Fun Mini Vacation

I had a mini vacation at the beginning of the week. I was off work on Monday and Tuesday which was very nice and a much needed time away from work. On Monday my mom, Marin and I ventured out to the Dallas Arboretum and walked through the gardens and had lunch at the small cafe there. It was nice and we enjoyed it. They had a few structures they built for their Storybook Exhibit and Marin had a lot of fun playing in that area. On Tuesday I dragged Eric to go see Harry Potter 6 with me at the movie theater. I really liked it a lot better than the previous one but I think Goblet of Fire (4th one) was the best so far. I can't wait until the last one because it will be the most action and the most dramatic. I hope it will be the best of them all.

As many of you who read this blog already know Eric lost his job recently. It has been tough for him looking for something else but he has a positive attitude about it. We booked a trip to Vancouver a few months ago and we are supposed to go in September. With our current situation I am not sure if I should cancel the trip and be out $100 in cancellation fees or if we should just go ahead and go anyway. Hmm...I am the worst at making these kinds of decisions.

Made $371…Not too shabby!!

The garage sale was a success! We made $371 which is awesome since my goal was only to make $300. Of course we didn't sell everything so now I have to decide what to keep and what to send to the Advocacy Center. I did use some of the money to buy a rug for the living room. I love the laminate floors but felt we needed something to bring the furniture together in the living room since the breakfast nook has laminate floors also and it was hard to feel a separation between the two rooms. Before it was ceramic tile and the living room was carpet.

The new Harry Potter movie is coming out this week. I am not going to see it until next week. I have Monday and Tuesday of next week off so I am going to spend a little time with my mom and Marin on Monday and then drag Eric to the movies to see it with me on Tuesday. This weekend is Eric's birthday. His family is coming in to help him celebrate. I asked him if he wanted me to make him a cake and he gave me the "look". If you know Eric well then you know he doesn't like sweets...he likes sweet and sour candy like sour skittles and sour straws but he does not like cake or cookies or any of that junk. How someone cannot like chocolate is beyond me but that is just the way he is. Plus he is also watching carbs like I am so he can't have anything sweet anyway. I guess he'll just have to settle for a case of beer for his birthday.

Garage Sale!!

For the 4th we were invited to our friends house in Fairview. They have a really nice pool they just built last year and we got to lounge around in it for most of the day. Marin really seemed to enjoy it. I don't know if I have allergies or if I caught a cold but for the past

EXTREME FRUSTRATION

Lately, I have been extra frustrated with the things going on in my life. Here are some of the things I hate right now: 1. When you constantly email and call someone and they totally ignore you and never email or call back. 2. When someone walks all over you and you totally let them!! And act like its for the best!!! WAKE UP and smell the betrayal!! 3. When someone can't take care of their obligations and responsibilities! You made your

Not Sure Why I Do This To Myself

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I am not quite done with this project, but got all of the attic work and cables ran.

I added some various videos of Marin that were on the camera.

Fluorescent Lights, Burgers, Action!

I finally got around to installing under cabinet lighting last week!  I couldn’t decide if I wanted to go the LED route or use fluorescents.  LED lighting last for 10 or 15 years and barely uses any electricity, but are easily 3 times the price of fluorescents.  I ended up going cheap and used fluorescents.  The lights I got were direct-wire fixtures which meant I needed to run my own power to each of them.  I am not an electrician by any means, but I am definitely getting more and more familiar with it since I have completed several projects around the house that required me to add a few electrical outlets.  The whole project came in at $97 (Lowes) and about 3 hours of work.  It could have been done a little quicker, but I tend to work slower to minimize any mistakes when doing a first time learn-as-you-go project.

	I decided to put the switch for the under cabinet lighting on the backsplash under the cabinets.  I drew out where the light switch would go so I could cut out the hole later.  The key here was that I picked a spot that was between the same studs as another electrical outlet.  Doing this allowed me to get power from the existing electrical outlet without having to drill through any studs.
	Next I cut the hole for the light switch and drilled a hole just at the bottom of the cabinet for the Romex #14 wire which I would run to all of the lights (3) in a daisy chain fashion.
	I mounted the light fixture about 2 inches from the front of the cabinet and turned it so the light was being thrown against the backsplash.  I did a bit of research on where to mount the fixture and which direction to point the light and found this arrangement produced the least amount of glare off of the counter top.  Pushing it a couple of inches from the front of the cabinet helped reduce the chance of seeing the fixtures themselves. This photo shows the #14 wire ran into the fixture and the other end of the wire that runs to the next fixture. This was about the point when Angela got home from work and asked if I was going to leave it like that…I mean really.
	Here is the light switch in place with the power running over from the electrical outlet next to it.
	This picture gives you a better idea of where the light was mounted.
	This shows all three under cabinet lights installed.  All that was left was to tack down the Romex.  Not being an electrician, I am not sure this would be up to “code”, but I feel completely safe and at ease with the integrity of the installation.
	Here are the lights in action.  As you can see, plenty bright enough see the food you are preparing.  Each light fixture has its own on/off switch, so you can switch up which lights you have off or on.  Speaking of preparing food…
	Job medium rare done!  Is that real cheese, bacon, onions, and jalapenos in that burger?!?  They’re real…and they’re spectacular!  I’m starting to love these “Cowboy Jalapeno Burgers” from Sprouts.

