My Life Goals

Ive been trying to figure out what I want to do with my life for the longest time.  I have a habit of conforming to those around me.  Ive had some limits but not many.  Ive gained things in life that I do genuniely like, but once Ive gotten away from that person those things dont matter to me as much.  Ive been searching for myself for a long time.  It was inspired by Maggie Mason's Mighty Life List. 

1. Lose 45 pounds
2. Run a 5k 11/7/10 AND it was an 8k!! My time was 59:18!
3. Take a family vacation  5/29/11- Kansas City, Oceans of Fun!
4. Have a honeymoon
5. Show compassion
6. Have family pictures taken 10/23 Thank you Meg!!
7. Read 100 books
8. Eat escrgot
9. Eat clams
10. Go to the dentist
11. Get a passport
12. Drink a beer or wine in an Irish pub
13. Finish my Associates degree
14. Make a will
15. Learn to scuba dive
16. Tithe
17. Buy Noah a new wedding ring
18. Live in one place for 6 months 10/19/10
19. Buy a stock
20. Go to Stonehenge
21. Go to the Garden of the Gods
22. Snowboard
23. Go to a castle
24. Go to Jerusalem
25. See Paris from the top of the eiffel Tower
26. Visit the Statue of Libery
27. See New York from the top of the Empire State Building
28. Learn French
29. Learn something new
30. Take a girls trip Labor Day 2010
31. Eat crab on the beach  8/2010
32. Go deep sea fishing
33. Take the family camping
34. Go to culinary school
35. Go for a balloon ride
36. See the Leaning Tower of Pisa
37. Swim with dolphins
38. See Big Ben
39. Raise my credit score
40. Write a letter
41. Renew my vows after 10 years of marriage
42. Read my Bible front to back
43. Go on a train ride
44. 100 hours of community service
45. Have another child We are pregnant! 4/13/11
46. Send out Christmas cards
47. Make our Christmas stockings
48. Visit Greece
49. Take Noah and Oliver to the Grand Canyon
50. See the Northern Lights
51. Develop and frame 200 pictures that Ive taken
52. Take boudior pictures
53. Go to China
54. Get my balck belt
55. Go to Egypt
56. See the Pryamids
57. Walk on the beach at night  8/2010
58. Watch a pro baseball game in person
59. See a Broadway musical on Broadway
60. Sip Earl Grey in England
61. Have 5 genreation pictures taken (both sides)- got 4 generations on my side done.
62. Learn to knit
63. Learn to crochet
64. Make a quilt
65. Go to Japan
66. Host a holiday meal at my house.  Thanksgiving 2010
67. Take Oliver and Noah to New York
68. Take Oliver and Noah to the Pacific Ocean
69. Take Oliver and Noah to the Atlantic Ocean
70. Take the hunters Safety Course
71. Shoot a gun 12/4/10
72. Grow a garden
73. Make a compost bin in progress
74. Build something
75. Go to Mardi Gras
76. Eat Crawfish  5/29/11
77. Eat Mussels  5/29/11
78. Go to Ireland
79. Go to Scotland
80. Stand in a HUGE redwood tree
81. Go to a waterfall with Noah
82. Stroll the Pacific coast
83. Fly with Noah

*Its still a work in progress...Im still adding to it!

To My Love

This is a little late, but its better late than never right?

Noah celebrated his 25th birthday on Sunday! Thats right the big 2-5! He was kind of worrying about it.  I cant imagine what it will be like when he turns 30! But we went to dinner at Red Robins that night with my family.  they had never been there.  It was a great night of catching up and just chatting away. Afterwards we went to his parents for cake.  I think he had a wonderful day.

I thought I would make a list of the things that I love about My Love.

1. his sense of humor
2. his laugh when he gets tickled in the right spot (right under the arem pit)
3. his drive for Christ
4. his devotion to me
5. his absolute joy of being a father
6. his piano playing
7. his love of anime
8. his snugles
9. his need of affection
10.  i have to mention his handsome-ness
11. his love of fine arts
12. his compassion for animals
13. his love of learning
14. his ambition
15. his level head
16. his love of trying new things
17. his new nickname for me every month...last it was socks, this month its toby
18. his shirt folding
19. his short hair
20. his humility
21. his bluntness
22. his taste in movies
23. his strength
24. his willingness to be by my side in hard times
25.his compassion for people!

