The Furley Chainsaw Massacre

We went to the farm today & Ryan decided he would try to cut down one of the old dead cedar trees. I wasn't sure he was going to be able to do it with the little chainsaw but it ended up being the Furley Chainsaw Massacre! After what seemed like forever the tree finally came down. He thinks that he is going to pull it over by the fire pit & cut little chunks out of it to make it into a bench but I was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to pull it over there with fourwheeler so I said we'd better save that for next time.

I think the best part of the whole day was lounging around in our portable Coleman hammock! The sun was shining & I it was great just lying down, taking a nice little nap while Ryan was out getting muddy on the fourwheeler. But, I have to say that I do miss riding!

Kasey had a fun day too...as always, she loves the farm! But now it is time to go home :)

A Very Merry Christmas & Birthday

Happy happy Christmas & Birthday...

This was an unusual year for us with Ryan's new job & me not working & the baby & all...mostly because that allowed us to have several days off that we could spend with family & just having fun! Ryan doesn't work on the weekends & he had Monday off work because of Christmas on Tuesday so we had a long weekend available to spend however we wanted! Our usual Christmas schedule consists of us rushing off to one family or another to spend the day or maybe an overnight stay & then rushing back home again to get to work...this was a nice relief for a change. This was our year to spend Christmas day with Ryan's family...we alternate every other year...so we decided that we would spend the weekend in Great Bend & take the Jeep & the fourwheelers down to the river (we thought we really needed to try out the new Warn bumpers & winch that Ryan got for Christmas!).

Well, Ryan's Christmas party for work was on Friday night & I'll tell you that was quite a night...not because the party was so good (although I hear it was great)...but because we had an interesting experience at our house that led to us going to the emergency room & missing the party! Basically I pulled a no-brainer while I was getting ready to go & fell off my perch and onto the bathroom floor where I proceeded to be in intense pain from twisting my ankle & back. As I was sitting there in tears I began to have some cramping (thankfully it was most likely due to my back being pulled in all different directions when I fell) in my abdomen & we decided that we'd better go in to see the doc & make sure everything was ok...I was pretty sure that I had only sprained my ankle & not broken it, but I figured it couldn't hurt to have that checked out. Of course we were both devastated that we weren't going to be able to attend the Christmas party...especially with it being Ryan's first year with the company...he was super pissed & embarrassed. Plus, we were supposed to be picking up a co-worker to ride to the party with us so the whole night just ended up being a mess! At least everything went ok at the hospital. They hooked me up to a monitor & watched the baby for signs of stress...checked the fetal heartbeat, which we got to listen to for about an hour...and things calmed down after awhile. By the time they were done checking on the baby my ankle had started to feel quite a bit better & they said I could go home & take it easy for the rest of the weekend.

On Saturday we were supposed to go with some new friends to a restaurant in Wichita but with the nasty icy weather that plan was soon to be postponed. I hadn't been feeling well all day anyway because my abdomen ached & I just generally felt crappy. It turns out that the group decided to have dinner at one of their houses nearby so we ended up going there for a nice little impromptu dinner party. We had an excellent meal - awesome appetizers, pheasant & wild rice soup, dessert - it was just delicious & a real good time overall. You never would have guessed that it all came together in one day...it was like a gourmet feast!

We went to Great Bend on Sunday...if you had seen all the stuff we took with us you would have laughed your butts off...Ryan drove the Tahoe (packed full of Christmas presents) & pulled the trailer with 3 fourwheelers on it and Kasey & I drove the Jeep...once we got everything loaded up we were thinking that we must be insane! All this just to have a little fun at the river!

I think that everyone was pretty excited for Christmas this year...I know the dog & our little baby were anyway! Kasey always enjoys visiting people & its even better when she gets to open presents! The baby was soooo active with all the kicking and the moving around...like a little Ninja in there! He really likes to act up & party hard about the time I lie down to go to sleep, but this week he was awake a lot...while we were driving in the car, while I was just kickin back & relaxin on the couch...just about whenever the mood would strike him!

