Matt's "New Feature"

A bit jealous? I'm not sure but Matt seems to be feeling "left out" when it comes to this blog stuff! I am going to start a side post where Matt will be able express himself in a monthly blurb. (I refuse to let him write more often than that!) Even at once a month I don't know what I'm getting into? Yikes! We made a deal though that he will only write once a month but I won't be allowed to "edit" his spelling or his grammer (and God knows they both need it!) We'll play it safe for now by "testing" him this month and if he keeps his act together he may just get long term priviledges! Time will tell.

lam

Why Cats and Christmas Don't Mix

I have been working really hard these past few days trying to get everyone's presents wrapped. As I am just about done with my Holiday shopping, I have everything spread out on the living room floor to make sure it is "equal".

But there's a problem...

Someone, or "something" stole my piece of wrapping paper, put a couple of holes in it, crinkled it, then decided to sleep on it. Hmmm... wonder who it was?
lam

Tree Hunting

It's about that time again! Time for a Christmas Tree! "Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree... how we need you to be the perfect tree!" That's the song I was singing in my head while at the tree farm. Haha..

(<-Man does he look cranky!)

(I was freezing too you know!)

And the story goes...

This is our 3rd Christmas Tree. Our first Christmas together in our house we had the "signature" first year Charlie Brown tree! It was rather pathetic. And it didn't have much help looking festive with no carpeting in the living room and no furnature. So, actually I can't blame the tree. But last year was a little more exciting =)

We had our carpet installed, some furnature to sit on, more places to put decorations and more decorations to put up! So we decided to get a nice tree. Well, that was until we got there and Matt decided he had to have the biggest tree on the tree farm! I can't even begin to explain to you how hard we laughed trying to squeeze it through the door and trim it enough so it would fit under the 8 and 1/2 ft. ceiling. Then, after we finally got it to fit, it just looked too damn BIG! It was one of those extremely hilarious moments that neither one of us will ever forget! I remember buying lights and tinsel earlier that day not knowing that eventually I would have to go back to Target to get 3 more sets of lights and 3 more sets of tinsel (not to mention a few extra boxes of ornaments) just so we could decorate it! Matt had to bring in his work latter so we could decorate the top half! Haha.. Memories. Anyway, so now it's this year and back to the tree farm we went! This year we agreed on a more "normal" looking tree. So we hauled in a 6 footer. What's that saying again?

Oh yeah.. "3rd time's a charm!"

lam

Derik turns "1"!

Our first nephew. How exciting is that! A year ago, I became an Aunt and Matt became "Unky Matt" (or at least that's what he calls himself since Derik can't speak yet). I have to say it is interesting. A part of me feels "too young for this" but it also makes me feel more mature and more responsible. Because I started thinking about when I was a little girl and how I grew up surrounded by my Aunts and Uncles. I just remember spending a lot of time with them (and with some of them that was a good thing and with others that was a "not so good" thing).. The things you don't realize until you're "older"… haha. (I'm not going to go there just quite yet but I will tell you that some of my family members are a bit "kOoKY" at times.) I remember growing up with family not realizing that at the time my Aunts and Uncles (and even my mom and dad) weren't much older than I am now? And they were always around…. weekends, holidays, birthdays, etc. Always. You name it and I couldn't escape them! (Baby D, if you read this someday I hope that by that point you are not ready to "escape" me yet!). It's one of those things where you kind of just have to know them!

At my precious age of 25, I have yet to change a diaper on one, bath one, feed one, dress one, etc. - whatever else you do with babies. Not that I don't think I could figure it out if I had to! I mean, how hard can it be?! I just haven't had to! But now there's a baby in my life and pretty soon he may just have to spend some "alone" time with Aunt Lee and Uncle Matt! OMG! I can see it now! Looking at eachother…. What do we do? You do it. No. you do it! --> (me picturing how our conversation would play out the first time he needs a diaper change and he's with us!) Well, we may as well "practice" on "D" because eventually - I said eventually, we will have our own!

