he enjoys life

Hi. My name is Colt and I like to wave at lamps.

Mr. Panera Man

Friday morning the alarm went off, early as usual. Andy kissed me goodbye and went off to the Hospital to get a few IV's & intubations under his belt. He had an 8 hour shift so I was expecting him home at 3pm. At 7:15am he called my cell. I was still asleep.

Andy: Are you asleep?

Mo: Uhmmm Hummggmm

Andy: Sorry. I think I forgot my backpack again. Can you go check please? [Walk out to the living room. Spot his bag. Go back to bed where my cell phone is charging. Lay back down. Find my warm spot in the sheets. Grab my phone.]

Mo: Yep. You left it again. Why are you so forgetful lately?

Andy: I was extra tired this morning. Do me another favor. When I locked the door behind me I remember setting down my duffel bag but I don't have it. I think I might have left it on the porch. Can you go see please?

Mo: Sure. I guess I can take you with me this time. [Unplug my phone. Head to the front door.]

I open the door and didn't see any sort of bag. Instead I saw Andy with a cup of coffee in one hand and a Panera bag in the other with a big silly grin on his face.

Mo: What are you doing? [confused, eyes trying to adjust to the light, looking like a monster]

Andy: My clinical got canceled a few days ago but I pretended to still have it so I could surprise you with a day off and breakfast. You love Panera.

Mo: Andy! [smiling, gushing, blushing]. I feel bad! You didn't need to do this. You never get to sleep in...You should have slept in babe!

Andy: I know but I wanted to surprise you.

It's official. I am married to the sweetest man that ever walked to face of this earth. I fell a little more in love with my husband on Friday. The End.

free to be me

Nothing like a butt-naked baby on a hot summers day! I love that when I took his diaper off he started to stretch out and enjoy the breeze. Crack me up! Who doesn't like to be naked? Right?

pots and pans

The last week has been filled with lots of Mommy and Colt time. I have not left the camera behind. Here he is tapping into his musical side. He chewed on the wooden spoon more than he made noise. Oh well, He still gets an A for effort.

AND, will you all please note that he not longer looks like a baby? My baby looks like a little boy. He is so precious.

we've been outside

Summer is here. Kind of. It was 80ish today. Here's what we've been up to...

• Day before yesterday I went to Serena's house and laid out for hours. At times my skin was on fire but I thought...Didn't I complain about snow, and wish for sunshine for what seemed like months? Shouldn't I celebrate the sunshine by letting my skin fry like an egg in a skillet? Yes! Burn baby burn! I actually did burn. But that's probably because I lathered my body in Johnson & Johnson baby oil. Next time I'll use something like SPF15 or Olive Oil.
• I also put on a bath suit for the first time since giving birth. I laughed out loud when I saw myself in the mirror. I don't recognize parts of my body as being...parts of my body! The zebra stripped stretch mark design along with the excess skin from carrying a 10.5lb baby makes for an interesting combination. Good thing I have high self-esteem and a man that loves me because gee whiz! One piece here I come...forever.
• Colt is trying to master the crawl. He can't master it until he actually does it....but we're on our way. He is wiggly to say the least. When he's down, he wants up. When he's up, he wants down. The last two nights he's woken up in the middle of the night and instead of making him whine himself back to sleep, I've gotten up and rocked him. He is so busy now days he has no time to stop and cuddle with me. He won't fall asleep in my arms. I get nothing! But wouldn't ya know...in the middle of the night...that little boy wants his momma and we get our cuddle on. He is precious and I love him so much. The middle of the night cuddling gets to me so much that when he's fallen back asleep, instead of laying in his crib I bring him to bed with me. We lay there...pillow walls around us and snooze. Together. Little does he know that I make our noses touch and I watch him sleep. I inhale his exhale and we both drift away. The love I don't get during the day...I make up for at night. Also, I'd say it's time for another baby.
• We worked in the yard today. Luckily Andy has a green thumb. He also has a laundry thumb. Both of which I'm thankful for. I went outside in my work clothes and told him to point and tell me what to do. I did well on all the tasks when I could use a shovel or a watering can but when I had to actually dig in the dirt with my hands is when I pretended Colt needed attention and then I disappeared to the front porch for a bit. While planting perennials around our mailbox Andy told me to space them evenly and use some miracle grow [black dirt with white dots in it]...I told him I couldn't because, I just gave myself a french manicure and I'm trying to grow my nails out so I can scratch your back better [extra large grin]. He called me pathetic. I'll take it.

