our games this past week!! Woot woot! We're both 2-3 now. Mark totally spanked his opponent, 97-20, and I beat my opponent, 83-73. We didn't watch any of the games really, Mark was in Nebraska shooting things and I was in Texas with my sister. So no football for us this weeked, however, it was pretty nice to not be stressed and watching the fantasy points the entire game.

I got offered a trade for QB's, and I may not like Favre at all, but I was seriously considering accepting the trade, until I saw his points for the past few games, and his upcoming games. I declined, I like Philip Rivers as a QB, and he's been good to me so far (not counting the Raiders game...)

We'll have to see how to we do this week, we haven't set up our lineups yet, but we'll just have to see. :)

Love- bry and mark

That meddeling dog!!

I got home from word yesterday around 12:30, we have been having issues with our internet and a tech was coming out to fix it. Well, I got home, and Bandit had torn apart the kitchen again. So, I started taking him to the bathroom (his time-out spot) and I noticed he was shaking and gagging. (He usually shakes when one of us gets home because he's so excited, but I noticed it was a different kind of shaking, and it doesn't last that long!) I instantly got worried once I walked into the kitchen. The old lady that was in the house before we were bought some door-to-door laundry detergent, and when our garbage disposal started leaking last week, everything under the sink got drenched and so we took it out and put it all on the counter. The laundry detergent was "normal" detergent, it was special crap, that had added ingredients and chemicals for "superior stain-lifting power" or something. Well, as soon as we left for work, Bandit saw the opportunity, and tore apart that bag. I freaked out because there was a good amount left in the bag, and I only saw a little in the kitchen (I walked outside and saw the rest) and I thought he ate a ton, but he really didn't. So I took him to the vet's yesterday, and when we got there he was still shaking horribly. So I left him there, they did some charcoal thing, and tried to see if the deteregent could kill him and how to treat him. So, I went home, got the box this stuff came in, thank goodness we didn't take out the trash on Monday like we were supposed to, cuz the box was right on top. And I went home, they told me to come get him around 6:30pm. The internet guy came, and we figured out why my internet is so dang slow. I had the phone line in the wrong jack. TaDa! Speedy internet now! Mark and I went to go get Bandit (the lady asked which dog was ours, I said The one with the beard. She laughed, because it's true!) Well, the Bandit is just fine! He's back to causing trouble (Mark and I put him in the kitchen while we ate dinner, and he crawled UNDER the baby gate, just so he could get into the living room!) Sneaky little Mission Impossible pup! But he's good now, we've got some pills for him to take for a week or so. (Did you know dogs can have Pepcid AC?! Yes, they can, Bandit takes it twice a day!) But we're thinking he's back to his normal Bandit-self. :) I'm glad to go in and get things checked out and find nothing wrong, than to not go in and not have a dog anymore. :) So he is worth every penny we're paying for him! (I'm just glad he was only $100 up front, and not some $400 dog!) But we're glad he's doing ok! I've learned, if I am never going to use something, or there is even a chance I might not use it, I'm throwing it away!! No matter what!

Love to you - bry and mark

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Deep in the heart of Texas...

So, I flew to Dallas on Friday, my sister lives in Abilene, Texas, and she's getting married next year. I flew out to help her pick out wedding dresses! We found one, and it's absolutely gorgeous!! It was alot of fun to hang out with her this weekend, and to go shopping with her! It was tons of fun to see here again, last time I saw her was when she was moving out here in July, and that was the last family on my side that I've seen lately. But Texas was colder than I thought it would be, I guess there was a big cold snap in the west this weekend, Denver got some snow! I'm glad I missed that. I saw some Texas Longhorns, not the football team, but the actual animal, they are freaking huge! Also, I'm not such a fan of Texas highways, they are all kinds of confusing, and they don't have on/off ramps like the rest of the country (I've been to) they off ramp onto a frontage road, and then onramp back to the highway a little ways down, but the frontage road is still there, it really makes it so darn confusing, I'm glad I wasn't driving. But it'll be good to be home.