Day at the lake

We have lived in Wylie for 3 years and had never ventured out to the lake even though it is 10 minutes away from our house. Yesterday we finally decided to check it out. We got there pretty early since we knew it would probably start getting crowded later in the day. We stopped at a nice picnic area close to a the beach area. At first Marin was afraid to go into the water but after I walked in and started wading around she soon followed. She seems to really like the water and had fun jumping in the waves that the boats were producing for us. We had our sandwiches and then decided to take Marin to the little playground area. She loves the slides and she would probably have been happy sliding all day had we let her. She did not want to leave. I think we will go there again at some point this summer. Eric really wants to rent a jet ski next time. After the Cozumel trip last year I doubt we will be getting a 2 seater.

First Day in New Orleans

We arrived in New Orleans yesterday afternoon. We were lucky to get a really good deal at the Ritz Carlton. They have really nice rooms and extremely friendly staff. Everyone we walk by greet us and are very professional. Of course we hit Bourbon Street last night and got to hang out with some old friends. The forecast called for rain all weekend but we have yet to see a drop (knock on wood). I think the wedding tonight is going to be outside on the hotel’s terrace so I am crossing my fingers that the rain stays away for Steven and Regan’s special day. That is kind of why I picked Vegas for my wedding because I wanted an outside wedding but hated the risk of rain so what better plan than in a desert where rain is very rare. It was a little warm but thankfully our ceremony was not long so it worked out well. Anyway, here are some pics from last night:

Ham & Cheese

I'd like to say we had a laid back weekend but we were either on the go or working on the house the whole time. Marin had her first birthday party on Saturday. She has had her own birthday party with relatives but this was a party for a girl in her class. We didn't know many people there but we kind of settled in after a while. Marin had loads of fun playing with her friends Katie and Sydney. On the way home she passed out from being so tired.

We have been working on various projects for the house. We bought some new outside lights

Great weekend

Wow, we had a long weekend but it was fun! Friday Eric’s mom came into town and we chatted for a while and then I found some time to play with my new G1 phone. I am amazed at how user friendly it is. I should have got it a long time ago. And here I was trying to be a loyal Blackberry user. I do not regret my decision to switch. I am so happy with the new phone. It even came with a protective cover which I am glad I did not take off because I dropped it Saturday night and there was a huge scratch on the face and I was so upset but when I took off the cover the scratch magically disappeared! So now I need to invest in another cover for next time (and with me being so clumsy there will surely be a next time.)

Saturday we went to a wedding in Fort Worth. It was very nice…open bar, even nicer! Our friend Jeff (the groom) is a big guy and during the ceremony the preacher kept making references comparing him to Shrek and calling him Big Boy. This made me a little frustrated. It is their day and I felt those comments to be unnecessary. But maybe everyone else took it as a joke. Whatever! We had a lot of fun and maybe drank a little too much. But we were staying the night at the hotel where the wedding was so we took advantage. I waited until the last minute to buy a dress for the wedding so last Thursday I finally went shopping. I had a coupon for JC Penney that I could use so I found one there. Well, I should have known better because one of our friends works for JC Penney and we wound up wearing the same dress to the wedding. It was quite funny and we laughed it off…we decided we would tell everyone we were the unofficial bridesmaids since the colors in the dress matched the color scheme of the wedding.

Yesterday when we got home we hung out with Marin and enjoyed a nice Mother’s Day. We planted some flowers by the front door and we played with the sidewalk chalk in the driveway. I asked Eric what he was going to make me for dinner since it was Mother’s Day and I had the day off. We found a recipe online for cheese enchiladas and he decided to give it a go. I was a little worried but they actually turned out very tasty. Eric is a great cook. He makes me look bad because I am lucky to get spaghetti right. He makes a really good steak too. That was my second suggestion if the enchiladas turned out horrible.

We’ll be headed to New Orleans in two weeks for another wedding. Should be another good time!