I'm not guaranteeing I'll be back tomorrow...or even the next day. It's too beautiful outside!

the plan

Our plan to be debt free...

In March of 2008 Andy and I took a Financial Peace University class through our church. Taking that class still stands as one of the best things we've done in our marriage. Dave Ramsey is the mastermind behind the class and the entire thinking of the program. He is a financial guru and through out our quest to be debt free he has been the voice in the back of our heads encouraging us along the way. I'm such a fan of Dave I feel as if he should be paying me. I tell everyone and anyone about our debt journey. Since taking the class I've set multiple family members up on a budget and I recently had two more people ask for our help to get them set up on a budget. I never thought I would be such a nerd about it all. I'm a fan of budgeting. I love seeing large chunks of our monthly payments go down. I know one day I'll love to see our wealth build. Budgeting is my crack, and I'm an addict.

When Andy and I were engaged we both worked and still lived with our parents. We decided it would be smart to save as much as we could before we got married. We started to tap into the saving side of ourselves. Little did we know then what we were truly capable of. We saved $11,000 in those 9 months before our wedding. In September of 2006, we purchased our 1st home. We didn't get married until January of 2007, so we used those 4 months to remodel our house and get it tweaked out before we actually moved in. That's when the projects began.

Did you guys know it's really freaking expensive to re-model a house? We knew it would be expensive but didn't realize how quickly it would add up. Before we knew it our savings was totally gone and our American Express and our Menards card was taking care of the rest. I don't remember how much we put on those two cards trying to finish up the remodeling...my guess is probably just shy of $10,000. Way to start off your marriage right? We both were working full time and we weren't stupid enough to keep spending [thank goodness], so we started to pay off our debt on our own...with out a real plan. We would send big chunks of money off to pay down the credit card and slowly the debt started to go away...until Fall of 07'. Our furnace died. Add another $5,600 to the total. We also got in a not-so-funny car situation and ended up having three car payment at once. Before you knew it we were enrolled in that class and started to learn how to managed our money...instead of our money managing us.

Remember when I talked about my relationship with Target? It's a love hate thing. I avoid going to Target at any and all costs because of little something I like to call, Temptation. It deserves to be capitalized. Target has a way of making you buy things you don't need. Many people now days struggle with this concept. I know I definitely have...What do I want vs. What do I need? It's hard to learn and even harder to follow through with.

Andy and I have been on a strict budget since March of 08. Our goal is to be debt free [with the exception of our house] by spring time next year. If we stick to the plan and follow through we will have paid of $31, 375 dollars in debt in two years. Debt free at the ages of 24 and 26 sounds pretty good to me. In that $30, 000 we will have paid off a Jeep, a Ford, a Honda and a furnace. So far we've knocked them all out but my Honda. In order to meet our goal of debt free by next spring we need to put an extra $833 dollar onto the principal of our car payment. That is a lot of extra money each month. Especially with living on a fire fighters income.

In order to bring that money in we've had to live with less, and work extra jobs. Andy works at the station but is also being paid to become a paramedic by the city. All the money he makes by going to school goes towards our budget. He also owns Andy's Lawn Care, a lawn mowing company. All that money goes towards our budget. He also gives plasma. All that money? Budget. I cook a few meals each week for my parents...all that money? Budget. I help make jewelry for Suellen Miller Designs. All that money? Budget. Andy asked for money for his birthday...all that money? Budget. Every single extra penny we bring each month goes to the budget. We're pretty black and white about it.

It definitely hasn't been an easy journey. There have been many times over the last year I just wanted to go to the store...see something I wanted...and buy it. Just because. I truly have had to rely on the Lord and ask for strength to keep doing the right thing. We're only half way through this journey and you'd think it would be easier to not be tempted. In some ways it is, but in others it's been really hard for us. Me especially.