This weekend is the longest Mark and I have been apart since we got married, we have spent 1 night apart since June 19th, 2008. But it was going to spent apart no matter where I was, because Mark went hunting in Nebraska all weekend. No luck this time, but he's planning on going out over the next few weeks when it changes from bow season to rifle season out there. (His tag is for the entire doe season, bow, rifle, muzzleloader, bow, rifle. So, he's definetly going to get something during rifle. :) Mark went with a guy from work, Brandon, and while we were both gone, I wasn't sure what to do with the mutt-face, I was thinking of asking some friends to just stop over and check on him, but her husband went out of town, and Mark said he's just leave a ton of food out for Bandit. But, Mark asked Brandon if he could leave Bandit at his house, Brandon has dogs, and his wife said she'd watch him. That so freaking nice and awesome! So, I was able to come out here and not worry about a thing! Awesome!! I didn't get pictures, my camera is still dead... I'm hoping maybe for Christmas... (Mark--HINT HINT!!)

Love to all - Bry and Mark

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Week 4 Fantasy Football

Mark : 51 (1-3)

Bry : 70 (1-3)


So, Greg Jennings did not perform as intended. Dang you Grandma Favre! Although, I did have a good week. I sat my Lions Defense, and put in the Panthers Defense, I know the Panthers had a bye week, but I put them in to take a big fat goose egg (0) rafther than take an awesome -5 with the Lions. So things worked out better than it could have turned out. Mark's team did ok, he's learning that the Titan's defense is not good, but I think he picked good for next week. We'll just have to see.

Love to all - bry and mark

One last thing : As for all of those who don't like my treatment of Brett Favre, I don't care, I'll like people when I want to. Brett Favre made bad decisions in his football career, first, he retired, 2nd, he didn't retire, 3rd, he retired, 4th he unretired again! Make up your mind for reals. I liken it to this : Say girl and boy are dating, and he says, I'm gonna marry you. But then he decided nope, I'm out, I'm not marrying you. So girl starts dating another boy, a younger one who has liked girl for 3 years. But once girl dates new boy and finds out she likes him, old boy comes back and says, ok I'm ready to marry you now! Girl says, Um no, I've got this new boy, and I really like him and I'm not going to ditch him. So old boy pouts and decides to go for a new girl in a new location and everything, Too bad old boy cannot make up his mind, and has switched girls 3 times in 3 years, but, he keeps going for a sexier, hotter girl, and the last one he picked just happened to be the girl from across the street who is a major snob and a mean girl, the first girl's archnemesis, if you will. And, no girl and boy were NOT married! They just had a lot of fun together and had some really good times. But, when she moved on, he hated it! He got jealous and turned into a baby! So - No, I don't like Brett Favre, sure, he's a good player and he's still got the skills, but I think he's kind of a jerk for thinking the Packers were going to drop Rodgers to pick him back up and do what he wanted. He's such a diva. So, you can all stop trying to defend that man to me, cuz I am not chaning my opinion!!

Conference PodCast! Woot!

So, even though Mark and I went over to Gerrit and Angie's to listen to conference, and we get the Ensign magazine everymonth, I subscribe to the PodCast (for free!) and get the new conference edition every 6 months. (I also get the current Ensign edition on PodCast.) How awesome is it that I opened my iTunes Monday morning, to find the General Conference PodCast was ALREADY downloaded to my iTunes?! It was almost instantaneous! I love it! So I synced conference (and some books) to Mark's brick of an iPod, and he can ride around all day listening to it. So not only do we get the live internet feed and live satalite feed when the talks are being given, we also get the written word edition AND the PodCast to listen anytime we want to! I am so excited! We are so very blessed to live in a day and age where we can get the Prophets' words in so many ways! I feel so blessed for a husband who hands me his iPod and asks me to sync the Conference talks onto it! Some one who will read with me, the words they have spoken! So grateful for these men and the words they give us! (Plus, on the PodCast, you can totally skip the songs if you want to!! I like to listen to the music all at once, not mixed in the middle of the talks.) Yay!

Always, bry and mark

Monday, October 5, 2009

Count Choculitis is real!!

