Checkin In...

WARNING.... some rambling.... read only the bold unless you have time to kill.....
Well... I still can't get into my stamp room. I've been so busy trying to keep unloading boxes and making phone calls and all of the lovely moving tasks.
I wanted to take a quick moment to thank you for your thoughts and prayers for Katie as she started her senior year yesterday at a new school. I am happy to report that she had a great first day! She said she made more friends her first day here than she did the year and a half we spent in Georgia! Most people thought she was a freshman. Probably because she was new and she has a baby face too. I took her to school and was surprised to find myself crying as I drove out of the parking lot. I was so nervous for her. It reminded me of when I took her to kindergarten and cried on the way home from there as well. She IS my baby. And I must admit I am a big baby. I picked her up from school as well. But from now on she'll be riding the bus most of the time.
Let me tell you something really awful that happened last night. Kevin decided to hook up our washer and dryer. It seems like every time we move the dryer outlet is different and he has to end up changing the cord and plug. He did that just fine, Peg. (I know how you worry about electricity so I hope I didn't scare you there.) Then he proceeded to hook up the washer. After he had it all hooked up he started it and the water started backing up and gushed out all over. He turned it off and we started to clean up the mess. THEN we started smelling the worst smell. I walk into the kitchen to find sewage had backed up into and filled the kitchen sink. Ugh... it smelled horrible. Kevin went outside and took the cap off this outlet pipe and water flowed out. He had to plunge the kitchen sink and you should have seen the junk that came out of that pipe. Disgusting. We have someone coming out today to fix it. The property manager said that when a house has been vacant for some time there is a vent on the roof that sometimes scabs over and doesn't allow air out and causes backage like that. Hmmmm... weird! We also have to have someone out to fix our front door as it won't open. The phone is so staticky you can hardly hear so someone is coming to fix that. And then there are bugs. I found a pest control service that was quite reasonable and will have someone out as soon as I get paths cleared in all of the rooms.
Boxes and boxes and boxes.... I'm waiting for my local FreeCycle membership to come off pending status so I can donate them to someone who needs them. If you haven't heard of FreeCycle, it's a great way to unload things you no longer want/need. You simply post your items and someone responds who wants it and they come pick it up. Easy as pie. I've gotten rid of lots of things and when I was packing things up to put in storage I was able to get free moving boxes from someone in my last group.
On a more light and happy note, I have gotten 3 gorgeous "Thinking of You" cards in the mail this week. Thank you, Kelley, Deb and Kim! What a bright spot you have been in my week! I'll post those pics as soon as I can get more light (boxes in the way). And last night we found a great Italian restaurant called Sambino's that is just a couple of miles away! We ordered it and went and picked it up. The servings were so large that I'll be eating ziti for days! Yummy!
I better get some unpacking done. I hope to be in my stamp room by the beginning of next week and have projects to share!
Have a great week! And thanks for stopping by.....
~Angel

OLYMPICS!

Anyone else watching the Olympics? OF COURSE you are. We especially like the swimming and gymnastics events. Track and field and volleyball are good too!
Oh, we like all of the events.

I've added a medal count ticker to my sidebar so I can keep up on our medal count!
GO USA!

Blessings~
ANGEL

The Latest....

Oh WOW! It's been such a whirlwind of a few days. We arrived in Sumter, South Carolina late Friday evening and checked into temporary housing. I sent out a bulk email to let most everyone in my email address book know we made it here. We got up on Saturday and toured the area just driving around. Then we stopped by the commissary to pick up some food items. I wasn't feeling particularly well at that point and so we only bought a few items. By 6:30 I had a full case of what I THOUGHT was the flu or food poisoning. But, by 10:00 I knew I needed some medical attention. I won't get into too much detail here on my blog, but things were not normal even by "flu" standards. A nurse line advised me to call 911 or at least get a ride to the ER. If I had to do it over again, I would call 911. We did not know where exactly the hospital was AND it was storming like the dickens! Not even my GPS wanted to help. We had passed the hospital earlier in the day so we knew the general vicinity it was in so hubby headed that way and we followed the blue "H" signs there. We waited SO long to be seen. It seemed like forever. I was admitted to the hospital at 5:30 Sunday morning. A CAT scan and a Sigmoidoscopy (a smaller version of a colonoscopy) confirmed Ischemic Colitus. They even gave me a "pretty" picture of my colon. Ewwww!
So, in a hospital room is where I spent my first days in Sumter. I'm "home" now.... well back to Temporary Lodging.
My sweet 17 year old updated my blog for me. There was a little confusion since right after she posted, one of my scheduled posts popped up. {I have the "Wacky Holidays" set up ahead of time.}
I have a ton of emails to sift through, but wanted to let everyone know where I was and to thank you all for your prayers and well wishes!
This has got to be one of the hardest parts of the military life, not having friends or family around when something like this happens.
I am going to try and sift through some more emails before I call it a night. If you've emailed me and haven't heard from me, you may have gotten lost in my spam folder so email me again! (I usually clean out my spam at least twice a day so it's gotten out of control!)
Thanks so much!
~Angel

