New Blog

I've moved to a new blog!

www.addingtotheabbotts.blogspot.com

This blog will no longer be updated.

Redo

The list is restarting.

1. SPRING! I LOVE IT!

2. I feel utterly and blissfully content right now. SIGH.

3. I now see that Ryan starts house hunting during transitions in the seasons, hence the Spring. HENCE the drive to Amery yesterday to look at a house that had a big ole SOLD sign on it when we pulled up. Back to the drawing board. No hurry, just another case of spring fever.

4. I cannot wait to take more pictures!!! It is so much more fun now that the weather is warming up and it is light and bright outside.

5. Guess what? If one puts things away once one is done with them and does small amount of upkeep (small loads of laundry more often, putting dishes directly into the dishwasher, disinfecting counter tops,etc.) then one has more time her Sundays due to not having to do heavy duty cleaning. One LOVES That.

6. Watched the movie "Fireproof" last night. Way more religious than I had expected, and extremely corny. True to the core though. I really want to get the "Love Dare" book. Note that 80s Teenage Hearthrob Kirk Cameron is the leading male. :)

7. I have good friends. Good friends who make good lunch and dinner dates. Love those and love them.

8. I love my dark purple aluminum (?) water bottle. The trick for me to drink more water was to purchase this beautiful purple piece of work. Yummy water, pretty bottle. Yay.

9. With that, I bring my lunch and snacks to work in a cute little black and pink lunch bag....are we noticing a theme here? Well, I know what little mental tricks work for me. What can I say? :)

10. Babies and weddings! Lots of pregos and new babies around me. 2 of my bridesmaids are recently engaged too so some weddings are coming up in the next year. Christy, guess who!!!

28. I have 2 bouquets of flowers in my house right now and not much could be better than that!

29. I am sooooooo so excited for Josh and Michelle's wedding. It seemed like a long ways off until all of a sudden it seems like it is right around the corner!

30. I ordered some new clothes off Eddie Bauer AND got a fresh haircut today. Now if only SPRING would come to stay!

31. I eat a Smart Ones dessert almost every night lately. I love the Key Lime Pie one...YUM!

32. I have washed all of our bedding the past 2 Sundays and that is a lovely feeling.

33. I just finished "World Without End" and it is bittersweet...phew. I've had to invest a lot of time into these books and now they're done, haha! Now we picked out our next book, but this book club is pretty intense...these past 2 books are 1000 pages and we read like 150 pages a week (and it is a big book too). The bar is set high...no fluff! We're going to read "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" next. Better meet our book club expectations!

34. I can't remember if Tytan and I have week 4 or 5 of dog class tomorrow. I hope it's 5!

35. I'm addicted to Diet Cherry Coke lately. Obsessed. Only one a day, but I HAVE TO HAVE ONE A DAY or I go crazy. :)

36. I wish dog class would teach me how to keep Tytan from sleeping in my bed. I feel so bad because we've always let him, but I want him OUT. Last week dog class told us all to bring in our dogs' beds...ha. Bet they didn't know he sleeps in a king-sized! I'm sure I'm not the only dog owner in class that night who was a bit sheepish. Damn dog.

37. I feel like I'm in high school again, but in all the very best ways. :)

Weekend

I love the fact that Anna uses "craft" as a verb. That's my girl! I went there yesterday and spent the night. When I called her to see what we would do if I came over, she said "We'll craft!". Love that. :)

I have pictures. Really, I do. Stuck in my camera.

The house has stayed pretty darned clean this week. Funny how that works. Makes my Sundays pretty enjoyable. Much easier.

I'm also trying to read "The Shack". It's supposed to be amazing according to reviews. I started it and then the dog ate the last few pages. Not cool. How am I supposed ot read the book knowing I can't know the ending? Mutt.

I can't believe it's already March. It's eery how fast time goes.

AND--Ryan's cousin, MY FRIEND Rachel, is engaged! YAY! Can't wait for some fun wedding projects!

The Man Who Can't Be Moved

Have you heard this song? I absolutely adore it. I'm not sure what it is about it, but I could listen to it over and over. I can't figure out how I got a video posted on here before, so here's the link to the music video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw-J8kC5DHo

I'm obsessed with music lately and like that ks95 plays all my favorite songs all the time. Love this one especiallY!