So I'm pretty sure Derik had a great 1st birthday! I mean, they didn't have those kinds of toys when I was 1! And who wouldn't have fun surrounded by family and friends with tons of presents to open (or at least for mom and dad to open), a cake to smash, games to play, pictures to take, guests to entertain (and eventually a nap to take). He really is a cutie!

I took a video of him eating his cake. (It's a little long but worth every minute of it because it's just so damn cute!)

lam

I'mmmmm Baaaccckkkk!

I'm back on the blog! The reason you haven't seen me for awhile is because I took a week off of EVERYTHING! Seriously. I just needed a break! I took a week off of work, the gym, the computer.. and it feels GREAT! It's amazing how "refreshed" you feel after a good week of goofing off! I'm pretty sure last week made the "best ever" list! I'll start with last Friday. I was SO ecstatic that it was my last day of work before my 9 days off! It was kind of CrAZy since I had a million and one things to finish up at work but I trudged through it. I didn't get out of work until 5 (I usually leave at 4:30) but that was okay. I can deal with a 1/2 hr. of OT, however, the trip home could have been A LOT better! So little did I know (because I obviously just don't pay attention) it was "Light Up Night" in the 'burgh and who would have thought that an event so freezingly festive could cause so much chaos! The streets were PACKED! BTW - This is how I know that I am normal.. Let's just say if I wasn't sane I would've committed several felonies on my way to the bus stop. So I'm standing outside freezing at the bus stop with a bunch of "crazies" standing around me and next thing you know, the 5:15 bus doesn't show, nor does the 5:25 OR the 5:40….. I was SO mad! How can 3 busses just NOT SHOW UP! Damn Port Authority. And figures, I actually had plans that night (for once). We planned to spend the night at Jeff's camp (a nice 2 and 1/2 hour drive that somehow lasted 3 and 1/2 hours! - I'll explain later) so once I got home I had to eat dinner, take a shower and pack for the night. We ended up not leaving our house until 8:30 and Jeff's camp is in Warren County (near Tianesta) so it's a little bit of a haul. Due to the snowrenchel downpour and the 12" on snow on the road we didn't make it up there until midnight (If you ask me I really can't believe we even made it at all!). Matt calls it our "adventure" for the week (even though I thought I was going to die the whole way there). What is it with men having to "test" everything while they're driving? I probably would have been fine if "someone" didn't have to "test" the brakes….. or the snowy roads to see how bad they were…… or the traction control…… or the tires……. ETC.! Men. A woman would have just drove at a nice, safe speed until she reached her destination. Seriously, could there not be any more truth to that statement? Stupid boys again!
The rest of the week I shopped! I LOVE Christmas shopping! =) It is one of my favorite things in the world to do. I spent Tuesday shopping with my mom and my sister at Ross Park Mall. It was really nice and I'm not lying! (It really was nice =) Something "magical" must have happened after I moved out because Kelly and I actually get along now.. Who would have ever thought that would happen? TG is a whole new blog post! I only wish I had some video of "crazy grandma" drunk, playing Nintendo Wii. (Any mental image you come up with will work just fine!) And on that note, somehow, I managed to make it to "Black Friday". After a whopping 3 hours of sleep (yes - I am one of those crazy people) I showed up at JC Penny at approx. 3:45am, waited in line until they unlocked the doors, squeezed my way through the crowd, ran through the store like a maniac, all in a sad attempt to be the first one to make it to "the deals". I always knew I was different. I was so tired my eyes hurt! After a few hours I went and picked up my dad and drove him to the mall to help him shop for my mom. It was so cute to see him buy her some nice things for Christmas (although I picked most of them out and had to lead him the entire way through the mall! OMG if he had to do it himself he would have been there ALL day!) The day actually went well until we were almost home and dad was going to take me to lunch… (don don don daa ..) Kelly called….. crying. She rear-ended a mentally challenged man in the parking lot on her way home from work. The girl really doesn't have lady luck on her side, does she? The is her 3rd fender bender, I think. Maybe it's her 4th? And she's only 20! She's already passed me up! I guess she had a hard time understanding this man and he wasn't very happy with her so the police had to come to the scene and straighten things out. Of all people Kelly… geez, why couldn't you have just hit somebody else?! You could have made it a lot easier on yourself! OR, better idea - Just don't hit anyone at all! (And then maybe I would have gotten to eat my free lunch! haha..) I took dad home after that. Needless to say, he wasn't in the mood to eat lunch after that phone call. Saturday night was "date night". Matt had made dinner reservations at Monteray Bay on top of Mt. Washington (so sweet). He also bought us tickets to go see Spamalot at the Benedum Center. It was awesome! I wasn't going to say this but I just can't help my big mouth! It's about time Matt has to sit through a play after the hours of racing I've watched! 15 races to 1 play and I still love him. Some men wouldn't go to one at all so I guess I should be lucky I got 1! Haha.. =)
I have more posts to add so stay tuned for "Derik's 1st Birthday" and "Superscratcher" all on the way!