I did go down to the river & took a ride in the Jeep on Monday...that was pretty fun but I cringe every time we go through the trees & hear that horrible screeching sound of the brush rubbing against the vehicle...ugh...not something you really want to do in a brand new vehicle but everything was a-ok! Not one scratch...but we did have to hook up the winch when we got stuck in a muddy corner & got trapped in by the trees! Yeah, GO PREPARED!

My family decided to have Christmas on the 25th after all & since Ryan's family was having Christmas that morning we decided that we would try to make it to Topeka that afternoon...our plan was a hectic one but we thought we could make it without having to rush. We had a great Christmas celebration & some wonderful food & then loaded up & headed out...had to stop at our house to drop off the fourwheelers and the Jeep & pick up more presents...so we didn't get into town until late evening. By that time my Grandfather was ready to go to bed so we had an impromptu Christmas celebration at my oldest sister's house & decided that we would visit my Grandpa the next day.

The only problem was that on Wednesday morning (my birthday!) Ryan woke up feeling hot & feverish with some kind of crud so Sam & I went to my Grandfather's for a visit and Ryan stayed in bed. We were talking to my Grandfather & he said that it was too bad that Ryan was sick but, "at least he got his crops in!" (refering to the baby); Samantha & I just looked at each other & laughed. We were talking about when the baby is due & he said that it sure would be great if he came on April Fools Day...that is his wedding anniversary...I said I think that the baby had better stay in there until May! Ryan was pretty bummed to be sick because we wanted to go out to eat for my b-day & we were going to check out one of the fourwheeler stores in town - plus, its never fun to be sick, especially when you don't have your own bed to sleep in! But never fear, the fam-damily is here! Rachelle made a chocolate cake & Mark & I got to celebrate our birthdays together at their house. We've only been celebrating our birthdays together for like the last 50 years or something :) Once we had eaten up all the ice cream we headed back home to recuperate!

This ain't no picnic in the park...

Yep, here I am awake @ 3 am again...thankfully I am not waking every morning exactly @ 3:30 am anymore; now it varies anywhere from 2:30 - 5:30! Wonderful. The difference is that now I seem to have this uncontrollable hunger that must be satisfied shortly after waking. Although I guess I'm a slow learner because without a doubt I will get up, pee, go back to bed, lie there for a little while, then finally realize that I really have to get up and eat/drink something! I'll figure it out one of these mornings.

I invested in this big pink polkadot fuzzy robe & I am certain that it is one of God's most beautiful creations. It really is one of the wonders of the world! I am not being overly ecstatic when I say that it is sooooo soft & comfy that I could almost wear it all the time. Actually, I have been wearing it prettymuch all the time since I got it - to Ryan's great dismay...sorry, but this is not the last we'll be seeing of the big fuzzy pink robe.

Yesterday Ryan's work crew had a BBQ picnic in the park to celebrate their 5 years in business & to get all the employees & their families together. It was a really nice gathering. Much better than those white trash Holm Automotive functions we used to go to! Just goes to show that your momma was always right to say that the people you hang out with reflect on you & your good/bad choices! It makes a big difference in the quality of the gathering when you surround yourself with people of quality. I am not saying that some people are more worthy of a certain status than others, I am just saying that some people have much lower standards for what they believe is fun. It's a totally different crowd when you gather a bunch of people who are obviously on this planet to seek knowledge & empower others than when you gather a bunch of people who are just here to get drunk & bad mouth their co-workers as if they've never moved past puberty!

We are getting a little farther on the organization/settling in thing with the house. We got sprinklers now, yea, & our grass is not far off! They should be putting in our sod in another couple of weeks. Ryan worked in the basement yesterday & we prettymuch have everything put away down there. He tried to clean up some of the sheetrock dust & the filter fell off his shop vac & made an even bigger mess of the house...there was a cloud of dust upstairs that looked like the Dust Bowl was making its way through our home. Of course the downstairs was like a fog. But, got that fixed & made a dent in the issue...then he got out the mop & started cleaning the floors & I think that really helped a lot! Now that all the dirt has settled I need to go back & re-clean everything...have I ever mentioned that I really HATE dust!?! It's good to finally get things where they belong. Now, if we can just sell the house in Abilene so we can bring the rest of our furniture down then that would be great!

