Monday, November 23, 2009

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

For those of you that don't know my husband, he loves to hunt.  With hunting season comes less time together (boo) and...the beard...(cue the horror movie scream.)  Let me clarrify a few things.  I love my husband with all my heart, seriously I do...but I'm not a big fan of the beard.  No I'm not going to pick up and leave one day just because he had a beard.  I just deal with it...just like he dealt with me packing around 15 extra pounds for the past couple of years, but we're not gonna go there...

But much to my surprise, last night my honey did something he has never done...shaved that sucker off early.  Gasp!  He usually waits until the first couple weeks of January to shave it off and surprises me then, but I have to survive through Christmas.  He told me that he had been planning on doing it because he "wanted to look nice for Thanksgiving" but whatever the reason, I love him, I love him, I LOVE HIM!  Maybe I'm just super pumped because now we can take Christmas card pictures (yes I was still going to take them with the beard...I won't discriminate)...but either way, I am very excited to have my husband back!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Busy To The Gazillionth Power

Yes I'm a math teacher...most of you know that.  My post might only make sense to me, but I'm ok with that.  I can't believe how incredibly busy we have been lately.  I started basketball about 4 weeks ago, and this was our first week of games.  I am officially pooped.  Timothy has been working from about 6 am-9 pm every day, and he's pooped.  To top it all off I'm feeling like I might be getting a tad bit sick, so I need my sleep (vitamin C is my best friend this week) I'll be honest, when I get home at 9 I want to brush my teeth and curl up in bed.  I figured that Timothy would be even more eager to go to sleep and be kind of grumpy that late.  But he said something the other night that made me think...He said, "I'm tired but I don't just want to come home, eat dinner and go to bed.  I want to hang out with you for awhile"... Instantly I felt bad.  I want to hang out with him too, but I'm soooooo tired.  So I've been sucking it up this week and we've been staying up until 10.  This was pretty much the sleep schedule I had last year when I was living with my roommates before we got married, so my body is slowly getting used to it.  I hadn't realized how much my body was loving going to bed at 9:00 every night, until now.  In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for quality time with my wonderful husband, even though right now time is limited.  We're making the most of it!

Side note:  Our new dishwasher was installed yesterday.  Our good friend Brooks came over and put that baby in.  I didn't think it was going to be done yesterday so I hadn't taken the time to pick up detergent from Walmart...but as soon as I saw that wonderful white machine in all it's glory, I knew I had to run a load last night!  So I hopped in my car and flew down to the local grocery store to pick up the goods before they closed at 9.  I was floating on air all the way to the cash register and out to my car even though I had just paid $11 for two tiny bottles of Cascade and Jet Dry...I didn't even care!  I got home, loaded my new love up and smiled when I pushed "start"  And I'm thrilled with the results...very quiet, and all the dishes were dry (even the plastic ones) this morning without even opening the door to let them air dry!  As Mr. Deeds would say...I'm in Lub!...with my dishwashing tub!

Monday, November 16, 2009

Slowly But Surely

I feel like I'm drowing.  Drowning in a tub full of dirty dishes, dirty laundry, sweeping (sweeping refering to the massive amounts of dog hair I have to clean), and dusting.  Timothy can be very helpful, the problem lies with the fact that we are both insanely busy.  I just started basketball and Timothy has been really busy with work lately...in fact, pretty sure he's going to be working 60+ hrs all the way up to Christmas :(.  So when neither of us get home until 8 (this is early compared to some nights) all we want to do is eat and spend time with each other.  We definitely do not want to be cleaning.  Fast forward to the weekend...Woo Hoo!! We finally get some time off (well unless he has to work on Saturdays...but it's all good) so who wants to be cleaning on the weekends.  Case and point...ever seen that show where the British women come in and do a massive clean to some of the dirtiest houses I've ever seen? Well that's what needs to be done to our house.  Not only is it an older house (which I'm convinced get dusty quicker and need constant care) but we've never actually gotten caught up in cleaning (I'm talkin the whole house here) since I moved in...which was a couple weeks before the wedding!! That's 6 months PEOPLE!  I know our house isn't that bad...but I feel like it looks like this...


