The Things I Think

'Twas the night before Christmas at Himmerick Farm, Where the 4-foot snow drifts had lost their charm. The chickens were nestled all snug in their coop, Though Brent really needed to clean out their poop. Inside the kids were fighting and screaming, And I was soooo wishing I was just dreaming. The decorations were up, the lights sparkly and bright, But I couldn't wait 'til the kids were in bed, tucked in tight. When out in the driveway a great noise started then. Oh, it was just Brent plowing with the 4-wheeler again. I wondered to myself, would it ever stop snowing? The 16-foot pole barn was now barely showing! As I thought about all the presents yet to wrap, I couldn't believe how much I had spent for the crap; All the toys, gift cards, books and clothes I had bought. My gall bladder began to act up at the thought. The cookies were baked, though I'd eaten most anyway. I feared I'd never get the house cleaned before Christmas Day. As I wor

When Brent proposed the idea of renting an RV and driving down to visit his sister in Arkansas, I said, "Yeah, that sounds like a great idea!  We've always wanted to do that with the kids and they have a few days off of school in October for MEA weekend, so why not?"  Famous last words. So I'm going to do a service to all who may be contemplating this form of travel, especially with small children.  I encourage you to use my experience as a learning opportunity, a life lesson if you will, and that is what I've decided to do as well.  Here are the things I learned from our trip in the ol' RV.  Renting an RV does not cost less than purchasing 4 plane tickets.  It was about $2000 for 5 days. An RV is more convenient if you have to travel with baby stuff, because you can just load up what you need and don't have to worry about checking any of it at the airport and possibly arriving at your destination with damaged or lost goods. RV's are nice for tra

In honor of my cousin Jason's marriage this Saturday to his beautiful bride Sheilla (pronounced 'Sheeya'), I decided to write about weddings and marriage.  Since I have been married for 10 years, I should know a little something about the subject, but I will tell you that I learn more every single day.  One thing I have certainly learned is that weddings are easy; marriage is the hard part. Like most girls, I dreamt of my wedding all my life.  I always knew I would have a traditional church wedding with a dinner reception and dance to follow.  I knew I would wear an ornate white wedding gown with a train and matching head piece with a veil.  I knew I would have several of my closest girlfriends as bridesmaids and I knew my groom would be handsome and successful and we would look fabulous together.  So when, after four years of dating, my then-boyfriend Brent proposed to me in front of my family one June day in 1999, my body went almost immediately into planning mode.  Wha

Recently a friend of mine was telling me all about the several blogs she reads on a daily basis.  She shared a couple of them with me, and then she went on to tell me that her dream job is to be a full-time blogger.  Stop.  What?!?!?  I didn't know there was such a thing.  I guess I've read a few blogs here and there but never knew that you could actually make a living just by pouring your heart and soul into a public diary.  This made me curious.  So I decided to really start reading a couple of the blogs that have caught my attention in the past, to see what the craze really is all about.  What I realized is that this may be right up my alley.  What have I been missing? When I was younger, mainly in high school, I wrote.  I wrote and wrote and wrote.  I still have storage boxes full of notebooks which I kept as diaries that document my every silly adventure, every fight with my best friend, mom, sister, brother, every boring night spent at home wishing I had a boyfriend, ev