Family Photo Shoot

Good Monday Morning!

I mentioned that while we were in Ohio we had a family photoshoot with my sister and her family.  Since it's Monday and the beginning of another work week, I thought I'd share pictures from it because they cheer me up.  I can't wait to see all of them again in June! 

Beware, lots of pictures ahead! :)

The group!  The guy in the far right is who took all of these great photos.

My Beautiful Sis and Brother in Law

I Miss These Kids So Much!

My 2 Men!

We had this picture blown up on a canvas and we're giving it to my dad for Father's Day :)

Again, sorry for the picture overload but I can't help but smile when I look at them and think of how lucky I am to have these wonderful people in my life! :)

Have a great Monday!

Ohio Travels and Noah's 1st Easter

Hello There!
We just got back from our trip to Ohio on Tuesday and this is the first time I've had free time to post.  Lot's of catching up at work and unpacking at home.

The trip was such a great trip!  Noah did amazing on his first extremely long road trip.  We left super early so he would sleep most of the beginning of the drive.  Everytime I visit home, it feels less and less like home.  I guess it would since it's been 3 years since I lived there.  However, it's always nice to see family and friends.  Noah got to meet lots of new people too.  All in all we had a great Easter vacation.

Talking to the trees as we were driving on the highway and telling them some obviously funny stories.

He enjoyed being able to get out of his car seat and stretch his legs a bit at the rest stops.

Noah with Papaw Chuckie

And Mamaw Debbie

Oh yes and his little protector, Isabella

He met new people who's hair he could pull instead of mommy's

And of course one of my best friends and his adopted Aunt Shelly

Noah excited to see what the Easter bunny brought!

It's easy to say he was spoiled.  And so was I. I got that nice basket for the living room to put his toys in.

His favorite Easter gifts and his first chit chat with the bunny himself.

We got to see all of my aunts, uncles, cousins, my grandparents, plus many more throughout the trip.  But one of the highlights was getting to spend some quality time with my sister and her beautiful family. 

This is a sneak peak at a photo shoot we had at the flower garden in the park.  We had such a GREAT time!  We also got to spend a night with my sister and as I expected, we stayed up until the early hours of the morning catching up.

I also can't believe how big my youngest niece has got.  This was us in the morning as we were both getting ready and doing our makeup : )

Since I've been itching to do some crafts and since I've learned how to crochet but have yet to finish anything.  I made it my mission to make something.  Since her big sister and mom both have crochet blankets, I'm making her one in her favorite color, PURPLE.

This is the start of what I got done in the car on the way home.  I'm hoping to have it done by the time we go back in June for my friend's wedding. 

When I got home and checked the mail, the nice bowl I ordered from Amy at Bumble Bee Lane was in.

It's perfect for my homemade potpourri!  Thanks for shipping it so fast, I love it!

Now it's time to get back to work and start catching up on lots of reading!

Today is My Friday and I've Been Slacking!

I'm so happy to say that today is my Friday and nothing exudes excitement better than Andy's face on Christmas morning!

Tomorrow D family is packing up and heading to Ohio to spend Easter with my family.  This little break is much needed after the whirlwind it's been these last few weeks.  Plus we haven't been there since last July when my belly was consuming my body.  I just started packing last night.  Who knew a 6 month old needed so much stuff? 

I can't wait for Noah to meet more of his family and see his mamaw and papaw and aunt Becki again!

 He's definitely grown since they last saw him!

I'm also excited to go because we will finally be able to do some ghost hunting since Noah's been born. 

My parent's house has had many unexplainable things happen and we've investigated it on muliple occasions.  I've mentioned quarters flying off counters and flashlights going on and off on command by themselves before and that's all happened there.  Sadly, we have only caught this stuff on voice recorders and not on video yet.  I'm hearing things have started picking up again so hopefully we have success! 

I have to admit that I've also been slacking on house tour pictures and just completely putting the house together in general.  Besides our bedroom, one of the rooms I've been slacking on the most has been the dining room.  Since we moved during winter and the heat doesn't flow well through to the dining room, it's kind of been last on our list (next to the spare room).  So we just shut the door to keep from having to heat that room and from letting the cool air from that room into the rest of the house.  So needless to say, I've just started putting it together since we've had hints of warmer weather.  So here are a couple sneak peak pictures of it so far.

There's my newest thrift prized pocession!

I think I'm coming to the conclusion of making this an Americana themed room.  Still so much to do but I can't wait.

There is still much to do in other rooms as well.  But with traveling in the next week and my recent laziness, this room along with the others may still be waiting a bit to be completed.

April Fools, My Boys, and Wrestlemania

Hello everyone and Happy April Fools.