lam

Time Waster (If you thought T.V. was bad…)

Wait until you try the Nintendo Wii. Yep! We bought one! Why? I have NO idea! But I'm an ADDICT! I eat, sleep, work and play Wii (which is why I've been a "blog slacker" lately.. haha!). It's the coolest thing ever! We bought the Wii Fit game and it is awesome! Puts a whole new meaning to "fun" exercise let me tell ya! There's about 50 different exercises on the Wii Fit and you can compete against eachother and anyone who knows me knows that I can be a "little" competitive at times! Let's just say my new life goal is to OBLIVIATE Matt's scores! So far Matt is in the lead on the Hula Hoop (There is something so not right about that. How could a boy possibly beat me - a girl - at the Hula Hoop? WTF? <--- Sorry, I had to throw that in there!) It's just too damn funny. I have serious anxiety over this. I NEED to beat him. Especially so I don’t have to listen to him walking around calling himself "the champion" anymore! Or saying that he "conquered" it or singing the "perfect" song which goes something like, "I got a perfect. I got a perfect!" You just don't know what that's like? I do have him on step areobics though! The boy might be able to wiggle his hips better but he sure ain't got no rythm! (I'll have to sneak a video of Matt "hula-hooping" so you can see how funny he looks =) We also play Mario Kart. Which totally has all the old tracks with totally better awesomer graphics! And I think you all should know that I am the BEST Rainbow Road racer ever! OMG - I am becoming a video game junkie. Reality check? Is there anything I should be doing that is more important than playing Nintendo Wii?

P.S. I'm ALWAYS Yoshi (because he's the best at beating "Matt the Monkey" or "Diddy Kong"! Haha.)
lam

Halloweentown!

I didn't get a chance to take too many pics of my "decor" but I wanted to at least share my Halloweentown! It's the coolest thing ever! Everything in the pic either lights up or moves. (I couldn't turn it on for the pic though because of the glare.) Isn't it cute though? I have this strange feeling that I am slowly turning into my mother?

lam

BaKIng FRenZy

Some of you wouldn't know it but I'm becoming rather "domesticated" these days! I've been baking again. Yes, I have… and not the easy stuff either! It's funny that I'm writing about this today because I was sitting here thinking to myself this morning that my "fat pants" feel tight today. I wonder why! So here are some pics to show you what I've been working on (or, proof of my lame 25-year-old life! Whichever way you want to look at it!) Think about it…. I took pictures of my "baked goods". Who does that? But that's what I've been up to lately… I don't go "out" with friends, I don't have any hobbies (other than work); I just stay home on the weekends… bake cookies… and take pictures of them. What the H-E-double hockey sticks is wrong with me?! As you can see from the pics, my creations include Halloween cut-outs, a Pumpkin Cake (which I was extremely proud of by the way!) and I also baked a pumpkin log but I don't have any pictures of that one (it's a little boring looking, I think). The pumpkin cake looks rather fancy (there is a reason) because I entered it in to a baking contest. See.. we had this Halloween Party at work so I decided to participate in the bake-off and I LOST! How could my beautiful, cuddly cute little pumpkin cake LOSE! I worked SO hard on it! I stayed up until 1AM two nights in row making the damn thing! That's the last contest I enter! I do; however, have a "theory" on "the loss". I've come to the conclusion that since the "staff liasons" were the judges, and 3 out of 4 of them were from the 50th floor, I'm not surprised that 3 out of 4 of the prizes went to contestants from the 50th floor.. Cheaters.