Some of our best friends just got married in Florida. Rob married Kristy in March and Aaron married Tracy just a few weeks ago. You don't know who badly I wanted to open up a credit card, say screw it and go to Florida for the weekend. Around that same time all my aunts and uncles went to Florida for spring break with my cousins. Every day of that entire week I had to pray about it because I was so bitter and jealous. We work hard. We never see each other because Andy is doing everything in his power to bring in enough money so we can get this over with as soon as possible. I'm often lonely playing the single mom role. We deserve a break. We deserve a vacation. It's hard to do the right thing when you see everyone else having fun.

Around that time I ran across some sort of ancient proverb...I'm not exactly sure where I heard it but it helped me get back on focus...it's this, Adults devise a plan and see it through. Children do what feels good. Do I really want to just do what feels good? Or do I want to be responsible with the money God's given Andy and I? It's a choice everyday. I definitely have had my fair share of tears over it. Being responsible isn't always fun but I hope this time next year we can finally exhale knowing that we're debt free in our mid twenties. What an accomplishment that will be. I'm proud of us already because I know we'll get there. We're close. We can taste it.

Andy and I talk about going on a vacation all the time. After reviewing our budget the other day Andy leaned over to me and said, Just imagine...One day we'll be sitting on the beach...listening to the waves...basking in the sun...with no worries in the world. I agreed with him and made him swear that he was talking about a warm tropical setting and not just Lake Michigan. If he takes me to the dunes for our "we're debt free" get away there will be some major butt kicking to do.

I know times are hard for people right now and what a better time to be faithful with your money. Bite the bullet and get aggresive with it. You can do it. And remember...The most enjoyable experiences in life are free. At least that's what my Dove chocolate wrapper told me yesterday.

carrots in a cake

Tonight I turned down carrot cake. I just closed my eyes and remembered back to that one birthday I had when I ate carrot cake for dessert. Will power at it's finest.

i've got three days...

So I woke up at 2 a.m. to go rub Colt's head so he'd stop crying. I tried to get back to my dreams but instead I laid there for a really, really ridiculously long time staring at the ceiling, thinking of all sorts of random things. I finally gave up the fight when I started thinking about...What if someone breaks into my house? Where and how would they break in? What would my plan of action be? Is my cell phone charged? How fast can I dial 911? Which neighbors house would I run to? Will Andy let me get a gun and keep it in my nightstand? Then I looked at the clock and noticed it was almost 4 am. Sheesh! So here I am. Up.

Here is one of the things I spent the last two hours thinking about...

I'VE GOT THREE DAYS...to decide if I'm going to jump and watch the new season of The Bachelorette. Serious stuff running through my head, right? This is one of those shows you have to watch from start to nail-biting finish or you're just screwed. If you miss an episode you don't know what the heck's going on and what drama you missed last week. It's all or nothing.

Here are a few reasons I'm always hesitant to make the jump...

1. Who honestly falls in love with more than one person at once? Especially towards the end when they're like, I'm in love with two people...I have to choose who I'm going to spend the rest of my life with tomorrow at the final rose ceremony and I don't know what to do! The Bachelor/Bachelorette chooses someone and then they go home together...only to find out that in REAL LIFE they don't even really like each other! (i.e. Jason Mesnick - Let me take a second to defend Jason because if you watch the show...I know there are a lot of Jason-haters out there...BUT, until we've lived in this fake reality world, we can't point fingers and say he was wrong for changing his mind after he got back to the real world. He didn't know until it was too late and then he realized he made the wrong choice. You and I would have done the same thing and gotten away with it because we're not on national television. I did on the other hand feel bad for Melissa. Love hurts. She took a chance. However I don't feel bad for her anymore because she's a sexy little hottie-tottie dancer on Dancing With the Stars and she might win that show. Watch her in the finale on Tuesday night.)
2. The 'Fantasy Suite' gets me every time. I'm pretty sure I'm naive about what happens in the fantasy suite. I have just recently taken on the new thinking that they're probably not in there drinking hot chocolate and playing checkers. I have the old school thinking that you don't spend the night in a room called the 'Fantasy Suite' with every Tom, Dick and Harry that you meet. That's just me. In my head they're in there just hanging out, playing board games and telling jokes...naked. C'mon.
3. It's another show to add to my repertoire of shows. But I guess A.I & D.W.T.S & B.L. are over next week.

And here is why I'm probably going to watch it anyway...