I love you Noah! I hope your day was enjoyable! I hope that it was special.  I hope this last year was as good for you as it was for me!

Love,
Toby
Socks
Loverly
Shauna

Airman by Eoin Colfer

Im a reader.  Ive always loved reading! You could usually find my nose stuck in some book for very long periods of time!!  However, as Ive gotten older, life gets busy and then with a baby too...man its hard to find time to read. 

Before our vacation Oiver, my sister in law and I went to the library to get some books to read while on the road.  Im not sure what books she got but, I got two for Oliver.  One was Do Kangaroos Wear Seatbelts? and the other was Animal Festival.  He liked looking at the animals in the second book.  I would read it to him and try to make the animal sounds.  He would just laugh and laugh. 

While we were gone I think he looked at them MAYBE twice each. 

I on the other hand was stuck on choosing a book.  I was either going to start The Left Behind series or Artemis Fowl.  

http://www.leftbehind.com/

Artemis Fowl

I wasnt ready for Left Behind yet, and Artemis Fowl was checked out. It made me sad.

The freaking amazing librarian man was following us playing with Oliver and helping me with finding a book. 

He suggested Airman by Eoin Colfer.

Airman

This is more of a guys book, but the way tha Colfer tells the story is amazing!

Its about Conor Broekhart's life and trials.  His family is very loyal to the royal family of Great Saltee.  He and the Princess Isabella were the best of friends and were nearly insepperable.

Conor was framed for the murder of the King by Hugo Bonvillian and sent to Little Saltee Prison to mine diamonds.

Little did Bonvillian know that one day he would be set up himself and duped!

I know this vague but I dont want to ruin it for anyone.  Its definetly a must read. 

I plan on finding some more of Colfer's books and adding them to my must read list.  You should do the same!!

Texas Vacation Part 2

So we woke up the next morning and realized those beds sucked!! In this little twin bed all three of us slept.  The boys took up most of the room.  I just got up and started getting ready to pack up and start back on the road. When we finally did get ready to leave, the boys were putting the suitcases back in the van and Noah didnt like how I had packed it.

He was griping that the thing was too lumpy and decided that my little old swimsuit was the cause of it! HAHA!

We went on our way to San Antonio.

This part of the trip went by pretty quickly. I did more reading and napping of course!

When we finally made it to San Antonio, we were so ready to be out of the van and get exploring. 

Outside Stage where dancers dance.

The Marriage Spot...theres a huge long story with this one.

Some of the Beautiful buildings down the river.

Im not entirely sure what is up there.  I just thought it was neat!

ME!

Ill leave you with these for now.  The next part is going to be about Noah and I's night out!

Until next time...

I guess that was a backwards compliment...

I work in an office and have to be there early.  In the mornings I stop and grab either a muffin, poptart, juice gas whatever my little heart desires! Noah gets mad because I "nickel and dime" our account. LOL!

Anyway, back to the point...this little store is run by this father and son team. I think the old man is originally from India. Through our meetings Ive learned that he used to be a professor and now he runs a convienent store...gofigure. But his son is really nice, we talk everytim Im in there, which is often. 

One day the old man greeted me and I was in a good mood and feeling very confident about my appearance.  (Ive had a baby and still in the process of losing the extra poundage) We made small talk, he asked about my son.  Its not uncommon for him to comment that Im looking good.  This particular day he said that I was looking sexy and that it looks like Ive gained some weight!!!
EXCUSE ME SIR!!!!
I really didnt know how to take it.  I called a friend...

Me: In India, are bigger women deemed more attractive?
Kerri: I think so...
Me: This guy at the store just told me that it looks like Ive gained weight, and that I look sexy! HE SAID SEXY!!!
Kerri: REALLY!!?!?!!

After paying for my gas or whatever it was, I had to quickly drive on! I try my darndest to ONLY go in when the son is working. Im not a fan of being hit on by a maybe 50 year old Indian man.
This was MONTHS ago.
Today, as I drove up I seen the old man in front of the store...Im dead serious, I almost just drove on and went on to work. But that muffin was calling my name. 