I somehow had forgotten it was April 1st this morning and was pranked by a 7 year old lol.  Somehow she found my number 1 fear, spiders eek!, and told me that there was one on my head.  Naturally when anyone tells me there's a spider within 10 feet of me, I panic and freak out and make a big scene.  Foolishly for me I did the same today...Good job Destiny!

Noah is getting closer and closer to being able to sit up on his own.  Not quite ready so he still needs the help of his trusty bumbo chair.  He's also been pretty stubborn.  He rolled from front to back and back to front only once and that was a while ago.  Since then he has refused to do it again.  Finally today he rolled from front to back 2 times in a row.  I'm pretty sure he's just been being a little bit lazy. 

Not only is today April 1st or April Fools Day, but it just so happens to be one of Andy's favorite days of the year.  WRESTLEMANIA!!!  I have to say that I use to sit there and make fun of wrestling and everyone involved when I first watched it with Andy.  Little did I know that I soon got excited for Monday's so I could watch it with him just to make fun of everyone.  So now I'm also addicted and look forward to wrestlemania.  Noah's looking forward to his first wrestlemania too. 

He and daddy are so excited that they are making sure to get plenty of rest so they can stay up and watch!

Tragedy Strikes Home

I really hate to do a sad post, however something positive has happened since a horrible incident happened so close to my home.  I haven't talked about it yet because I was a bit too emotional and I was wanting to try and focus on more positive things.  I always thought I'd be safe at home, especially in the small town of Danville, VT.  I mean, I grew up around Youngstown which was once rated as one of the most dangerous cities in the US.  The small town of Danville seemed like one of the safest places to be.  But after this past Sunday, I began to wonder if that was in fact true.

This past Monday morning I woke up to some extremely disturbing news from my husband.  He had just got word from his sister that a longtime friend and co-worker of his had gone missing.  Of course this news was most shocking, but the most shocking part of it all was the details which unfolded further.  She lived in Danville on a back road which is frequently traveled by people trying to avoid the busier main road traffic.  Not far from her home, her car was discovered still running with hazard lights on and she was nowhere in sight and her 2 year old son was still in the back seat! That last bit of information probably struck my heart the most.  That poor sweet little boy!  I'm not going to go into much more details but just say that she was later found Monday afternoon and it wasn't a good outcome.  You can read more about it here.

Now this is a horrible tragedy but the worst part is that this is someone I knew and that Andy was good friends with.  He had worked with her for about the past 12 years.  She was one of the sweetest people I had met here.  She has the most adorable little boy, Ty, which she loved more than anything.  Such a generous person she had been giving us toys, dvds, and clothes for Noah that were passed down from Ty.  It's just such a shame that something this horrible had to happen to someone with such a big heart.  She and her son definitely didn't deserve this.

These past few days I've been extremely sad and emotional but also scared to be home by myself wondering...was it something done to her for a reason or just a random thing?  Will they strike again?  Am I safe?  It's a very scarey thing!  I can't even begin to explain how horrible it's been to see so many people I know just completely heartbroken about this!

Now you're probably wondering what the positive is that has come out of this.  Well it's not much but the police have finally found 2 people, a husband and wife, and arrested them.  I know that one thing that I and everyone else around here want is for whoever did this to be found and caught.  So since that's happened, it's at least a step in the right direction and might ease my mind about being home alone slightly.  Well...maybe... 

You can also check here for more on the arrests.

I just ask if you can please keep everyone involved and the town of Danville in your thoughts and prayers!

Our First Home

I was going through files on my computer and came across pictures from our first apartment.  It hasn't been that long, about 3 years, since we lived there.  But looking at these pictures and thinking of everything that has happened since then, I got my first professional job, we got married, and then had a baby.

It definitely wasn't a big place and I wasn't able to put holes in the wall to hang stuff up.  So most of the things I did get up on the wall were on command hooks.  It had 2 bedrooms and neither one of them had windows because half of the apartment was underground.  One didn't even have a closet and ended up being used as a storage area.  We were also up a very steep winding hill.  And when you live in Danville, VT that means it will be near impossible to get up once the snow starts to fall.

But we LOVED this place!

Andy and I use to live in 2 completely different states miles and miles away from each other.  Most of our dates and time together were done by phone calls or skyping on the computer.  Once in a while we would be able to come visit each other.  Until we had to do the most dreaded goodbye until the next time we would see each other .  It was tough!

But eventually Andy got a temporary job in Ohio so he could come be with me while I finished school.  As soon as I was done, we started our plans for moving up to Vermont.  Right before we left Ohio is when Andy proposed to me.  We stayed with his sister until I found a job and we could get a place of our own.  And when we did, it felt like a HUGE accomplishment.  Many thought we would never last because of the distance, but we proved them wrong.  So this is the place I say we really started our life together.