So much for calling it the "award-winning" pumpkin cake the entire drive into the city! I made Matt drive me in (because I had to transport it in a cardboard box) and I have to say by that morning he was pretty annoyed with hearing me talk about my "soon-to-be" prize-winning pumpkin cake! Haha! Oh, well….

Guess I'm not the "confectionist" that I thought I was?

lam

Autumn =) My favorite time of the year…

I love the scenery and the fact that it's the only time of the year when you have so much to look forward to! (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas, New Years Eve) Then the life gets crappy again.

Last weekend we took a nature walk to check out the pretty trees. Here's a few pics from Deer Lakes Park. I love it!

Mission: "Perfect" Pumpkins

This past weekend we bought our Halloween pumpkins. The place we went to takes you on a hayride up to two pumpkin patches so you can pick your own. (I know what you're thinking.) I seriously thought we were going to be the oldest ones there (without kids) until another couple that looked to be about our age got on the hayride too. Then I didn't feel so silly! =)

So I was on a mission to find a huge, somewhat "perfect" pumpkin (perfect in my eyes at least). I found one.. Haha.. As you can see in the picture.. It was heavy as all hell but I refused to put it down because I thought someone might steal it. (Ok, that one does sound a little bit childish.)

I don't care. I wanted that one and no one was going to take it from me!
Matt was on a mission to find a perfectly "round" pumpkin (whatever that means). His isn't as big as mine. Actually, mine's just better all around. Pumpkin picking is a competitive sport you know. May the best pumpkin win! (You guys can be the judges!)

The Ride Home --->

The Boys In St. Clairsville, OH (October 12th, 2008)

Well, at least this race was a lot closer than the last couple (finally) at about 1 hour and 45 minutes away! We left on Saturday around 4:00pm and arrived in St. Clairsville, OH around 5:45pm, went to the track so Matt and Jeff could sign up, then checked in to the Red Roof Inn... All 3 of us. In one room. (Typical trip with these two.) By then it was waayyy past my dinnertime so I was HUNGRY! There is only about every restaurant you could imagine in St. Clairsville (and I'm not a decision maker) so I left it up to the guys. It didn't take me very long to realize that it wasn't really an option anyway because apparantly they had already decided we were going to eat at the West Texas Roadhouse before we even left PA! Oh, and in case you're wondering… Here's the reason (as I roll my eyes and shake my head in disbelief): I guess Jeff had "a thing" for one of the waitresses who worked there last year when they ate there… (I wasn't with them last year thank god.) So of course they thought it would be funny to see if she still worked there and if she remembered them. From what I hear they were a little bit rowdy last year! Not that I'm surprised! 4 boys in a restaurant drinking beer... and you didn't think they would cause some kind of trouble? (Especially these ones.) So we went in and sat down near the bar and low and behold - there she was - Missy. She actually didn't remember them until they reminded her of the "Turkey Song". Last year, I guess the other guys kept telling her (Missy) that Jeff wanted to sing her a Turkey Song or something like that. Trust me, I know… I don’t understand it either? On that note, I don't think I will ever understand how 30-year-old men can act like teenagers and think nothing of it? And get this one - after dinner - they made me walk over a guardrail and down a dangerously steep grassy hillside to get to Krogers (to buy racing essentials I guess) and then back up the death hill and back over the guardrail to the hotel. (Again, not that I'm surprised.) Afterall, they are gncc racers so they're used to always looking for shortcuts (as if they needed to be the first ones to the grocery store?). So yet another one, I will never understand how 30-year-old men figure it is better to take the "dangerous" route than to take an extra 5 minutes to go the right way? We could of just drove. On to Sunday morning…

Matt raced first. I took some video of the start so you could see how it works (it's a little long)… they let a different class go every 10 seconds. Don't forget! Matt's number 45!