Update...

Amazingly enough we have had two showings today! Thank you all so much for your encouraging comments and for keeping us in your prayers.
I think I had a little bit of a meltdown yesterday. Staying in an empty house, keeping it spotless (not too hard this last month due to it's empty status), having no furniture to relax in and just worrying way too much took it's toll on me I think. Kevin has been wavering a little on when we should actually leave for South Carolina. His last day of work here was Monday. His RNLT (Report No Later Than) Date is August 31st. (He is allowed 8 days for househunting and anything over that is taken from his accrued leave time.) However, schools in that area start back on August 19th. That means we need to find a place to live before the 19th so Katie can actually start her senior year with the rest of her senior class. There are 3 major high schools in the Sumter area. From what we can tell and/or have heard they're all about the same.
Although we were going to stay in this house until August 1st to save a little money, due to my anxiousness and inability to relax here, Kevin is thinking of leaving sooner rather than later.
Just thought I'd give you all an update of what's going on. I SO appreciate being able to share with my friends and family by posting on my blog. If you're visiting to see some stamped stuff, I'll be adding some of that either later today or tomorrow!
Blessings~
Angel

Headache, Headache, Go Away....

I am just TOO easily affected by stress. I've been suffering from headaches recently. I have awakened with them nearly every day for the last week it seems. Today I have just not been able to get rid of one. Any easy home remedies? I am willing to try! So far I have rested, taken Excedrin, tried caffeine, used my aromatherapy roll-on from Bath & Body Works and prayed. The headache persists. Arghh........

No stamping for me today.

~Angel

Tagged........

I have been tagged by my BFF Peg of Webbmania.

The Rules:
1. Link the person(s) who tagged you
2. Mention the rules on your blog
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
4. Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged

My Quirks:

1. I hate it when I can hear a TV AND a radio or when two things that make noise are on at the same time.

2. I am really funny about food staying out too long and the chance of it spoiling. This makes buffets and potlucks unappealing to me as well.

3. I can't stand bad smells or really strong smells. ~I've got a sensitive sniffer.

4. I can't stand it when someone tries to get my attention by saying "Pssst....". {KEVIN}

5. I really hate to be startled or scared. And my hubby used to make it his mission! Seriously! One time in the early years of our marriage he got up and got ready for work and then snuck back in the house and hid in the closet for HOURS until I opened the closet door.

6. I don't like it when people call me Angie. Or April. (Where do they get April???? It happens ALL of the time!)

I will tag 6 of my blog buddies Kelly, Amy, Patti, Deborah, Tracy and Michelle.

Oh, No!

I feel horrible! Maybe some of you can sympathize! I was in a hurry and backed out of the garage without looking! My hubby's van was right where it usually is. I hate the sound of metal crunching! Don't you? My poor Torrent got it the worst. The damage was almost $2,000. Yikes!

For Sale

Anyone want to buy a new home in Georgia? Hubby has a few more things left on his "Honey-Do" List and then we'll be completely finished with the house. What a relief! The realtor was by this morning and we signed the necessary paperwork to officially get it on the market TODAY!
I took a few pics so you can see what we've been working on. The kitchen is a bright cheery yellow and in the living room we did a faux finish. Whatcha think? We also painted the guest bedroom and both bathrooms. I may post pics of the other rooms later


But, now that the painting and cleaning are finished, I have projects lined up that require my attention so I'll be stamping!!