So, October is here, and I can now dive into my favorite cereal with NO remorse at all. Count Chocula is freaking amazing!! I am so excited to eat it again! I love it so very much!! Chocolate cereal bits, chocolate marshmallows, and then chocolate milk!! WOW!! Hmm, who knows, maybe I will branch out this year and get some BooBerry, or some FrankenBerry... I might go all daring this year! :)






So, I have been crafting tons (in case you haven't noticed really....) I bought this odd little pumpkin at the Dollar Tree for $1 (what else?!) and I decided I would try to make it aweome. We went over to Ang's and Gerrit's to watch football and conference. And of course, I always bring a craft to do there. (If I don't Angie usually provides a craft!) So I used some of her paint and painted that little pumpkin and the WELCOME part of it and I got this spooky little number! Scary!!









Ooh, and I have to show you the FREE tables we picked up on the side of the road. Just a hint of the idea I had for these tables, I bought some of that Chalk Board paint. So we shall see how that all turns out. Nots: I probably won't start these until I have my BIG project at least started!! But I also have had this cute little stool/table thing since forever. It has been beat up so bad, Mark decided to see how sharp his Snife was on this table, and I have tested pens on this table and it's been broken in half, it has Gorilla Glue coming out all over. I've decided to try to fix it up just a little. I bought some spray paint and I'm thinking about putting some scrapbook paper on it, using the awesome Mod Podge.


I'll post about these crafts once they are done/in the process. There are some Christmas gift crafts that I NEED to start like NOW. So I'm planning on getting those started before I start anything else. I'm hoping to at least.


PS: Watching the PACKERS vs Viqueens game is making me sick... My illness is probably the Favr-itis, completely sick of the man...

Fantastical week in the making!!!

So this week has major potential for amazing-ness!! First off: Mark and I decorated for Halloween, and I LOVE HALLOWEEN!! I am so excited to decorate for this holiday!! Second: there's a football game tonight that will be aweomse, no matter who wins. Packers vs. Vikings, and I am so excited to watch this game! Aaron Rodgers is freaking amazing! And this whole rivalry with Grandma Favre means this game is going to be awesome!! (Awesome just like the Montana-Young rivalry back in the day.) I'm excited to watch how the teams react, how they defend their QB's. Oooh! And then on Thursday- Jim and Pam are getting married on The Office!! Finally!! And last but definitely NOT least: I am taking a vacation day on Friday, because I am flying to Dallas to see my sister, Gwen! She is getting married in January (or June, or something...) and I am going to Texas to help her pick out wedding dresses! I am so excited to see her and help her out with this way exciting adventure! I am so happy for her and Greg, and I am so excited to help her out with getting the dress! So, I get Halloween, football madness, TV show magic, a vacation day, to visit a new city, and to help my sister with her dress! I am so excited for this week! (Now, if only I could get my migraines to go away for this week.... or please, just let up a little bit...)

Mark is planning to go hunting again this weekend in Nebraska, he's got that doe tag still, and didn't get anything this past weekend, so he's trying again. :) He's got a whole weekend to shoot something. He might try bow hunting again, or he might take the Bandit and shoot some ducks or something. We'll just have to see. :)

Love always - bry and mark

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Halloween-ify the house!

I love halloween! It is my favorite holiday ever! This year we have a house on a street, I'm excited because I can decorate it, and trick-or-treaters will come!! I went to the Dollar Tree, and was excited because I could finally buy those Halloween decorations I wanted!! I got some window clings (yeah, I'm old school like that) and some of that spider web cotton, and a pumpkin head candy bucket, oh, and I got some barbed wire (note: it clearly is NOT barbed wire, it is hemp string spray painted rusty blood color.) I had Mark cut a hole in the bottom of the pumpkin head bucket, and put that on the porch light. I put the window clings on the front windows, I licked them so they would stick, I wanted people outside to be able to read them. (Cuz SOOO many people walk by and read window clings, I gotta play for that demographic!) And then I spread the spider web all on the front glass door. (NOTE: Never spread the spider webs while wearing your wedding ring, it loves those, OR if you bite your nails, and all your nails are rough edged and have hang nails, it loves those too. I seriously walked away with more of the spiderweb attached to me than to the door!) I also put that 'barbed wire' around the railing that leads to our front door, I'm guessing, in the dark, it totally looks like real barbed wire.... But we are mostly done decorating, I'm waiting for the maple tree out front to start losing it's leaves so I can get those jack-o-lantern leaf bags (yes, I really am THAT lame!) I would like to hang something from that tree, I'm just not sure what right now, I'm checking out things to mark for it, I might just do some ghosties, all I need it white fabric.... not sure not sure not sure.... I will keep everyone posted on all that. (PS: We have our costumes picked out, just need to be made...)