Old man:  Its been a long time! How are you?
Me: Im good.
Old man: how is your son?
Me: Hes great, just getting big and being a boy!
Old man: Great!
**credit card reciept printing**
Old man: Are you expecting?
Me: Heck No! ***nervous giggle***
Me: See ya!

Did I tell you that he keeps telling me that I should have another child?  Its bad enough that my grandmother with alzheimer always asks when we are going to have another baby, but some creepy old Indian man...I THINK NOT!!!
UGH! 

Im linking up to



Has anything akward like that every happened to you? Go on tell your story and link it up by Friday!

Love List 8/18/10

Love List

Vacation
The Beach (Galveston to be specific)
My men
Durty Nelly's
Stella Artois
Alone time with Noah
a good book
Crab
Wonderful memories
Amazing landscapes
Beautiful architecture

These are a few of the things that I found myself enamored with last week!  As you can tell mine was surrounded by or vacation.  What could be better?!?  What are you in love with?

Texas Vacation Part 1

***BE WARNED*** LOTS OF PICTURES TO FOLLOW!

So We got up early Tuesday morning to finish getting packed and we also had to pick up the house because they our realtor was going to show it while we were gone.  So it was a very early morning especially for us since we didnt go to bed until after one!  The plan was to be in the van and leaving town by 8.  We didnt get on the road until 10! UGH!!! I was frustrated because I was super tired! Super Hungry! AND Super ready to get this show on the road!

 I really thought Oliver was going to do horribly on the trip because this kid has only gone as far as Salina.  Thats only like an hour and a half I think.  This was 8 hours!!!! He did amazing! We stopped every couple of hours so that he could stretch his legs and get a fresh diaper.  Noah fell asleep immediately and was out for a good while! Not to mention grumpy.  We didnt have a good start that morning.  We stopped in Oklahoma first and stretched and got a snack.  Oliver was a goof! He was running around everywhere.  At the rest stop there was a fence that you could see the highway traffic through.  He was so fascinated by it!

Then he decided that he needed to pose by one of the trees! Mind you Oliver is a year and a half. I did not coax him for any of these poses!

This little guy is my joy! Im so proud of him!! He did such a great job on such a long trip!

Anyway, Noah started giving me a hard time about taking pictures.  I told him that I would take as many pictures as I wanted!!! I havent been on vacation in a long time and this was a first for us as a family! So I WANTED PICTURES!!!!

Im still teaching Noah's mom to use our camera. I should of just used my tripod!  He looked so grumpy so when we got back in the van I took some more pictures of us!

HAHA!!!

I did alot of reading on the trip and Noah gave me the ack seat all to myself! He got to sit up front and be the navigator!

We saw one of the coolest casinos ever!! It was in the shape of Big Ben  and all kinds of different famous structures!!  There was France, Spain, and even Rome.  It was so neat.

We then made a pit stop at a Texas rest stop a couple hours later to stretch again.

In this one there were pamphlets for all kinds of attractions all over the state.  Oliver made sure he looked at single one of them!

Before we got back on the road I got some more pictures.

Arent we too cute!?!

We finally got to our first hotel and got ready and headed over to Buzzard Billy's.  It was ok, but not the best.  The setting was really cool.  But the food was overpriced and not the best.  When we got back to the hotel we went swimming.  Noah's mom jummped in fully clothed with Oliver.  He had a BLAST!

Until the next installation...

Im still here, just a little busy

We got back from vacation LATE Saturday night.  Ive been a bit busy getting back in the swing of things.  BUT! i have losts of pictures to share with you. I also finished a book while away and want to share my thoughts about that too! Ive got alot of things in the works. Please dont think I forgot about any of you! Also Noah has a birthday coming up on Sunday, he will be 25! HOLY COW!!!  Ive got a few things in my mind for that guy!  Anyway, I need to get back to work and I will fill you all in later.

So ready for tomorrow...

Tomorrow is the day! My little family get to venture out with Noah's family to the big state of Texas! Ive only ever been to Texas one other time for a church retreat thing...and we lived there for a short period of time when I was VERY little.  Im excited because we are going to hang out on the Riverwalk in San Antonio and stay in the Hilton!!  Then we are going to spend a day at Sea World! Im very anxious about this one because Im curious what Oliver's reaction is going to be.  Then on the last day we are going to spend the day at the beach I think in Galveston.  Im so stoked! I think Ive been to the ocean once but Im not entirely sure.  If I did it was again when I was REALLY little!

