Show Us Where You Live Friday!!

So Kelly, over at Kelly's Korner has started "Show Us Where You Live Friday" and each week is a different room tour. Now last week was actually the first week and it was kitchens but last week was so busy that I never got a post done so I've compiled last week with this week, which is living rooms so I cleaned house today and I took some pictures when I got done to share!! I hope you enjoy them and you should check out Kelly's blog where other bloggers have added links to their home tours also!

The color of the pictures didn't turn out great, but this is our kitchen and I took this one standing in front of the piano on the far end of the living room. Gene built our house by himself and we designed the floorplan together. Ok.....he designed it and I just approved of it!! Our kitchen, dining room, and living room are all open and I love that about it.

This one was taken from in front of the tv in the living room. The cabinets are oak and I love love love having the island because it gives us so much extra cabinet/counter space.

Our kitchen colors are red and black. Obviously all the appliances are black and then our coffee pot, blender, canisters, and coffee mugs are all red. Mom bought me the matching canisters and coffee mugs from Kirkland's!

Our blender and coffee grinder. Aunt Cathy bought us the blender for Christmas last year and I couldn't find a red coffee grinder. Gene and I have both become big coffee drinkers and it's so much better freshly ground.

Our red coffee pot that Granny bought us for Christmas this past year!

And another shot. The refrigerator is covered with pictures and Grace's little magnetic farm with all the animals. There is a window over the sink and I don't have any blinds or curtains on it because I still haven't found anything I like. The front door is on the far right. Grace has also figured out how to climb up on the barstools and then all the way up onto the island. Awesome.

Ok, here's the living room. This one was taken standing in our bedroom doorway. Like I said, it's all wide open. Please excuse my shirtless husband playing Wii golf. He's obsessed and plays it for at least an hour and a half to two hours a day! No lie.

Taken standing in the kitchen. We don't have a coffee table or regular end table because we didn't want to get one until Grace was big enough that we didn't have to worry about her hitting her head or anything on it. I'm hoping that someday soon we'll get one. You can see the piano and we really do have a piano bench, but it pretty much stays upstairs in Colt's room with his electric piano. I also have the quilt rack beside the fireplace that I got on sale at Kirkland's! Also the baby gate.

Another view of the stairs and we have 22 ft high ceilings with the low hanging ceiling fans.

Overview of the living room and kitchen. I took this one standing on the landing of the stairs. I should have taken one with the curtains closed but I didn't. We don't have blinds in any room and the curtains on the big window are cream colored and brown and when they're closed it's a cream colored one then a brown then cream and then brown again. The area rug came from Lowe's. Our hardwood floors are real bamboo and I love having them, but I definitely don't love sweeping and mopping them!!

We have two living rooms and this is the upstairs one that the kids use. Well, now it's sorta been converted into a workout room! We have another big bean bag but it's now in Corey's room.

This one was taken standing in Corey's bedroom doorway. You can see the half wall on the left and you can look over it down into the downstairs living room.

Well, that's it! Our kitchen and living room! I hope you enjoyed the tour and don't forget to check out Kelly's Korner and all the other living room tours!

Not Me! Monday

Ok, so I'm going to attempt a "Not me! Monday" that was established by MckMama as a fun blog carnival!! Alright, here goes nothing..........

I am so not apprehensive about my first "Not me! Monday" post and I'm most definitely not hoping that people actually read it and understand it and possibly enjoy it!

I also did not bake a yellow cake this morning to put chocolate frosting on to take to work and I totally don't have the intention of having at least 2 pieces before the end of my shift. No way!

And I oh so did NOT let my 2 year old have an ink pen to play with and I did not then allow her to actually play with it...without the lid on and therefore leading to a non-spanking when she started trying to eat it. Nope!

I didn't say yes to my in-laws either when they asked me if Grace could go with them to Muskogee, OK this Friday for the "Renaissance Festival" with her brothers because I most definitely NEVER need a break from the joys of the "terrible twos!" Are you crazy?! Seriously, who doesn't enjoy every waking moment of that?!

Ok, that's about all I'm willing to admit on this particular Monday and I hope that you all join in the fun! You can hop on over to MckMama's blog and check hers out as well as add your "Not me! Monday" post to Mr. Linky and be entered to win an awesome prize!!!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

These photos were taken by my oh so talented stepson, Colt, this past weekend! Enjoy the nature shots from our habitat!!

My favorite country road

my sunshine on a rainy day

"don't worry mom, i'll just hang out here watching madagascar while you clean house"

"that was a yummy spaghetti dinner mama"

"i feel better after my bath."

"fuzzy pickles!!!"

"i'm fixing to make a really big mess!"

"but i'm way too cute so i'll most definitely get away with it."

"told ya"

"i build yours house mama!"