He did pretty good… made it up a few places from the last race (17th, I think). Of course.. he was disappointed with that number. He said he messed up a bit by making a stupid decision which led him to get stuck somewhere for like 10 or 15 minutes. Typical "Matt's Luck"… always getting stuck in a mudhole. I don’t really know what it was this time but earlier this year he did get stuck in a mudhole for awhile (which is actually kind of funny because he helped a girl get her bike "unstuck" and she ended up beating him… Haha =) He gets mad when I make fun of him. (But it is kind of funny. Mudhole - that's a funny word.)

lam

Part II: "Deer Whacker" Thursday, October 9th, 2008 (6 Days Later)

<--(I found this pic on the internet. This is exactly what they looked like. See below!)

"Deer Whacker." Matt's new nickname for me. Yep! You guessed it! I nailed two of them! The funny part is that when this happened I was on my way home from the auto body shop after getting an estimate done for the first incident (see part I). I couldn't even believe it! I kept thinking it was just a dream... I was about a mile from my driveway when two leaping deer jumped right in front of my car! My only thought at the time was, "No, this can't be happening!" (I wasn't even speeding and I'm not just saying that.. I really wasn't.) I didn’t even have time to react! I assume the normal reaction would have been to slam on the break and I didn't even have time to do that! I nailed the suckers. I've never seen a deer fly so far in my life. It was rather scary looking. One deer jumped right after the other so I hit the first one and he flew in to the air with his hooves facing me and landed like a bag of bricks in the opposite lane a little further down the road. I hit the other one a split second later. At that point I must have had my foot on the break (I don't remember) but all know is that I only knocked the 2nd deer over. (I don't remember every detail because my body was in some sort of a shock I think.) Before I knew it my car had come to a complete stop. I was trying to gas it so I could get away from the scene and back in to my own lane (instead of in the middle of the road) but my car wouldn't move! It was making that noise like when you're trying to drive up a steep snowy road and your tires are spinning but you're not going anywhere. Then I figured it out... There was a deer under my car. I wasn't sure what to do so I sat there for a few seconds... (good thing there weren't any other cars on the road during all of this). I quickly made the decision to just gun it. I mean, what other choice did I have? I put the car back into "drive" and I went for it… Let's just say it was like driving over a huge speed bump! So not only did I knock the poor thing out but I ran him over too! Actually, he was a she. They both were. Once I started going again I frantically searched for my cell phone so I could call Matt and tell him what just happened. (It was sitting right on my lap but it took me a minute to realize that.) I called him and very calmly told him that I just rammed a deer (well, two deer). Then I broke down into hysterics because I couldn't believe it happened! And while on my way home from the auto body shop at that! I was so upset! Then later on that night I felt bad for causing the tragic deaths of the deer (Matt doesn't think that they died but I have a pretty good feeling that even if they didn't they weren't going to make it much longer.. He calls them BIG rats). I was shooken up for awhile. Matt called the police and had them come out and write up a report. He felt we might need a little more evidence to prove to the insurance company that we really did knock out 3 deer in 6 days! My car is "undrivable" at the moment.

(I wasn't going to mention this next thing but I can't seem get it off my mind.) The night before this happened (Wednesday night) I had a dream that I wrecked my car and Matt wrecked his truck. I know that sounds terrible! But it's true. I've had déjà vu a couple of times before. I once dreamt about one of the law offices that I worked at before I even worked there! I dreamt about a cubicle that had piles and piles of papers on it… And when I got hired at that office the real one I sat at was exactly like the one in my dream! Weird.

lam

Part I: The "Evidence" Friday, October 3rd, 2008

Friday night one of our friends asked us to go out for a drink. I was in the middle of trying to finish up the snickerdoodles I started baking (FYI - they came out better than the last time I tried to bake) so Matt decided to take my car and go to the ATM to get some cash and was going to just pick me up on the way back. No big deal.. right? Well, when he pulled in I noticed the two of them out in the driveway "inspecting" my vehicle. I knew it! Right away, I knew it! I went out onto the porch and said, "What'du do? Wreck my car?!" "No!" It wasn't his fault. "A deer ran into me!".. He says. (I knew he wasn't lying.) The same thing happened to me 2 years ago... A dumb deer ran right into the driver's side door of my Cavalier. He dented my door so bad I couldn't even open it! I had to crawl over the seats and get out through the passenger's side. I seriously thought his antlers were going to come through my window and stab me in the head but they didn't. (I know, I have a wild imagination!) Before that happened I didn't even think it was possible because I didn't think that these animals were THAT stupid. Boy was I wrong!

