Sticks & Stones

I slightly flabbergasted as I look to my previous post and realize that it has been two weeks since I last posted. Goodness! It has been quite a two weeks though, and I'll do my best to catch up.

As most of you know, Josh & I live in the Copperhill area. We drive Hwy 64 everyday to and from work, and if you've kept a close eye on the news, we've had a disruption to our regular route.

http://www.wdef.com/bonus_video_rock_slide_in_polk_county_caught_on_tape

Since the rock slide, we have been detouring & displaced. A lot of our time has been spent living in Cleveland. But, on the few nights (such as last night) that we do go home, we end up with an hour and forty-five minute drive versus our usual 45 minutes. We usually go around to Tellico, and we tried a different route through Ellijay last night. Overall, the rock slide is a big pain, but we are very grateful that no one was hurt, and also that we have family to stay with to help ease the driving. Me, Josh & our cats (who have been fawning all over us since we've been home) will be especially happy when the road *hopefully* reopens mid-January.

Admittedly, boulders, stones, & trees blocking a passageway are a pain. But, they shallow in comparison to what Josh has been experiencing this past week. Josh has his first kidney stone. He's been in agony since Tuesday, and thankfully the doctor has given him some STRONG medicine to help him deal with it. He had an ultrasound on Thursday that showed it almost to the bladder, so we're praying that it will pass soon! Please pray for him. Not only does he want it out so he can be pain-free without medicine, but we also leave for Disney on Thanksgiving night, which means he'll need to have it out before then.

So, I haven't blogged much between extra travel, packing, & caring for Josh. On top of that, I've had some extracurricular things going on.

Adore Creations is officially up & running, and I've been making earrings. I posted a few of them below, but overall I have about 40-50 pair already for sale. If you're interested in buying anything you see, or you need me to make a custom pair, contact me through adorecreations@gmail.com Cost currently varies from $4 - $10. I'll be doing a giveaway on here sometime in the next month too, so please leave me feedback on colors & styles that you might like to see in a giveaway! I realize not everyone wears earrings, so eventually I might aim for selling bracelets or necklaces. Don't look for those anytime soon though. lol.

On top of the busyness of everything else we do, we are hosting both our families at the house for Thanksgiving. I'm excited about this, but I realized that with our crazy schedule over the next months (including a week at Disney right after Thanksgiving), and our lack of being home in general, that we had to get the house decorated for Christmas & cleaned up STAT!

So....

Mistletoe.
Our tree.

A Christmas village.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (movie) figurines

Decorations new & old

Snowmen sitting above the fireplace which holds the Christmas village.

A friendly Christmas mouse peering from the doorknow of the pantry.

An advent calendar from childhood.

Our carolers, Ne'Qwa ornaments, & WillowTree figurines (aka "the faceless beasts", according to Josh).

A closeup of Ne'Qwa, safely tucked away high on a shelf since they are not only precious gifts from family, but also expensive due to the way they are handpainted.

The reason for the season! Our nativity, proudly displayed. Also, a quilt given to us by Pattie B. for a wedding gift.

Part of our tradition, watching Christmas movies. I'm sure you know who this is!

Lastly, a few ornaments, to commemorate our honemoon last year. This Sunday, the 22nd, marks our 1st anniversary. I'm looking forward to being back at Disney World soon!

And in case you didn't know...Happy Birthday to me!

I'm 26 years old today, and I have enjoyed being home for my birthday. I told Josh that my best gift to receive this year would be for him to pass that stone that is plaguing him!

Make sure to check back on my blog later tonight, when I'll be posting night pictures of the Christmas lights outside, the tree, & the village! Josh did a great job of decorating the outside of the house whil I worked on the inside this year. He is also my hero who puts the tree together & fluffs it every year before I decorate it with ornaments.

Now, it's off to do some Disney packing & homework!

What have I been up to?

It's late, as usual. Josh & I have been extremely busy the past few weeks either doing things at home or staying late in town. Here's some pictures of what we've been up to.

We have a new KING-SIZED bed! It's an upgrade from our queen, and quite huge, but we couldn't resist this one of a kind frame. We plan to expand the cabin a few years down the road, and then we'll build a bigger bedroom to fit it.

If rearranging the bedroom to fit a bigger bed, shopping for a new mattress, arranging to have the frame delivered & assembled didn't take enough time...then there's my newest venture.

Turning these....
Into these...

Adore Creations Jewelry will be available for sale starting next week. I'll be charging $4 - $8 for earrings. So far I have about 40 made. The ones in the picture above just don't have their ear wires yet.

Why Adore? My middle name was Dorene before taking on my maiden name. So Amanda (A) and Dorene (dore), equal Adore.

Also purchased from the same man who made our bed, is our new porch swing.

The woodcrafter's name is Jeff, and I'm more than happy to pass on his contact information if anyone is interested in having him make you some furniture. Beautiful stuff, and quite reasonably priced.

Last but not least, we've been a little indulgent on candy & goofiness lately, so here's a few pictures from October.

Wacky Wednesday at work

We were "diaper inspectors" for a daycare at a murder mystery hosted by Josh's Sunday School co-teacher & her husband.

Have a great rest of your weekend!