1. Jillian is the new Bachelorette and she was on last seasons as one of the girls that The Bachelor was going for. He didn't go for her...well, I mean, he did...but he didn't choose her. She is sweet as can be and who doesn't love to see a happy ending? I want her to find love. Not sure if she'll be able to find it on this show...but I'm going to watch it like a train wreck and keep my fingers crossed.
2. I listen to music all day [which inhances creativity] and watch the Food Network [where I get good recipes] and therefore I allow myself one show a night to turn my brain back into mush.
3. And...
4. Because I can.

Now is your time to come out of the closet. You watching? Yes? No? Maybe So?

the professor

the lilac bush

I pick at least 5-6 extra large bouquets of lilacs every few days to put in my house or to give away. Right now I have...

1 bouquet in my spare bathroom

1 on my night stand

1 in my kitchen

1 sitting right under my nose in my office.

You should smell my house. It's magical.

Question...Is it stealing if I'm not quite sure if the bush is on my property or my neighbors? It's like half way? And they can't even see them...And I typically groom the bushes so that they come back fuller every year. I treat them like they're mine...BUT, still not really sure if they are or not.

You guys want some? Seriously, I'll help you pick them. I have good cutters in the garage.

the wave

Colt showing off his new trick and Copper getting sassy. Just another day in the life of me...

it's a good day

So far this morning I've been thankful for two things...their sort of unrelated but too good not to share.

First) The other day I mentioned to Spencer and his girlfriend, Susanna that I loved sunflowers and I wanted to used them for Mom and Dad's party but they were too pricey. End of story. We moved on. Yesterday Spencer said he had a little something for me for Mothers day. I'm not even his MOM! [see picture below]. The best part about this gift is not the flowers itself but the fact that my brother has such a sweet heart. He listens. He bought these for me because he knew I mentioned that I loved them and he thought it would bless my heart. He is a gem! What a good husband he'll make someday! I'm so lucky and thankful to have such an great brother. Thank you Jesus!
Secondly) I had a rough night last time. Colt is getting lots of teeth all at once. He has a really bad fever all night last night. He's having trouble with his peepee and it just seemed like everything was happening at once. I had spent all morning with him trying to make him happy and as I let the dog in from outside I stopped and was in awe by the view of my backyard. I thanked God out loud and just stood there for a minute. Look at what God has given us today? Look at the sky. It's like he took his paint brush and just paint the clouds in the sky just for me. So beautiful. Instantly everything was going to be okay. I don't know what it is but I feel so close to God when I see something like that. It's like he's saying, I'm still here. I hear him whisper that in the winter especially. When everything is so beautiful, quiet and white. Almost makes me want to cry. Thank you Jesus!

my masha

Happy Mom's Day Mom!

A few reasons my mom is awesome...


1. Her heart. Over the years I've learned so much from watching her. She has a heart for people. She truly cares for the less fortunate. She gives what she has without thinking twice. She used to work closely with the Make A Wish foundation and would always bring her MAW kids' situations into our lives. We would go and and grant wishes with my parents. She wanted to make sure we knew how important it was to show love to others. For years and years before we went and had our Thanksgiving feast with our families she would call the Center for The Homeless and let them know the Michael family would be there to serve Thanksgiving Dinner. We showed up and served...every year. Hair nets and all.

2. Cheap Fun. She taught us that you can have fun and make memories with out having money. When we were young the Fed Ex Plane [aka. The Big Purple Plane] would fly out of our local airport at 11pm at night. So we would pack up our station wagon with snacks and blankets...drive out to the airport...lay on top of the hood of our car and watch the plane fly by. When Andy and I were dating I told him if he ever want to take me on a good date. He should pack up a picnic basket and take me to the air port.

3. Her faith. She has listened to the Lord and lived her life for him. I remember when ever I had a try out for a team or a big test in school as she dropped me off she would grab my hand and pray for me out loud. It was significant. It mattered and I remembered it.

4. Her sense of humor. Growing up my Dad worked nights so it was just Mom, Spence and I all the time. We would have fashion shows. Spencer and I [yes...I said Spencer] would dress up in her old beauty pageant gowns and have our own Miss. America Pageant. She would be the judge. Then Spencer and I would make her do the talent portion of the Pageant. We would turn on some classical music and she would pull a ballet routine out of her butt and make us laugh until we cried.