So now my 2005 Chevy Equinox (that I just got in June and believe it or not - is the nicest car I ever owned!) has deer dents in it AND deer fur stuck in the cracks! There was also a piece of deer skin stuck to it until Matt pulled it off.. Gross! I took some pictures so we have "evidence" in case the insurance company questions anything... I mean, that's what insurance is for isn't it?.... In case deers decide to commit suicide using our vehicles as their murder weapons?

(Needless to say, I had more than 1 drink that night.)
lam

Swimming Cell Phone

Just as the title says…

My cell phone went for a swim the other day. In the toilet. At work. I know, funny.. Isn't it? Of course everyone thinks it's hysterical.. Because you all have working cell phones! I am going to go ahead and answer the two most popular "personal" questions everyone keeps asking: 1. Was it clean water? Yes. If it was a "number 1", I maybe would have fished for it... Anything else and it would have been flushed and probably end up stuck in the plumbing somewhere... but yes, it was clean water! 2. How the heck did that happen? Well, if Matt didn't send me a text message at the same time I had to pee, I probably wouldn't have taken my phone to the bathroom with me... I NEVER do that! This was the first time I had ever taken my cell phone into the ladies' room with me at work. And of course, I did something really stupid while I was in there… I set it on top of the toilet paper dispenser (bad idea). I must have bumped into it because my cell phone slid right off into the toilet! Yet another one of those, "I can't believe this is happening" moments. I guess there is a third question everyone keeps asking: 3. Did you clean it with anything? Yes, I did. Thank you to the person who invented Lysol wipes. =)

P.S. For those of you who don't already know.. It works now. I let it dry out for 4 days. Luckily for me, I don't have to buy a new phone since I just got this one in June!

lam

Devil Cat

Now what can I say about "The Cat". BTW, in case your wondering what his name is it's, "The Cat". Don't ask. I seriously don't know how Matt and I are ever going to agree on names for our future children. Anyway, he is SO BAD! He is such a meany head but for some reason I still love the darn thing. You can't pet him for more than like 2 minutes because he gets bored. I never met an animal who didn't like to be petted more than this one! He's 4 years old now. Here's the story: I still lived at home when this thing came into my life. My sister wanted him. See.. this guy her friend was dating came across a bunch of kittens in the warehouse where he worked. Supposedly, he couldn't find the mom so he took it upon himself to assume that the mom was never going to come back and that he had to find homes for them. Of course my mom and dad said "no" but at that point in time Kelly (my sister) didn't care. She told whatever his name was (I don't remember) to drop one off at our house. I came home first before my parents and saw him. He was SO tiny! He couldn't even eat real kitten food yet and he was suckling on a blanket - it was almost as if he was looking for his mom so he could eat. So of course we now have to take care of him because we can't just let the poor thing die! So Kelly and I went to PetSmart and picked up a bottle and some formula and nursed him from tiny baby kitty into kittenhood. This was during the summertime. About 6 months later (around Christmas) mom claimed that he peed under the x-mas tree (I still don't know if I believe that… I really think she just didn't like him… probably because he was mean back then too!) Growing up we had a lot of different pets and everytime mom and dad didn't want one of those pets anymore (because they were too bad or something) dad took it to "the farm". (I don't know if I believe that either… for all we knew he could have just drove it down the road and threw it over the hillside. I'm kidding. Sort of. I've never actually seen "the farm" though so I don't know!) But that's where this little kitty was going to end up if I didn't take matters into my own hands. So what did I do you ask? I told Matt and begged him and Mitzi (Matt's mom) to take him in and they kind-heartedly did so. He lived at Matt's house up until we got married and then he moved in with us. I have to give the thing some credit… he did fairly well for all the transitioning he went through. He's a fairly good cat at our house, I mean… he doesn't pee or poop on the floor, or scratch anything up with his claws. He's caught 7 field mice and a little mole since he moved in. (We didn't have carpeting in our house for awhile so it was easier for little critters to get in from the crawl space under the living room.) Either they don't get in anymore because we now have carpeting or because they're afraid of "Mousebreath"! (Just one of his many nicknames!) Seriously. He ate like the top half of almost every little mouse he caught. So we started calling him mousebreath. Yuck! One day he licked my leg after eating one. From what I remember, only one little mouse survived the cat attack. We found him playing with it and Matt captured it and put it back outside. I still think it made it's way back in and had to face the cat's wrath again.. (he probably ate it).Anyhow, the point is, he may be mean sometimes but at least he's good for something! I know it's a little early (September) but I put him in his Halloween costume already. As you can see in the pics.... He's a Devil this year. For those of you who have met him.. Suits him well, don't you think? Last year he was a Chicken.