WANTED

Taking a QUICK break from cleaning to update my blog. Tomorrow I will post pics of a clean and spectacular house (for sale). Kevin has been busy with some landscaping and power washing and hanging this and that. And now the poor guy had to go to work tonight. Katie and I are cleaning and doing laundry. And she took a break to work on a project for school that's due tomorrow.

It's a WANTED poster for Chemistry she made in Photo Shop. She told me I could share it on my blog.

(Hope you don't mind, Peg, but she used Brandon and Faith's pics for her subjects.)

Feeling Better

Whew.... the flu is not fun! Just wanted to share that I am feeling better today. So, I'd say it was a 48 hour bug. That was one 48 hour period that I wouldn't wish upon anyone!
Thank you for your prayers and well wishes!

You Make My Day!

Thank you, Patti, for giving me the "You Make My Day" award. Hey.....

YOU MADE MY DAY!

Here are the rules: In order to display this "You Make My Day Award" proudly on your blog you must re-present it to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about Blogland. Let them know through email or by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware, you may get the award several times yourself, and if you do, consider yourself really, really loved.

And....My 10 choices?

1. Rose Ann-
Everyone knows that Rose Ann deserves and probably has gotten this award several times over! She's always "Making My Day"!
2. Kelly-
She's been a Godsend, a friend God has placed in my path at just the right moment. Isn't He good?
3. Cheryl (Mochamama)-
Always making me smile with her sweet comments
4. Patti -
"Pure Inkspiration" Her blog name says it ALL!
5. Michelle-
Inspiring to me with her cheerful self!
6.Deborah-
I love her!!!
7. Tracy-
my long distance friend....always has a kind word
8. Peggy-
My BFF who's always there
9. Allison-
I know, I know, she's had the award lotsa times, but she's so well loved and that is why!
10. Maren-
a new friend, I'm so glad I've found!

Weekend in Review

Hi Friends and Family!
I hope you all had a great weekend! Ours was eventful. On Saturday, as I was preparing to leave for Atlanta to pick up Katie, AirTran called and had cancelled her flight due to maintenance issues. She got an extra day in Kansas with her friends and I didn't have to drive in the rain, so all was quite well.
THEN, a short while later, I slipped on our very slick bathroom floor. I hit my back on a wall corner on the way down (leaving a nice bruised scrape) and landed on my hip pretty hard. OUCH!
'The bigger we are, the harder we fall' turns out to be an accurate statement. I spent most of the rest of the weekend recuperating. I guess I surprised many of you with my talk of moving. That's the part of the military life that sometimes stinks. We move. Although to be honest, we've been blessed with not having too many moves in my husband's Air Force career. This was definitely the shortest tour on record for us. We've only been here in Georgia for a little over one year.
This summer we are moving to South Carolina. Since we aren't going too far this time, I don't foresee being without most of my stamps and supplies for too long. Whew! And I have a laptop so I'm hoping I can still update my blog on a fairly regular basis.
Just a reminder for those of you interested in the monthly Bible Verse "Divine Design" Challenge... Tomorrow is the day we go live with April's creations! We ARE hoping even more of you will join us this month! We're all having SO much fun.
God Bless!

"Es tut mir leid."

"I am sorry."

It's been a bit of a difficult week for me.
I've been crabby.
Poor Kevin.
In an effort to make it up to him, I decided to make him a card
and
German food- one of his favorites.

Kevin made the Jägerschnitzel. He usually uses pork, but this time he used beef steaks because we had them. This is a family recipe that he has made all throughout our marriage.

I made
Hot German Potato Salad

Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 50 Minutes
Ready In: 1 Hour
Yields: 12 servings

INGREDIENTS:
9 potatoes, peeled
6 slices bacon
3/4 cup chopped onions
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/8 teaspoon ground black
pepper
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup distilled white vinegar

DIRECTIONS:
1.Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 30 minutes. Drain, cool and slice thin.
2.Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside, reserving drippings.
3.Saute onions in bacon drippings until they are golden-brown.
4.In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, celery seed, and pepper. Add to the sauteed onions and cook and stir until bubbly, then remove from heat. Stir in water and vinegar, then return to the stove and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for one minute. Carefully stir bacon and sliced potatoes into the vinegar/water mixture, stirring gently until potatoes are heated through.