The list goes on and on...

Love you Momma!

run forest run

Over the past 4 years I have signed myself up for a few 5K's. I've ran them. Well, can you call it running when you say, 'let's run to the next light pole...' then I walk for .25 of a mile, get ambitious and say, 'let's run to that red mail box...'. There is without a doubt more walking than running. But I'm a heifer....what can I say?

Luckily my Aunt Missy or my friend Missy...has ran all these 5k's with me. She is much less of a heifer than I, but still runs like one :) We refuse to sign up for any races unless we swear we'll run with each other for moral support and so we can look like losers together when we cross the finish line with a time of 46 mins. That time is not an exaggeration. We're a solid 15 minute miler. Actually today we ran a mile in 17 mins. But it was cold, rainy and windy. All the odds were against us.

It's always bad when you're running a 5k and you see a 90 year old man, who resembles the hunch back of Notre Dame, pass you by at lightening speed. Or the 5 year old who's taggin along with his mom and he leaves you in the dust.

The Sunburt is in a month and Missy and I are running it. Our best time was 38mins. She wants to beat our best time. I love how we haven't ran in forever and give ourselves 4 weeks to train. I just want to finish. This will be my 6th race. Makes me sound athletic doesn't it?

When I run, and my legs are burning and my left lung is about to jump out of my chest and play dead on the side of the road...I think this...If 400+ fat people can run on the biggest looser WHY CAN'T I? Then I remember they have a Jillian and I don't. BUT, at least I'm doing it!

Missy said she thinks about meat and potatoes and how yummy they are when she runs. I guess a big pot roast is what gets her focused and going.

When you're running or working out, what do you think about?

how many licks does it take...?

Tonight I let Colt have a tootsie pop sucker. He didn't eat the whole thing just licked it for a while. Imagine tasting sugar for the very first time. I'll bed his taste buds were dancing.
Sugar Crash. Colt took a nap with his Uncle Penter.So...How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?

the clapper

My son is a genius. The end.

i like to schwing

candy striped/shag

Following my last post I'll keep on the subject of home decor...
Would you rather...
a. Have every wall in your house be white and red striped?
OR
b. Have your entire house covered in white and red shag carpet from the 60's?

tur dur!

In my other life [the one where I used to get up to a alarm clock and actually make decisions other than, 'Should I gave him Blueberry Buckle...or Squash for lunch??']...I worked for Sofa Select, a local furniture store. My title was the Visual Merchandiser. Sounds fancy but pretty much I was in charge of bring new merchandise to the showroom floor and making it look schnazzy. It was an awesome job.

I also got to travel with the owners to Market in North Carolina twice a year to help come up with the new line up/fabrics for the upcoming season and to also buy accessories, rugs, lamps and artwork. It was a blast...and even more fun because you were spending $25,000 of someone else's money! Someone remind me why I quit???? No, as fun as it was, rolling around with my buddy boy far out weighs the joys of any job out there. It's true!

So in true designer fashion I change my house around all the time. I'm constantly switching lamps back and forth...swapping that artwork for this one and just changing up the look. I get bored quite easily. And that's what I've had fun doing the last few days. It's been a blast and Andy doesn't ever question it. I used to ask his opinion of how my decor looked and he'd always say, 'You're the one that gets paid to do it...Why are you asking me?' Now when I ask him he answers my question with a question, 'Are you still asking my opinion...you know I don't have one'. So I just do what I want and we're all happy.

Welcome to my living room! Feel free to relax and take a seat just don't mess up my pillow arrangement.

See I bought the orange curtains and the peacock curtains because I wasn't sure which way I wanted to go. I'd put a poll up on here to see what all you think...but I'm not that savvy and in my heart of hearts I just gotta go with the peacock. I'm returning the orange. I'm sure one day I'll be sick of the peacock because they're trendy and when that happens...I'll just go buy some more :) This is me. Getting really excited about pillows and such.Now go spruce up your house!

Switch around your rugs and your lamps.

Paint your living room Apple Green or Purple.

Purple is the new beige.

Do something fancy and unexpected.

I think you just might like it.

it's may 3rd now...