In preperation Ive made an activity board for little man.  I forgot to take pictures of making it but Im going to be making another so I will have to post the steps next time.  Ive been trying to come up with things for Oliver to do while driving.  This will be the farthest he's traveled aside from Salina.  I want to have a happy baby in Texas.  No one like a grumpy baby...unless they make cute faces...

Anyway, when we get back I will share all about the trip and some pictures!

Things I didnt buy...

Im not going to lie, I like to shop online.  I sit at work behind a computer all day and get bored expecially when I have no work that needs my attention! Online shopping also offers me a chance to browse without toting around a GINORMOUS toddler who I love very much!

But onto what Ive been not buying!  I love to buy things for around the house...but I really am I fan of cute clothes!!

I spent $274.50 on my load! Noah would flip his lid if I actually hit checkout!

Here a couple of the things that I "purchased"

gojane.com

gojane.com

gojane.com

These are just a few of the things that I would LOVE to have but the lovely economy prevents me to do so!   It was fun to go on a small shopping free with an unlimited bank account! Thanks Helena for letting us share our shopping carts!

Love List 8/4/10

Love List

Being safe in a terribly un safe accident!
Fireworks
Shopping with Noah
Summer Dresses
Oliver in all of his Oli-ness
$10 earrings for $2
Minute Maid strawberry-kiwi juice
Waking up next to Noah
Drawing cartoon animals for Oliver*
Someone is interested in the house!

These are a few of the things Im loving right now. What is on your love list?

*We are headed to Texas next week. Im making Oliver a cookie sheet activity board ready with animal magnets drawn by yours truly and a side for a chalkboard! I will post it when Im done!

I wish I were in New York

HOW FUN!!!!

Shopping and an Accident...

Our weekend was actually really good! I was hoping for an enjoyable couple of days with my little family and thats what I got for the most part. Noah had to close at work on Friday and Saturday...UGH!!! So Friday night, Oliver and I headed out West to do a little shopping for myself. Im about to walk right out of my flats that Ive had for 3 years! After 7 shops Oliver and I both were exhausted and cranky! Noah came home with WONDERFUL news! His dad heard the Gospel and was really questioning things about himself. we immediately got to our knees and prayed that God touch his life.

Saturday proved well. I got up early and headed out to get Lamars donuts and coffee for Noah before he had to go to work. I didnt get to go to the Y and run. But I did go and help a gal from work who needed some tree limbs hauled away to the landfill. Let me just say YUCK!!! I havent been to the dump in over 12 years! I dont miss it! After Oliver and I took a nap we went to the mall to give the shopping thing another try. This time we took a friend. I like shopping with friends much better than shopping alone! The trip was successful (minus the shoes)! I found two dresses that will be perfect for our upcoming trip to Texas.

Sunday was probably the most eventful! We got up and went to the early service at church. It was ALL worship! It was really nice to stand beside my love and sing to God for an hour. We had a showing that afternoon, meaning we had to get the house clean and get out of there. I was bored. Noah had a private lesson to take care of so I went to Fashion Bug to look for shoes again, no luck!
Later Noah and I went out shopping again. This time mostly for him. The boy needed some shorts SO SO SO bad! He found some but didnt get them. Well after a great afternoon with the man, we went back to his parents for some dinner. Afterwards we decided to make another trip back to Kohls to get the shorts he put back, this time with his mom and Oliver.

I had fun with Oliver and Noahs mom while he was tryig to find clothes. We finally got out of there and was headed home, when the worst part of the weekend happened. We got up on the highway and almost immediately was in an accident. A car had stalled out and another struck it from behind hard enough to make it spin. While spinning it struck us in the middle of stopping. None of us were hurt but the other three people involved were taken to the hospital. We think the front axle on our car is broken and the transmission is damaged but looking at it, you wouldnt think much happened to it.
I hope that the other two vehicles occupants are doing better. I pray that they heal quickly. I also pray that everything is sorted out as far as insurance is concerned in a timely manner. There is nothing worse than fretting over an accident months down the road.

We are all doing well, and are lucky that we werent hurt.
Thats how our weekend went, how was yours?

Shauna