Spaetzle- {Tradition German Egg Noodles} Found in the Gourmet foods section at the Commissary

Green Beans with Almonds

and

Apple Kuchen



Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Cook Time: 35 Minutes
Ready In: 1 Hour 5 Minutes
Yields: 12 servings

INGREDIENTS:
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1/4 cup margarine, softened
1/2 cup flaked coconut
4 large Granny Smith apples
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup sour cream
1 egg
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. Peel, core, and cut each apple into 8 wedges. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the cake mix, coconut and margarine until crumbly. Pat mixture lightly into prepared pan, building up the edges slightly to form a crust. Arrange the apple wedges on top.
3. Mix together the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle over the apples and the cake mixture. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and sour cream. Drizzle over the top of the cake.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until the edges of the cake are golden and the apples are tender.

It was SO yummy.

Quick Update

Just a little news for today. I am sick with some type of virus or flu. Fever, chills, nausea, dizziness, and sweating, lots of sweating...... You get the picture. I'm headed back to bed when this quick post is done.
Last night we had the first appointment with our realtor. We'll soon have our home on the market! There's LOTS to be done before the "For Sale" sign goes in the yard. In the next two weeks, I am tasked with packing up HALF of my stamp room. Oh MY!
There's painting to do, a yard sale to have, carpets to be cleaned..... the list is long and the time is short. Please keep us in your prayers. We've not been in the house very long, and so our realtor hopes to be able to break us even.
God is good, and I am trusting only in Him.

The Week in LP Review! (Long Post/Lotsa Pics)

Where do I start? We had so much fun this last week when my best friend Peggy and our 3 amazing godchildren were here! I thought I would post a week of pics in review. But I don't know if Blogger will be crazy about how many pics I want to post. We'll see......

The week started with me flying out to DC so I could drive down here with Peg and the kids to be some help on the road. Here I am playing with the babies in their "toy pit". It sure looks bigger when I am not in it!
On the road.....

It was a 15 hour trip.
The babies and Zach did very well.
Katie was so excited to see us..... well, the babies anyway!

We arrived one day early on Thursday as the radar looked a bit scary for Friday. Kevin had to work on Friday(our Pajama day!), but he hurried home in time to feed the babies by 5!

We cooked out several times while Peg was here!

We also went out to eat at my favorite BBQ place....Sonny's!

On Sunday we went to church...

And then came home with our kids we keep on Sundays. Then it was race time! We bought the twins (#8/Dale Jr) racing outfits to watch the race with Kevin!We had a long day. It was fun, but boy were the babies tired!Monday was St Patty's day!And Peg and I went to this renovated Georgia homestead made into a spa called The Veranda. Courtesy of Peggy, (thank you, BFF!) we had pedicures done by 2 sweet girls named Tiffany and Shelly. Peggy chose a cool blue ("You Gotta Have This Blue") and I had a hot shade of pink ("India Mood for Love").Later that evening, we played "Boxers to Briefs".... a highly recommended FUN game. Faith did not want to go to bed so stayed up a little longer than Brandon. She was okay after a dose of Tylenol, some teething gel and a kiss from mom.
On Tuesday, we drove to Atlanta to see Coca Cola World. {Peg is an avid Coke collector with an awesome red Coca Cola kitchen.}
Doesn't Zach look like this little boy on the sign?

Faith was not exactly excited when I put her in this guy's mixing bowl. Sorry, Faith.We had a quiet day at home on Wednesday.
I played with Peg's Cricut a bit.
Zach took a bubble bath. And of course, we played with the babies!

Peg's last day was pretty much reserved for packing and such. Peg and I did sneak away for a little shopping. AND Zach and I had our traditional outing for ice cream. Something we try to do each time we're together!
After dinner on the grill, Zach and I played games and Kevin and Zach made S'mores!

We had the best week! The twins were the perfect age for this visit. They were SO much fun.I didn't have much time for crafting and stamping, but I hope to do lots more of that THIS week!