I know it's a good dog class...

...when Tytan isn't the worst dog. As long as I kept a treat in front of his nose the whole time, he was pretty ok. Didn't pick fights with other dogs like the dog that got sent to the corner. Only peed on things twice (hey, it's an improvement).

AND this is the first week that I haven't cried afterwards.

I am, however, still bound to have sore hands tomorrow. He nearly pulls me over he is so strong, and the leash is not nice to my hands.

Next week is the 1/2 way mark. Thank goodness!!!

This weekend I...

1. Did not break a leg. I was supposed to go skiing in Lutsen, but ended up not going. Which is good, considering I hadn't gone skiing since the 6th grade. So, I'm safe.

2. Made a 10 page baby scrapbook album and a homemade card on Friday night. I bought the album and 1 new piece of paper, and 1 pack of rubons. Used a few of the new ones, but most of all my old stuff. I was very satisfied with myself.

3. Woke up at 7:30 Saturday morning because Tytan needed to go outside. Didn't go back to bed.

4. Went to a surprise baby shower (hence the scrapbook) for a girl at work.

5. Rented 3 movies (The Secret Life of Bees, The Break-Up, and The Changeling) at Blockbuster and grabbed Jimmy Johns for dinner.

6. Watched 2 of the 3 movies while working on a project for work.

7. Read more of my book, "World Without End" and ended up being extremely angry. Oh, does that book make me angry. Ahh. I'm half way done.

8. Slept in extremely late this morning...Sundays must be Tytan's day of rest. I could not believe it when I looked at the clock. It was nice though, after his consistent schedule of needing to go outside early lately.

9. Cleaned my house...vacummed, scrubbed the floor, pulled out the furniture, washed dishes, the whole 9 yards. Feeling good.

10. Moved my coffee table out of the living room and substituted it with a bench. I'm feeling pretty good about it.

There. A perfect 10. NOT an exciting weekend, but a pretty productive one considering the cleaning part. I do love weekends like this. Now, if only I could post pictures...I did take a few of those too.

24. I detest the sound of my dog licking himself. Drives me NUTS. Doesn't even have to be inapproriate licking. Ew, ew, ew.

25. Someone told me today that when I'm nervous, I end my sentences with "sooo". I was entirely surprised. Right after he said it, because it made me uncomfortable, I ended 2 sentences simutaneously with "sooo". Damn. How embarrassing. Guess I won't do that anymore!

26. I had a dream last night that my brother lost his pet boa constrictor. My brother obviously does not have a pet boa constictor, but in my dream he did. It was extra huge and I believe it was orange. I let it "out" for a little while, and it slithered away into the woods (that happened to be right outside our house). I felt so horrible about doing it, that I offered to walk into the tall weeds in the woods to find him. Keep in mind that nothing terrifies me more than snakes. I absolutely am horrified. I was hesitant, but felt so bad about it that I agreed. Needless to say, the snake came bouncing out of the woods after some period. Yes, it was bouncing. Like a bunny, but it was the long way. Weird, weird dream. Again, I don't care to decode that one either. I think it means I like my brother enough to risk my fear of snakes though. I'll leave it at that. :)

27. I went to Archivers this morning and did a quick $10 book make and take. I also purchased 3 new 6x6 American Crafts spring albums....and 3 small tin accordian albums....and 1 multicolored accordian album. This is becoming a sickness. I don't use these albums, I collect them. Is that wrong? I now have about 9 of those 6x6 albums. Just love em. Don't use em. Just like the way they look. Nope, I've decided...nothing wrong with that at all! Sooo.... ;)

Content

I am!

Today had the potential to be a not-so-good day (and that is based on more than my horoscope!). I had to do the icky part of my job a few times today meaning giving people feedback on what they are doing wrong, pointing out weaknesses and failures, etc. NOT my favorite. I survived though, and I feel relieved to know I did it even though it was hard.

AND on top of that, I got a couple of mega-compliments from two important people at work today. Feeling good about that!