Ok so I know our house isn't that bad, but sometimes I feel like it.  I keep telling myself that "this week I'm going to get it done" or "this weekend I'm just going to have to buckle down and do those 15 loads of laundry" but it never gets done.  I can honestly attribute this inability to get a handle on things to the fact that I can't keep on top of the kitchen.  Let's face it...I like to cook...and my husband likes to eat...good food.  All of you out there know that in order to cook good food sometimes you have to dirty a lot of dishes
*If any of you beg to differ, please give me tips!
So my kitchen sometimes looks like this...literally..


Well not exactly literally...if you've been in our house you know that only in my wildest dreams would my kitchen even be that big.  But that's neither here nor there...it's our first house!  This feeling of being overwhelmed led me to have the biggest breakdown of our married life so far.  I'm talking MASSIVE BREAKDOWN.  I think it went something like this (yes I'm airing my emotional dirty laundry to the world...I don't care)...read it as is, I'm pretty sure I never paused in this rant, so there's no punctuation..get over it!

"I just don't feel like I can keep a handle on this house I know that most of it is because we never really had the house clean when I moved in but it's really starting to wear me down I want to have a clean house where people can come over and I want to cook and clean and do all those wife things and I know that you would help me if you could but we're both so busy and now I don't feel like I'm being a very good wife and I'm really starting to lose it and I don't want you to think that I can't handle a house let alone children someday and I just don't know what to do anymore!

So my amazing husband looks at me, smiles, tells me I'm a great wife, and asks me this very poignant question..."Did you just have that breakdown because you really are overwhelmed? Or was it because you just haven't cried in awhile?"  I love him! Let's face it, I hadn't had a good cry in awhile, ladies, you know what I'm talkin about!  So I dried my eyes and we ventured off to the big city to pick up this


Yes that's right! It is officially the end of the road for those dreaded yellow gloves and sponges (well except for when I wash my stoneware and my anodized cookware, but who cares!) I am so extremely excited and unless you have lived without a dishwasher, you may not understand this...That one little trip to the big city changed my attitude towards cleaning...now I look forward to the day when that sucker gets put in so I can do dishes! I know the feeling will wear off but let me live in this dream world for at least a little while...



Friday, November 13, 2009

With This Ring...I Take Your Family

Getting married has its perks.  One of those perks is extending your family.  Sometimes this can be a good thing, or it can be a nightmare.  Thank goodness that I like my in-laws, and Timothy likes my side of the family too!  Although I wish my parents lived in the same town as us, I am glad that they don't live very far away.  Here are a few pictures of our extended family (I hope they don't mind having their mug on the internet...)

My side: Papa J, Mama C, and Bro D

Everybody plus my grandparents! They look awesome.

Timothy's side of the fam: Sister B and her brood, Brother T, and Mama L

And Timothy's paternal side...Sisters S and M, Mama M, and Papa J

So there it is...Mi Familia! I love them all!! 

Which brings me to my next point, you can pick your nose, you can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family!...And since the holidays are getting close I felt the need to reference one of the most amazingly disfunctional families of all time...The Griswolds...So here for your viewing pleasure are my Top 10 Christmas Vacation Quotes (**Disclaimer, if you don't like a little language for affect, don't read below):

10.  Bethany: Is your house on fire Clark?
Clark: No Aunt Bethany, those are the Christmas lights.

9.  [Todd and Margo Chester, the Griswold's yuppie neighbors, appear]

Todd: Hey Griswold. Where do you think you're gonna put a tree that big?
Clark: Bend over and I'll show you.
Todd: You've got a lot of nerve talking to me like that Griswold.
Clark: I wasn't talking to you.