lam

Snowshoe, W.V. Sept. 13th & 14th

Another weekend, another race. What can I say? He loves it. The day Matt quits racing dirtbikes will be the day pigs fly! The boy's been on 2 wheels his whole life. I wish I had something I felt as passionate about as he does. I did have fun this weekend though. The race took place at the Snowshoe Ski Resort in W.V. The resort reminded me of a little "town-like" place. It's like a little town that sits on top of a mountain all by itself. We had to get up at 5AM on Saturday morning to make the drive there. It was me, Matt and Jeff (as usual) in Jeff's van. I couldn't pry those two apart if I tried - they do everything together! (Not in a homosexual kind of way.. just in a "best friends" kind of way! Haha..I swear people that don't know them probably do think that!) It's actually kind of funny. No matter what we do Jeff is usually with us. I'll post another entry about our "third wheel" a little bit later. I really don't mind that he is always there… he's like a big brother to me now. We joke around, make each other laugh and even fight like siblings do! So in the van on our way to Snowshoe… all I can say is thank God I have an ipod now because sometimes listening to those two talk about motocross the whole way to our destination can get a little annoying! That's ALL they talk about ALL the time! Ahhh! It makes me want to scream sometimes! I try to change the subject but that only ever works for about 5 minutes or so and then it's back to motocross! And if it's not motocross…. it's GNCC's, Supercross, Yamaha's, Kawasaki's, Honda's, Suzuki's, dirtbike accessories, riding gear, which friends are riding where that weekend, what bikes they have, various tracks to go to and the list could go on and on and on. (I promise I won't bore you anymore with the xtreme sports lingo!) At Snowshoe...…. We finally made it there and checked into our hotel and little did I know that my day had already been pre-planned to walk the track! There's like 12 miles worth of track! It goes back into the woods and everything! (Ok. Granted we didn't really walk 12 miles it was only about a mile or a mile and a half but still…) It was hot that day and these weren't the easiest woods to walk through. I had mud up to my ankles… I had to maneuver through trees and over logs and dodge about 50 million quads that went flying by splashing mud everywhere! (I guess the quads usually race on Saturday and the dirtbikes race on Sunday.) I mean, your literally right on the track and if you don't move it's not like they're going to stop for you.. It's a race! So while I thought I was going to die by being slammed into by a quad.. Matt and Jeff ran around the forrest like it was no big deal. I was just trying to keep up!

(Check out the video above. Matt got the holeshot! #45 on the Yamaha!)

For those of you who don't know much about the sport I'll give a little background info. This was a GNCC (Grand National Cross Country) race. The series consists of 13 rounds each year and all of the tracks are out of state except one (in Somerset, PA). They are usually anywhere from like 8 to 15 miles long which doesn't sound too bad until you actually see the track. The riders have to maneuver around trees, ride through mud pits that are a couple of feet deep, cross wooden bridges that are usually in pieces and some non-existent after the quad race, ride through rock pits, over fallen trees and boulders, through streams - let's just say they definitely don't make these things easy.
According to Matt they are the hardest things he's ever done in the sport. I give him a lot of credit because I could never do it. Oh, and I forgot to mention that he has to do this for 2-3 hours straight without stopping! Matt and Jeff race in different classes so Matt races in the morning and Jeff races in the afternoon. So while Matt was racing Sunday morning I had put up with Jeff for a few hours… haha.. It wasn't bad until Matt was like 45 min. late coming out of the woods and I was worried sick about him and Jeff started singing one of his little spontaneous made up songs that went something like, "Matt, Matt he's my friend but he may have met his end!" Way to make me feel better buddy! Matt did, however, make it out the woods just fine and he finished the race in 19th place out of like 25 or 26. This was a tough race though and it was at one of the most difficult tracks. Jeff got 1st place in his class… which, didn't make Matt feel much better about his race but we were both still really happy for him. He's pretty good.
Now on to the next one! A few more weeks and we'll be in St. Clairsville, OH. =)
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My First Post: The New Kitchen!