Also-- my house is pretty darn clean and the laundry is done. I managed my time wisely and have even made my bed every morning this week. Huh.

Did I mention I've lost 16 lbs?

Life is not bad.

The stars say...

Although you may be known as a peacemaker, you might be tempted to stir up a bit of trouble today. Your anger could boil over now if you feel as if you are being taken for granted. Being part of an interactive process can be fulfilling, but not if others don't take the time to recognize who you are and what you do. Nevertheless, having a meltdown might not be the best way to get noticed. State your case and don't back down, but try not to blame anyone else along the way. Thursday, February 19, 2009

Well, huh.

22. I have the best accountability coach there is: Tytan. Tonight I decided I was not going on a walk since we already walked/ran Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. PLUS, it's COLD out there. AND I don't want him to start thinking he is going to get a walk EVERYDAY. So, he hung out for awhile and I asked him if he wanted to go outside (like usual). Opened the patio door, and he just looked at me. Weird since he hadn't been outside for 8 hours. He went to the other door and did his crying-whimpering thing. I tried to ignore him, I really did, but I finally gave in to the peer pressure. He freaked when I said the word walk. LET ME TELL YOU THAT IT IS C O L D outside and extremely deceiving. I think I have frostbite. Damn dog.

23. My motivation is entirely centered on the weather. Good weather= more motivation; cold= no motivation. I don't think I'm alone here (which would explain weight gain in the winter, weight loss in the summer). Bummer.

That's it. :)

16. In the past 2 weeks I feel less sympathetic. I'm not trying, but when people complain to me about work, etc. I can't help but have this voice in my head muttering "Really?!? Is it REALLY worth complaining about?! Really!?". This makes me feel bad. I like being sympathetic, so I'm trying to squash the voice. If you have a complaint, I will make sure that the voice goes away. No one would have any idea that that voice was in my head...I'm fairly confident of that.

17. I'm beginning to think that Dharma has the right idea. She has the perfect situation. I envy her.

18. Essentially, I have a flea market in my kitchen right now and need to have a garage sale. I'm PLANNING on taking stuff home to my sister-in-law's store or to my mom's garage for a sale. For now, due to lack or storage space, it is in my kitchen and I hate that.

19. I still have my rental car. I've had it for 7 days. I hated it at first, but now I don't want to give it back. They called today to tell me my car is done, but I lied and said I couldn't get to the shop before it closed. I feel a little guilty now, but like it really matters to them?! I'll pick it up tomorrow. sigh.

20. Due to the rental car, I couldn't take any of my flea market home this past weekend when I drove back to LaCrosse. I also couldn't fit the dog's cage in there. I also wasn't supposed to have a dog in the car at all. So, instead of being stuck up here, I went to PetSmart and bought a $115 dog kennel that would fit in the car. Then the dog laid in the backseat the entire drive to and from Stoddard, got paw prints and hair all over, and we made it safely home. It was worth $115 to see my friends (and family, I guess). I'll vacuum before I take the car back tomorrow...maybe. ;)

21. My absolute favorite snack right now is ham and string cheese. I crave it. It's kind of crazy, but I do. Healthy or not, it's not chocolate, so it has to be better off in the healthy category. Crave it!

{note that this list could go on indefinately. I have no plans on stopping. i amuse myself with what weird little things I think of each day. ha. enjoy}

I have pictures!

They are, however, stuck in my camera.

My cord is missing and my converter drive isn't working.

They're nice pictures though, really. :)

Not really. Just the dog. You aren't missing anything.

12. I think it is funny how, when I order a "small skim green tea latte" at Starbucks, they repeat back, "OK, so that was a tall, non-fat green tea latte?". Not funny, but I just don't get it. No. That wasn't what I ordered. Ugh. Starbucks jargon obviously. Damn starbucks.

13. I can't fall asleep if my mouth is closed. That means I'm prone to drooling obviously, but I seriously can't fall asleep otherwise. I've figured this out about myself only recently, and it often needs to be a conscious effort.