Oh, Mark got back from Nebraska last night, he didn't kill me anything, so we're hoping for better luck next time. He needs to get more arrows for his next trip, but he's got that deer tag, so we're excited for venison!! :) He told me that his knife came in handy, he got stuck in a lake bed that had a road going thru it, and pulled off the road just a big, and sloshed in the muck. He had to cut branches and trees and create levers to get out. Way to go knife!! I'm glad he's home!



love to all - bry and mark

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Blue? like Smurf blue, but better!

She asked for blue, yeah she said blue. She did not specify what shade or howmuch blue. So I improvised a little.... Ok, you got me, I did what I wanted, and I hoped it turned out cute. So I had blue spray paint from another project (I still haven't posted about that one yet, Bandit ate half of it, and I lost my ambition for it.) And I had one frame left from those FREE roadside frames we picked up! (I'm using one of the frames for another project. I MP'd the clothes pins and added cute embellishments to the frame. I added some colored hemp string and some colored ribbon. I love how this turned out! It is so cute!! I am so exctied to make another one! I loved making this one, and I loved making the clothespins! They are so dang cute!! I'm excited to give this my friend for her birthday! :) I've got more things to post about later, so I'm excited to share it all with you!


Mark is hunting in Nebraska this weekend, we'll just have to see what he gets when he gets back! :) It's hard having him gone, we have only been apart for 1 day since we've been married. But it's bound to happen more, he's got a few weekends planned where he will be hunting, plus, I am going to Texas to help my sister with wedding stuff next weekend, and I'll be gone for 2 days. :) I love him, and I'm excited to see him tomorrow.
Love to all- bry and mark

Friday, October 2, 2009

State of Mind, State of Being

It's all in your head, it's all in your head! I have come to realize there are alot of things that are all in my head, and in no one else's. For example : I am the only one what worries if my shoes match my shirt or pants. I am the only one that worries if my hair is just right. I am the only one what worries about how wrong some craft I've made is. How do I know these things? Easy, cuz I think about them all the time. I am the only one to notice that my ears are lopsided, one is higher on my head than the other. And really, if everybody thinks the same things I think (expect about themselves) then no one else would be thinking about me. EVER! It makes sense, and I know it's true. No one ever looks at my shoes, and if they do, they aren't looking at my shirt at the same time (unless they have eyes all over, like my mom does, that woman can see everything!), and very rarely do people scrutinize my clothing choices as a whole (unless it's Mark, and he has one opionion of clothes as a whole-None is good.) Next, only girls worry about hair, and I am in an office of 90% men, so they don't care, plus all the women I work with are too busy with work and worrying about their hair to even notice mine. Oh and, if I make a craft, I know where I went wrong, and what I messed up, and exactly where it doesn't line up, and I have forever burned that location of screw-up into my eyes and brain. No one else sees the screw up, they just see this amazingly cute (they've said that!) and freaking awesome (they've said that too!) craft I've duplicated or created and they LOVE IT! And even if I point out the blemish that is staring at me and screaming at me, they always innocently ask, Where? What's wrong? (I bet it'll be that way when I have kids too....) Lastly, my ears. No one ever seems to notice that my ears are lopsided. And I didn't for a while, until I started wearing glasses. Then I noticed BIG TIME! I have to bend my sunglasses and eyeglasses so they are lopsided to correct my facial lopsided-ness. Mark laughes at me. But even when I am wearing glasses, no one notices the lopsided glasses, it drives me nuts, cuz I notice!! (Well, it sure beats being lopsided elsewhere.) So there it is, the proof that no one is worrying about me and my crap, cuz they are all thinking and worrying about their own crap. It's not cuz we're selfish or narcassistic, we are all just insane in the membrane and got a lot of junk in our heads.