So many pictures, so little time

I have been very "camera happy" lately, and yet again it is late in the evening, so I will leave sharing the Pigeon Forge trip with you until next time. Today was one of those days where I did some housework, rested, did some more housework, rested, and so on. When I finally sat down to blog, I got distracted by Disney pins, so here I am tired, ready for bed, and leaving more for next time.

I've got good news before sharing pictures. Yesterday I received my acceptance letter for the MAT program at Lee, so I'm officially in! Now comes the fun part...financial aid & setting a schedule. Wheeeee.

The cool air has the cats feisty, so I took the time to head out on the front porch with them and take some shots. They were also very interested in "white kitty", the male cat who hangs around the outside of the cabin. We can't tell if he is a neighbor's cat who is interested in the scraps we throw out, or if he is just a feral cat interested in food. I also have some pictures of some bugs that have been hanging around. And a view of the mountains from the other night. I'll have to post more pictures of the fall scenery another night. I'm sleepy!

We are dog sitting this weekend. Meet Gracie. It's been fun having her around. Especially seeing a 3 pound dog chasing around all of our cats who are much bigger than she is.

Computers, the necessary evil.

My computer doesn't like me this evening. Instead of loading my pictures at an acceptable speed, it is being quite slow, and rather annoying. So, since it's late, I'll simply leave you with a few pictures from this evening. Josh & I went for church directory pictures tonight, and since we were "gussied up" for the pictures, we took advantage of scenery in front of the church. Thanks to my mom for taking the pictures for me! Thanks to Lavonda for doing a great job trimming & fixing my hair!

I'll post more over the weekend. I still have pictures from Pigeon Forge, pictures I took of the cats, plus updates on grad school. I'm currently waiting for a letter in the mail...

Hope you all enjoy your Friday! I'm subbing 8:30 - 6:00 PM tomorrow, half of the time in the PDO program, and half the time in the CDC, so I should be plenty tired by the time we have Crafter's Night 6:00 - 9:00 PM. At least we have Saturday off! Housework here I come.

Sunday Night

Regretfully, the time tonight when I would usually sit down to tell you about my fantastic weekend in Pigeon Forge is being used to do homework. I have an essay on goals due tomorrow night, and it's almost finished, so I will return to it shortly. I will post about my weekend sometime soon (hopefully), and with it I will include some pictures. My best guess is I'll have time on Tuesday.

My upcoming week is busy!

Monday: Work, Gym, Birthday party for Jenny
Tuesday: Work, Home=Laundry, Cooking, & Cleaning
Wednesday: Work, Church/Work
Thursday: Work, Hair appointment, Directory Pictures
Friday: Substituting, Crafter's Night

Have a great week!

Weekend Update

Honestly, I was going to post a lot tonight. But then...I cuddled with my husband on the couch and watched SNL skits with him on the laptop. Now, if I had gotten the chance to post back when I intended to, I would have talked more about how I'm realizing everyday the importance of cherishing loved ones & being appreciative of what I have. But instead, I took the time I intended to blog to spend time with my husband. Ironic, huh? Alas, It's fifteen until 11:00, and the alarm goes off at 6:30 AM. So, I'll keep it brief tonight, with hopes of posting more later.

Grad School Update: My interview went well. I've turned all my stuff in. I'm now waiting for a meeting to happen on the 20th where a council discusses grad applications. Then, I should *hopefully* receive a letter in the mail within a week after that. I feel confident in what I submitted, and I'll have to give updates on other things I learned in the interview another day.

Weekend Update:

I really enjoyed my last Sweet Tea recipe. I included some English Breakfast Tea in with the regular Lipton. That, and 2 cups of sugar (hangs head in shame at my sugar addiction), make for an excellent tea brew! I made more tonight.

I tried a new recipe Saturday! Can you guess what they are?

Chocolate Chip pancakes! MMMMmmmmmm. Very delicious, and right off of the Bisquick box. I followed their "supreme" ingredients and added chocolate chips of course. I also made healthier pancakes from Whole Wheat Aunt Jemima mix. I make up a bunch, and then freeze them for later. Learned it from my Mama.

It pays to have a handy husband. We had a falling apart shelf/basket/ironing board organizer thing in the bathroom that has since been replaced by a bookshelf. Josh took a few of the parts, and the ironing board section, and attached it to a wall in the spare bedroom. Nifty isn't it? And it took him less than half an hour.

An Ikea find. This metal contraption helps to store our hose for the shop vac. Not pictured below, the kitty litter containers which often get vacuumed around.

We moved a new bookshelf into the spare room, and although still a little messy, you can see our DVDS have been moved to it, and the CD/DVD organizer now just holds CDS. The CDS are sitting on top of a desk if you're wondering. Currently we own more stuff than we have room for. Something I'm trying to rectify by purging things. SLOWWWWWW process.

Just for fun. Yes, I own all 10 seasons of Friends, and I've probably watched them all the way through about 3 times (at least).

I mentioned purging stuff. I've been sorting through totes of souvenirs, books, knick knacks, papers, etc. I'll get there one day. Here's one of 4 rabbit chopstick rests I got when I visited Kimmie in Japan. SO CUTE! Definitely a keeper!

Well, that's about it for now. It's about five until 11:00, and I need to get fast asleep! Hope everyone has a good Monday. It's fast approaching.