14. I always empty the lint trap on the dryer every single time.

15. My phone is becoming an obsession. That's funny to me considering that sometimes (often) when it rings, I don't like answering it. I thought that THIS sounded about right for me and I am glad I am not alone. However, I'm usually up for returning a text. I've never been so accessible in my life (2 phones, work pager, email to the phone, texting, internet, etc). Creepy. Funny that my mom and sister still can't get a hold of me. haha. Guess they'll have to learn to follow me on Twitter!

I wordled

Saw this on another blog. She got hers to show up though, and all I can make it do is link. It's kind of fun though! Christy--you made my wordle! :)


title="Wordle: Untitled"> src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/539208/Untitled"
alt="Wordle: Untitled"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">

Me

1. Tytan and I start doggy class level 2 tomorrow night at PetSmart. Time for me to become the master!

2. I came home really hungover yesterday. Tytan came home from doggy daycare hungover. We both headed for water then slept the rest of the day.

3. I've lost 15 pounds. I'm not freaking out about it this time and am just going with the flow. So far so good.

4. I got my haircut last week and it's shorter than usual. I hate how it never looks as cute as when the hairstylist does it. I guess that's why it is their job.

5. I slipped on water in my kitchen Friday night and ended up laid out on the kitchen floor. I had been carrying a spoon and a smart one dessert wrapper. Tytan came and licked my face. Then he stole my wrapper and ran away. I'm ok.

6. I dropped my car off to get fixed this morning. Never blogged about it, but I got in ANOTHER accident the weekend before Christmas. It wasn't my fault. The other guy's insurance is paying the whole thing and got me a rental car. I hate the rental car. Essentially it is a nice car. It is, however, a 2 door. I'm way too tall for a 2 door and I'm sure that I'll be crabby to and from work every day this week because of it.

7. I'm becoming predictable in my coffee choices. I've only been ordering skim sugar free vanilla lattes. Today I switched it up. SF caramel instead. I live on the edge.

8. I'm really upset at myself for not using my camera. Note the extreme lack of pictures lately. I picked up my camera tonight and panicked because it seemed broken (which I assumed was because I left it in my car overnight in the cold). It's not broken after all though. I still feel completely inadequate to use it and that is making me really annoyed.

9. I'm reading the book "World Without End". I never in a million years thought I would read such a book, but I like it. The first one is "Pillars of the Earth". I loved that too. I have a "book club" with a guy and girl from work. We read 150 pages a week. Yikes. It's about 1000 pages long. Longest books I've read since college.

10. For the past week I haven't been able to function without the radio. When I'm in the shower, when I'm getting ready, etc. Never done that before. I have a new soundtrack to my life apparently (that fits in well with the new soundtrack for my blog if you choose to listen to the new additions). Feel free to sing along with me.

11. Having a number 11 really freaks me out because I'm big on even numbers, but I'm trying to think outside the box. Ha. I just wanted to add how I love the 25 things posts people keep having on Facebook. I didn't like mine however and am thinking of redoing it. Other people have many more interesting things than mine and I'm contemplating a redo. I know that would be lame though. I'll just continue to post lists here on my blog. It's my blog afterall.

:)

Today's horoscope

These come up on my start page everyday. Here's todays:

Your little trip down Memory Lane is over. You have recently dipped deep enough into your own reservoir of past experiences and now you will be best served by coming back to the present moment. But this doesn't mean you should set your feelings aside in favor of logic. Your smartest strategy now must include both your head and your heart. Sunday, February 1, 2009

$500

That's what I'll win if {when!} I lose more weight then Ryan by the time our vacation to Mexico rolls around.

16 weeks of contest.

I've lost 7lbs so far. Cool, huh? Bummer is that he lost the same amount....so much for my strategy!!!

So. This might just do the trick. I might be able to stay motivated now that a little competition is being thrown into the mix.

Ryan's only rule? No sabotage....mwah-hah-ha ha.

Wish me luck!

Header

Christy-
I have a new header now that you've explained how to do it.
Now, can you just explain WHY it hangs over the edge, oh master of headers?!

Blah-blah-blog

I love reading other people's blogs.

I feel bad for those of you who might look to find something interesting on THIS one however.