A friend of ours did a MindVideo, I thought it was pretty cool, she made hers about money, and no, she's not greedy or money hungry or any of that, I think it is more of what makes her comfortable, stable, secure, and less worrysome and more free. If I made a MindVideo thing, it would be about money. Money means stability, more security, more freedom, not only for me, but also for my family. (That's why we have life insurance policies, if we leave, then our family has enough to be secure in their lives, at least for a while.) It's not about being rich and having STUFF, it's about safety and security and being able to provide that for your loved ones. The MindVideo has a purpose, and it is: if you focus on something long enough and hard enough, eventually, you will get what you focus on. I love that! It's a state of mind that turns into a state of being. That is what we all strive for in our lives. To be like what we focus on or think about. We teach a Sunday School class at our church, and the kids sing a song "I'm trying to be like Jesus" - wouldn't it be great if these 5 year olds's state of mind turned into a state of being? I think the state of mind/state of being idea can work with just about anything (somethings need a physical transformation/change rather than a mental one.)


My main worry is always money. Not having enough, when bills come out, which bills come out, where is my money going, what am I buying? Mark and I, both want me to stop worrying about money, and I think the answer to that, is to have more, have enough in our accounts that if we pay rent, we won't have to worry about bouncing a check or not having enough to pay our phone bill. So that is what we are striving for now. I read in a Glamour, Define what RICH means to you. (Glamour of ALL places!! I know!) Reading that made me stop and think for a few minutes. Mark and I have been trying to get out of debt for a while now. (Ok since we got married and added our debts together. Most of it was mine... and it's really not alot, but we still want to get it gone before we incure any more. Everybody tells us this is SMART!) We have had tons of plans on how to do this, and so far have only been able to implement ONE! And that has only been in the past month. I will tell you our strategy so far. I borrowed a book from Teri, by Dave Ramsey, called The Total Money Makeover. We started that, and even eliminated a credit card (woot woot!) we saved up $1000 for an emergency fund, and then.... we bought a dog. We tried at least! Well, that was back in March (we bought Bandit) and now, we have new resolve to do this and get it right. We've got big plans coming up (and you can take THAT anyway you want!) and we want to be debt free for these plans. Well, we got the paper route -it sucked big time- we but it got more cash money flow into our accounts, I switched all my accounts and bill pay over to Mark's account (he has had that account since he was 15 or something ridiculous like that) and he has all his loans and his one credit card at that bank. I got my paycheck to go into his account, and now we work solely out of that account. I created an estimated amount of bills that come out before the 15th of the month and another amount that comes out before the 30th of the month. (I get paid on the 15th and the 30th of each month.) and I leave that money in the account, and then take all the rest of the money out. We have the rest of it as cash. Cash is easier to work with, it means you can't spend more than you got. We set aside for groceries and gas and the dog. When we find out the 'extra' money we have, we then deposit it into my old and unused bank account (from a bank here in town) and then transfer money to the debtors we want off our backs. It works out pretty good (so far!). Mark and I make lunches/buy cup of noodles from Wal-Mart for .28 cents. We each get $30 at the start of each month, to spend on what we want. (Mark buys hunting/fishing stuff, I buy crafting stuff.) But that $30 is all we get, we can't spend 31, or 30.27, we can only spend $30. Then we have $30 for a date night out. (we rent movies-in-the mail for cheap, so we have date night each week, but a night out is still fun!) But, the 2 things that really make this work : Only having OUR cash in our wallets and leaving the cards at HOME! It is so easy to say, "Oh, it's only $2 for a hamburger." swipe that dang card and do that all week, and next thing you know, there goes $25 on food! So, anyways, it's been working so far, and this plan has helped to ease alot of stress and worry.


State of mind, state of being about love. It's up to you if your marriage sucks after 5 years or not. (Ok, not just you, but both of you!) I hate when people ask how long we've been married. A little over 1 year. Oh that's so cute, call me in 5 years when you two hate each other. OK! Really?! I love my husband more than words can explain, it feels like saying I LOVE YOU doesn't even come close to what I feel for him. I plan to be in love with him forever, or at least until they find a new phrase for it! ;) I plan to keep falling in love with him until the end of time. Call us cheesy, corny, dorky, or naive, but I love him, and I am so happy to be with him. So all you people who keep telling me that marriages don't last, that after 10 years we won't talk to each other, in 5 years we'll hate each other, you can all kiss my booty! Mark and I talk about everything, and enjoy spending time together. We both plan to make this work, and want to make this work. So :P (pbbbtttt!!) It's that whole STATE OF MIND, STATE OF BEING!!

much in love- bry and mark