And I'm still talking about May 1st. So here are the pictures from my bday extravaganza. Here we go. This may or may not be...but definitely is the longest post ever.

Friday morning I woke up to find two cards on my table. The 'wifey' one made me cry and the 'mommy' one made me laugh because Colt signed his own name [with the help of big daddy] and then I cried because he's almost 8 months old and growing too fast. I'm sappy.

Then after making Colt's breakfast and looking out my front window I found a brand new pink hanging basket on my front porch. Also for me...also from my hubby...also made me really happy. He's good at giving me little surprises that fill my heart up.The last night we went to Tabor Hill and Oh my word...if you want some good food...you should go there. Wow. So good. Lane & Laurie, and Kaley & Rob graced us with their presence and we had lots of good times. Here I am with my hottie husband.Laurie and Lane. This is right after Lane made some origami out of his dinner napkin. I will not be mentioning what he crafted with his skills...all I can say is Laurie was embarrassed and told him to hide it. Kaley & Rob. Getting their dessert on. Because the baby's gotta eat!The view of the Vineyard from our table. So pretty!I wore the light fixture as a hat. It was just my size. XXXL.

Good times people. GOOD TIMES!

i like may 1st

Yesterday was my birthday. I'm one year away from turning 25...which is 5 years from 30...which means I'm practically 30. Which really means I'm 24.

My perfect day would have been relaxing and spending it with Andy but the amount of fun I had with out Andy made my day worth re-living if given the chance. Not because I was with out him...but because of what I did...Uh huh. It's was good.

I went shopping!!!!!!!!! Ya see, I love to shop and haven't gotten to do so in quite some time. We've been on a tight budget and so to fight off the temptation to shop my solution is to never leave my house. Which works. But yesterday, I feel into temptation and just bought things...and Oh Oh Oh did it feel good.

I asked all my In-laws and Out-laws for money for my birthday. They were afraid that if I got money for my birthday that I would put it towards our debt snowball. And in order to make sure I spent my money on things I wanted for my birthday and not do the financially smart thing with it...I had to have a chaperone go shopping with me. Which was one of the best chaperone experiences ever...I went with my sis-in-law, Krystle!

I wish someone would have video taped our day of shopping...then made a video...and put everything is fast-forward...and added some crazy clown music. We shopped for 5 hours. 5 hours people! Abe Lincoln's and Benjamin Franklin's were flying everywhere. We had that Honda loaded down. Employee's at Pier One were wondering if I wanted to just stay the night. It was craziness. It was the most fun I've hand since Spencer rode my picket fence.

I bought lots of clothes. All but 1 piece was on sale...and I got it all at Walmart. Don't be a hater. If I didn't tell ya, you would have never known. Then we were on a mission to find curtains and pillows for my living room. This is where things get a little backwards. I refuse to spend more than $15 on a pair of pants at Walmart...yet I spent $34 PER PANEL on new curtains from Pier One. I need four panels. Yikes. Don't do the math. I've refused to do it so far and have still remained excited.

After scoping out the curtains in about twenty different stores I went back to the first pair I saw at Pier One. I now believe in 'Love at first sight'. They are bright blue, shiny, and have peacock feathers all over them. I also bought lots of pillows in all different colors and patterns. Seeing it all together one might think that I'm insane. But I'm going to rock the bohemian look. Lots of different colors...nothing really matches...bright blue peacock feather curtains...and yes I'm keeping my red leather sofa. I figure if anyone can pull it off...it's me. I wish I would have had a camera when I got home though. Andy's mom and grandma were watching the baby for me and to see Grandma Betty's face when I pulled out my peacock feather curtains was priceless.

I had a great birthday. After my shopping extravaganza we went to my parents house for chips and salsa...watched The Office...and had a competition to see who could make the longest fart noise with out taking a breath. Mom won. Then Spencer beat her...but he had to try like 5 times. He lasted 40 seconds if you'd like to try and beat him.

Last night while walking past Colt he lunged his arms out for me. That was sweet and a birthday treat in and of itself. Tonight we're going to Tabor Hill, getting a tour of the winery and doing some wine tasting...then dinner with some friends. More importantly I'll be holding the hand of my hot hubby.

Life is good man.

Happy Birthday to me.

p.s. I'll post pictures of my new bohemian set up once it's all dazzled up.