On Saturday we went back out to the farm. Another beautiful fall day. We met Ryan's cousin & his girlfriend & her son out there & we hung out & rode the fourwheelers through the trees. Brandon drove his truck through the pond...it had to be done! We built a fire pit & a little bench in this open area under the Walnut trees. We can't wait to get back out there & roast some weenies & marshmallows! Ryan took the chainsaw to a few trees back in the creek & made some awesome trails! Again, we can't wait for the time when all our friends & family can come out and share in the beautiful, peaceful, relaxing environment.

Semper fi!

The Magnificent Expanding Miracle

We went to the KSU v Baylor game this weekend, the most important thing I discovered about going to the game didn't really have anything to do with the game at all though...it had much more to do with the jeans I was wearing. I have recently discovered that although my scale says I weigh the same as usual (which just cannot be right...it seems like I must be gaining weight with all the food I'm eating!) that my pants disagree! So, I searched around for a small rubberband to put around my buttonhole - with no luck - and walked around all day with my top button unbuttoned! Ahhh; yes mom, I am turning into you :) Apparently this is going to be the situation for awhile because there is no way I will be able to fit into a size 5 pant at this point; I would just swim in it & I'm certain it would be quite amusing to see me walking down the street "sagging" with my pants halfway down my crack. So now I am thinking that this little baby better get going with the growing because if I have to buy bigger clothes then I might as well be significantly BIGGER! ha

And I must say that in respect to the BIGGER arena...this boob thing is just ridiculous! I mean really, this is just the beginning & things are already starting to overflow, I was expecting some changes but seriously...anyway, you don't want to hear about all that!

At least I am not vomiting or having morning (all-day) sickness anymore. Mostly I am just more tired than usual. It seems like I am moving from my spicy/salty cravings into a sweets cravings zone. Except last night I probably could have eaten an entire can of diced tomatoes if I had the chance...instead I made meat sauce for pasta & mostly just devoured the sauce. I am still enjoying fruits a lot...grapes are especially good & Ryan keeps making fun of me for buying/eating baby food like the plums (of course I've always liked those) and the peach cobbler, etc.

So the big open house & live radio remote went really well in Abilene last Thursday. I drove up and got some fresh flowers for the house & hung out for awhile to see how things we going. I wasn't planning on staying through the open house because I didn't want people to feel uncomfortable looking at the house with the owner there - but no one even noticed. There were 47 people that went through, but no offers yet. I got really light headed & hot while I was standing in the kitchen & started seeing spots...thought I might pass out...how embarassing! Then I realized that I hadn't had a snack for a couple of hours & I had left my bottle of water in the car. Drank 1/2 a bottle of water & had some candy & started feeling much better.

Yesterday Ryan & I took the Jeep & two fourwheelers to the farm & had a really great day. We drove the Jeep around the pasture & through the pond - got it the dirtiest it has ever been since we bought it! Mud on the roof and everything! Of course we washed it as soon as we got home :) Then Ryan drove me around very slowly & carefully on the Kawasawki. We checked out all the areas where we can make trails and drive through the creek...it is absolutely awesome! I think we are going to build a little fire pit back in this open clearing near the trees. We can't wait to get a chainsaw & start clearing some of the brush so we have some better paths. There are some great areas where you can ride through the creek that are just sand & barely any water! Perfect conditions for loads of fun! We just wish that all our riding friends lived closer so we can go out all the time & ride with them. I am sure that we will have some good times soon though.

Kasey had a great time running around the farm too! She participated in the muddin experience & she loved running through the creek. She was sooooo tired by the time we were done though. It turned out to be a beautiful day...the weather was pretty comfortable with jackets. Being out there just made me want to get busy with the house plans & get that thing built!

Ryan stopped for half a second for a picture...he just got done getting the fourwheeler out of the creek where the icky nasty quicksand-like stuff sucked him into a gunky pit!