Back (again.)  So, I have moved back to Glendive, started working at Head Start again, and am considering going back to school.  I have had exactly no time for the crafts I love, but seem to have more requests than ever.  I don't know how on earth I plan on keeping it up, but I guess time will tell!  At least the living situation is good - I am loving sharing a house with Ben and Anissa - their family is so cute and they seem to have their heads screwed on straight.

On another front, I have started doing surveys through a website called swagbucks - I have already gotten paid $10 for a minimum amount of work.  Awesome!  I am also enjoying being a BzzAgent - I get to try things (free) and just spread the word - did I like it?  Did I hate it?  Did it fall apart in the first five minutes of use?  Was it the greatest thing I've seen in my life?!

Overall everything is going to work out great because it can.  And I have the best family to help me make it work.  Finally, a parting shot of my baby, growing older everyday...  and no I don't mean the cow.

New blog...

For anyone who's been wondering, I have a new blog.  It is my crafty side.  If you are interested, just look for me at http://erikasarts.blogspot.com/ and come see what crafty stuff I have in store... 

Other than all of that, I got new tires for my car, only to find out that one of my rim's is cracked - must be fixed or replaced.  So, I had to drive home from Dickinson on a donut, in a snowstorm at 50mph with no wipers, as they seem to be out as well.  What a great day for a drive!  (At least we made it ok, and before the worst of the storm.)  The family seems to be doing well, but my phone is a piece of junk.  It randomly makes calls, or just loses them.  Sometimes it doesn't ring.  Sometimes when I call my hubby I reach his mom.  Or the school.  Or a restaurant.  Just anyone in my phonebook, really.  I so can't wait for my new phone from AT&T.  At least I'll have a little while to decide if I want to keep my service.  Hopefully any problems will show up before I have to make my final decision...

I hate winter.

Really, I do.  Winter blows.  Especially in North Dakota.  As in the wind is always howling across the prairie, snow drifting into my driveway, truck and car both getting stuck anytime we try to leave the house.  And I'll tell you right now it's a dang good thing that I love my husband so much because it's his fault I'm here.  I would be living in Oregon or Washington right now if it weren't for him loving his job and wanting to be close to his family...

Ok, so really it has worked out better this way - we were able to help Cody out when he needed it, can visit with the family when we want and have built an awesome sense of community in living somewhere so... small.  I actually know people who serve on the city council!  I know the mayor!  I know most of my neighbors, and most of the people in my neighborhood!  (None of these things are meant to sound prestigious - everyone can pretty much say the same thing after living here for two weeks.)

The point is, sometimes we need to be happy with mediocrity.  Sometimes good enough just is.  And sometimes we need to look around us and see with open eyes the things we have been missing and taking for granted.  With that being said, I hope that you go out and do something great for someone else today, and in the experience find that it was good for you too.

Falling off the wagon...

Bet you all thought you'd never hear from me again!  You should be so lucky!  Really, I don't think I've had a week this busy since I moved to Beach.  Even surgery week wasn't this crazy.  So, as you can guess, with a crazy week I haven't had much time for crafting, canning or anything else pertaining to myself or my home.  I did work on a doily I am making, but honestly it could have been done in a day if I had the time to sit down and do it!

I did get to go to garage sales yesterday with Lynn, and had a GREAT time!  I got a real deal on BHG's "Hip Knits" book as well as several others, got a new food dehydrator, some exercise equipment for this winter, and multiple other treasures.  It was really crazy going to some of these sales and hearing people say, "What is THAT?" knowing full well myself that it was a salad spinner.  Who can't identify a salad spinner?!  Is this what it's come to?  C'est la vie!

Mawwage...

I am so excited! Jason and Christina are getting married in December! I won't be the only daughter in law anymore, but I'm willing to share my title as long as it's with someone cool... lol! But really, It hasn't been an awesome week - the car died (again), my furnace is broken (again) and I am nervous about my "employee review." But getting the news about the marriage just made my YEAR! I am very happy for both of them, and for little Mackenzie.

I really hope it all goes well for them! Meanwhile, back at the farm (ha,ha) I am baking up a storm to try to keep the house warm. And I am venting the dryer into the house. All showers are to be taken with the door open and anything else I can think of to keep it nice and liveable in here... It's not really as bad as it sounds - the really nice MDU guy came and brought me two space heaters for us to use over the weekend... Thank goodness for the power guy!

Keeping Us In Stitches

We spent a wonderful weekend in Glendive visiting family and friends. Jason came down to Glendive to help his girlfriend, Christina and her daughter Makenzie move into his mom's house, so we planned an impromptu trip. We all spent the night at mom's, and everything went very well... Until we went home.

About 3 hours after we got home, Adrian cut his foot open. The cut wasn't long, but it was DEEP. Like bones and muscles deep. EEEWWW. So, I had to call Mike at work to come and give us the car so we could go BACK to Glendive to the ER. IN THE MEAN TIME, there was all sorts of drama at work with the kids, so the night just never got any better. Since I had the car, I had to go out to pick up Mike and Gno. Needless to say, there was much talking and general carousing going on at work, so I didn't get home and into bed until midnight. And then got up at four to get ready for work... The girls thought I was going to pass out during the breakfast prayer... Al because of a couple of stitches... (ONE, actually.)

I'm Back

Wow! It's been a long week! I can't beleive all of the car business and family "stuff" that has gone on!

My aunt Cindy in OR got ahold of me yesterday and we were able to visit for a little while. It was awesome to hear from her, since we don't get to see eachother very much. (It's been a couple years...)


I've been trying to work with my guitar a little more - progress stalled a couple months back, and I have since decided that I need to get back on the band wagon. I bought the "Learn and Master Guitar" series from Legacy Learining. VERY worth the money. Steve Krenz is AWESOME to learn guitar from. My falling off the band wagon was NO fault of his, or of the instructional material. I just got lazy...

Tommorow is "Trunk-Or-Treating" at church, and I'm really looking forward to taking the kids. I have to get their costumes ready tonight, so I guess that means it's time to commit to something.