8.  Clark: Burn some dust here. Eat my rubber.

Rusty Griswold: Dad, I think you mean burn rubber and eat my dust.
Clark: Whatever, Russ. Whatever.

7.  Ruby Sue: Rocky bit my thumb. Him's nervous.

Clark: Nervous or excited?
Ruby Sue: Shittin' bricks.
Clark: You shouldn't use that word.
Ruby Sue: Sorry. Shittin' rocks

6.  Eddie: I don't know if I oughta go sailin' down no hill with nothin' between the ground and my brains but a piece of government plastic.

Clark: Do you really think it matters, Eddie?

5.  Eddie: Every time Catherine would turn on the microwave, I'd piss my pants and forget who I was for about half an hour.

4.  Clark: Since this is Aunt Bethany's 80th Christmas, I think she should lead us in the saying of Grace.
Aunt Bethany: [turns to Lewis] What, dear?
Nora Griswold: Grace!
Aunt Bethany: Grace? She passed away thirty years ago.
Uncle Lewis: They want you to say Grace.
[Bethany shakes her head in confusion]
Uncle Lewis: The BLESSING!
Aunt Bethany: [they all pose for prayer] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands/ One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Clark: Amen.

3.  Ellen: Clark, I think it'd be best if everyone went home... before things get worse.
Clark: WORSE? How could things get any worse? Take a look around here, Ellen. We're at the threshold of hell
 
2.  Clark: Hey, Kids, I heard on the news that an airline pilot spotted Santa's sleigh on it's way in from New York City.
Eddie: [after a pause] You serious, Clark?
 
And the #1 Quote...
1.  Clark: Hey. If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one. I'd like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane with all the other rich people and I want him brought right here, with a big ribbon on his head, and I want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, fore-fleshing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey shit he is. Hallelujah. Holy shit. Where's the Tylenol?
 
Merry Early Christmas! Hope you are as thankful for your family as I am of mine! :)

Our Baby

I know what you're thinking...but no, no babies yet...
But we do have a new addition to the Howell household...Champ!  We got him in May right before the wedding.  Here are some pictures of him as a puppy.  He is a point chocolate lab that we got out of South Dakota.  I know what you're thinking, why the heck would anyone drive all the way to South Dakota for a dog? and what's so great about a pointing lab? Labs aren't supposed to point! Or so they say!!...
Timothy has always loved labs for their retrieving abilities, but after Tuff died, he didn't want just any chocolate lab.  He wanted a hunting dog.  His father has raised bird dogs his whole life and he wanted one of his own.  Let me say that we would not trade this dog for anything in the world!  He has been a great dog so far and he is learning so fast.  He went out on his first hunt a few weeks ago and according to Timothy did very well.  I will make sure to post some pictures of him pointing soon...

Being first pick was pretty sweet!

on the way back from South Dakota

sleeping in the truck, when he fit...

after bathtime...not very happy, but hungry!

chewing on everything...

mom, can I sleep in the clean, warm laundry? ok...

sleeping again


and again...

Thursday, November 12, 2009

2009 In A Nutshell

I am very new to the world of blogging but I'm getting better.  I had grand plans to create a blog before we got married but it just didn't happen.  So now I have decided to start fresh, but we have a lot of catching up to do.  2009 has been a whirlwind year.  Timothy and I finally got married...and I say finally lovingly.  It was an amazing and amazingly hot day.  It was so wonderful to have so many of our family and friends there to share that moment with us.  Here are a few of the snapshots from July 11th, 2009














Whew! Once the wedding was over and we were officially married, we jetted off to Jamaica for our honeymoon.  Well...we didn't exactly jet off immediately.  That was our plan, but Northwest had a different idea for us.  Our flight was delayed for about 12 hours...4 stops later, we were in Jamaica!  Here are just a few pictures from that amazing trip.









So once the honeymoon was over we attempted to settle into life as we now know it.  Me teaching and him working his butt off as a machinist.  I love being a newlywed!  Up next...Our baby...Champ!