Well, I know it's a little outdated but I am going to start with my kitchen because it was one of those big, exciting moments in my life! Matt and I got married in May 2006 but we didn't have a full functioning kitchen until June 2008! A lot of people we talk to have no idea how we survived. Looking back on it… I still don't know how I survived! No running water, no sink, no kitchen cabinets, no stove, no dishwasher… And those are just the big things! BUT, we did have a toaster oven, coffee pot, refrigerator and a microwave (until our microwave kicked the bucket about 2 months before the kitchen was done). Try living without a microwave for a month or two… I think I lost about 10 lbs! No leftovers, no microwavable frozen foods… I couldn't microwave my tator tots or chicken nuggets… I had to use the toaster oven which took like 25 minutes! A hungry girl just can't wait that long! My one and only counter top consisted of two of Matt's sawhorses - that were once used for work - with a piece of plywood laid across them. I tried to make it look pretty with festive plastic table cloths from Wal-Mart. (Although, Matt wasn't very impressed by my decorating skills.) I'd rather stare at a cheap plastic table cloth than a plain old piece of wood! Anyway, so for two years it was like camping in my own house when it came to meal time. And at that time in my life I had never cooked a meal for myself before. (I know what you're thinking.) I do have a reason… Because I commuted to college for four years and lived at home up until the day I got married I still relied on mom's home cooked meals everyday. I know, I know… I'm a late bloomer. But luckily for me I married a man who knows how to cook and does it well! We were so limited in what we had and yet I still came home to a home cooked meal everyday. Just another reason why I married him… (not just because of the food but because I have to say he does take pretty good care of me). I couldn't exactly return the favor at that time either… I barely knew how to do laundry, clean a house, or any of those other "housewifey" things. But I have to admit I've gotten a lot better over the last 2 years and 4 months! I can now knock out 3 loads of laundry in one night, keep the house fairly neat and clean, and cook a couple of easy meals (burgers, hot dogs, spaghetti, macaroni & cheese - just to name a few!). I was really into crock pot meals for like a week. I made 4 of them (Mon. - Thurs.) and then Thursday night I was getting ready to prepare another one for Friday until Matt stopped me and said that he would take care of Friday's dinner. He wouldn't admit it but I really think he just didn't want another crock pot meal. I don't blame him. Some of them weren't as delicious as I thought they would be.

To bring you to the present I now have a full functioning kitchen. I even have a dishwasher! As some of you already know I used to have to take all of the dirty dishes down to the cold, damp basement (I call it "the cave") and wash them in the laundry tub - which almost ALWAYS had either a spider or a pincher bug in it… not fun. And everytime we needed water for cooking we had to get it from the bathroom. The funny part about that is that our lock is broke so no matter what I was doing in there... if Matt needed water - he let himself in! I know you didn't need to know that but I have a kitchen sink now so there's no need to worry anymore. One can have their privacy. I've started trying to bake some desserts and things but haven't had the best of luck with that yet. My first batch of cookies I accidentally combined all of the ingredients into one bowl instead of separating the liquids from the dry stuff. My dough was really chunky and hard to stir so I added milk to it. Thought maybe that would work until I ended up having to throw every single cookie in the garbage! You see.. I have this issue when it comes to reading directions… no matter what it is I just can't bring myself to do it. You would think I was a man! Never following directions!

So as I make my way around the kitchen and keep experimenting, I think (well, I hope) I am getting a little better. Matt is my designated taste tester so actually, if you want the truth, you'll need to ask him!

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