This weekend I turned down my sister and niece and decided to hang around at home instead. These weekends are so refreshing to me. It's funny how one can sit in her pajamas all day and do NOTHING and still feel refreshed, but it does! :) Ryan (and I) are the (proud?) owners of a PS3. Woop-di-do. I tried to play today and I lack either the physical (fine motor skills) or the mental abilities to play video games. I'm really, really horrible. If I figure out how to turn it on while Ryan is at work, I'm going to sneak in some practice. So far I haven't had any luck with that either.

So, here I sit with my very favorite Lean Cuisine, diet Cherry Coke, dog, and "Sex and the City" DVD. Tomorrow? A chick-flick with one of my gal pals.

Really? I do love my life.

This is good.

(copied from ali edwards blog)

Neil Gaiman : I hope you will have a wonderful year, that you'll dream dangerously and outrageously, that you'll make something that didn't exist before you made it, that you will be loved and that you will be liked, and that you will have people to love and to like in return. And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now), that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind.

Christmas Letter 2008

Dear Friends and Family, December 20, 2008

We find ourselves busily getting ready for Christmas. I am a horrible procrastinator, so not only do I need to finish Christmas shopping, but I also need to start. If this letter finds itself in the mail before Christmas, then miracles really do happen!

Ryan got promoted to a new position as a Lead Shift Supervisor at Wiseway. That was great news, but it also led him to new hours…second shift! That was a pretty huge change for us, but it is going pretty smoothly (knowing that it hopefully won’t last forever). Ryan got a couple of new toys this year as well: a Chevy truck and a crotch rocket. He’s spent some of his spare time tinkering around with them in the garage and getting his truck up to par. In order to help pay for his new toys, he took up a 2nd job in October and is working part-time at the 5/8 Bar & Grill in St.Paul as a cook. Working weekends helps keep him out of trouble and hopefully we’ll be out of debt by 2025. 

I also got a new position this year and am no longer on-call on weekends. It is a really great change and I feel lucky to be able to say that, the majority of days, I love my job! I get a somewhat flexible schedule and work with really great people. My spare time is spent doing anything crafty: scrapbooking as well as turning what Ryan calls “junk” into what I call “treasure”!

One thing we’re especially looking forward to in 2009 is a vacation to Riviera Maya! We’re flying down in May with our good friends Josh and Michelle (who will be newly-wed!) and Brad and Kirsten (who got married last July). I could not be more excited for the trip. We’ve all (minus Kirsten, our new addition) known each other for almost 20 years now, so sharing a honeymoon seemed like a natural thing to do.

I didn’t include him on the Christmas card this year, so I can’t bear to leave him out of our Christmas letter too: Tytan, our dog, continues to alternate between being the love of our life and making us go crazy. Ryan is lucky that he only showed me pictures of Bullador puppies before we bought Tytan; if he had shown me what a full-grown Bullador looked like, we might have ended up getting a Chihuahua instead. Thanks to Tytan we (or I) have had to replace numerous remotes and cell phones along with countless other things. He certainly likes his electronics. All in all though, he is a good dog and we can’t imagine our lives without his craziness.

Hopefully this letter finds you happy, healthy, and excited for what the new year will bring. { Lots of Love } Ryan & Sarah

3 weeks

Woops! Well, it has been pointed out to me that I haven't blogged in 3 weeks.

My computer and internet have been acting up a bit. NOT cool. I have found, however, that I am much more productive at night when I'm not on my computer the whole time. I have time to do other important things....like read....and take baths! :)

OK- most exciting thing in my life right now is that good TV is returning. Woot-woot! The Bachelor AND tomorrow starts American Idol. God Bless America!

The other most exciting thing...going to Christy's this weekend. That is a DOUBLE WOOT-WOOT! CANNOT WAIT!

Other than that, this is the first week in 3 weeks that I've put in a full week of work. I'm ready for that! Phew!

Had a wedding this past Thursday in LaCrosse. Ryan's younger bro got married. FUN WEDDING! That didn't even mean the bride and groom, but the rest of us had an absolute blast. I HEART CHERRY BOMBS. :)

That's really truly it. I'll post my Xmas letter too, just for something else to post.

Sorry Christy. Hope that did the trick. :)