Saturday

Saturday got off to a rough start this weekend. My baby girl was having some trouble breathing and what sounded like severe congestion in her chest. I put her to bed around 9 Friday night and by 11:30 she was in bed with me because she couldn't sleep with her chest like it was. When she woke up around 7:30 it was worse and Gene and I decided to take her to the emergency room. I didn't know what was going on, but I knew there was no way I was going to take a chance with my sweet girl so off we went. We walked into the ER right at 8 am and walked out just before 1 pm. After waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting a little bit more the doctor came in and checked her ears and throat and listened to her lungs and said everything looked good and that she wanted some xrays done of her lungs/chest. So after we waited some more (surprising I know) we were finally taken back to have them done. Things sped up after that and the doctor ruled her lungs clear and that it was asthma that was causing her trouble. She prescribed an inhaler and a steroid for her to take. She slept with me again last night and today the chest and breathing sounds better but she's been sneezing like crazy and coughing a lot worse. I seriously hate it when my kids are sick. Especially with Grace because she's pretty helpless and I end up feeling helpless because I can't make it go away. We can use the inhaler on her every 4-6 hours though when her coughing gets bad and it actually really helped this morning. I cleaned house all afternoon today and of course stirring up the dust didn't help her sneezing but by the time she went to bed she had stopped and we used the inhaler again before bed. She is nestled up in her own bed tonight with 2 pillows under head to keep her elevated in hopes that she will be able to breathe better. I'm hoping we all get better rest/sleep tonight because the last 2 nights have been pretty rough.

As I have mentioned in a few previous posts, Crystal's wedding was also yesterday at 3. I was originally supposed to be at Kevin and Robin's (Dustin's parents) house to help set everything up for the reception at 9 yesterday morning and obviously I didn't make that and I was hoping against hope that Grace would be ok and that we wouldn't have a prolonged hospital visit. I was going to be bummed if I'd missed the wedding! No need to fear though because sweet girl was good to go and we made it home just in time for me to get showered and dressed and back in to the wedding. I don't have any pictures from the ceremony because I was only able to stay long enough to see her walk down the aisle and then for the opening prayer then Teresa, Heather, and myself had to leave and head to Kevin and Robin's to finish setting up the reception. It was so stinking windy yesterday and all the tablecloths kept blowing off and things were going everywhere but we got it all put together and done just in time for everyone to make it there! Whew!

Crystal looked absolutely beautiful and Dustin looked so handsome all cleaned up! Sgt. Kirmer arranged for some of our officers to give them a police escort from the church down to the reception and Crystal just LOVED that!! The guys were even able to hang out for a little bit and watch the toasts and cutting of the cake. The first picture was Teresa, me, Crystal, and Heather! Crystal was so relieved that everything went smoothly and as planned and finely took time to cut loose and relax at the reception! We danced our hearts out while the dj played!

As you can see in the background there were 3 big tents set up and they had a caterer that served several different finger food/appetizer types of foods. I should have taken some better pictures of decorations but I was too stressed out about making sure none of it blew away that I never got it done! Of course Hank had to be in on the escort and pay a visit to the newlyweds! Heather, myself, Allie, and Addie snapped a picture with him! Addie used to work with us in dispatch but she left back in the fall and now works at Benton County Sheriff's Office with her husband and she is expecting a baby girl, Paisley, in September. Oh yes, I just said September and she is already that big! I asked if she was sure there weren't 2 in there and she said no....we'll see!! And I absolutely love the name Paisley!! I was so glad she came so we could all see her!!

You can see the hanging plants behind Teresa and there were several of those hanging over the patio and also from the tents and they were all blue and white so they coordinated with Crystal's colors!

We had to have a picture of the PD people!! We all work evening shift except for Michael and Heather (the two on the far left) and Heather will soon be joining us!!

Rusty, Crystal, Hank, and Kirmer. Crystal was really happy that they got to be there for a little bit. I know....Kirmer is kind of crazy. We all call him "stir fry" or the "crazy asian!!!" He's so funny and always comes up to visit us!! He also won Supervisor of the Year this year at the Awards Banquet!

First dance as a married couple! You can see the dj set up in the background and the tablecloths that kept blowing away! There were originally 2 other tables like the one in the top right corner but they all ended up being taken inside because the wind kept knocking them over!

They were getting ready to cut the cake! The cake was a beautiful pale yellow with blue bows on it and the bows had daisies on them. Dustin's groom's cake had flames, a hydrant, and a fire hose on it! It was super cute! They were both soooo yummy!!

Here's me with the bride and groom!! Are they a cute couple or what?!?! I just love them both and am so happy for them! They are now in San Antonio on their honeymoon for a whole week!!

I've got stuff for a whole other post but it's going to have to wait because now I'm taking my tired behind to bed!

Soakin' up the sun!

Let me just say first that today has been a good day! Thank goodness for that! However, I'm really tired and tomorrow will be a busy day so I've posted several pictures from today and I'll just put some short captions under them!

This is my first bloom on my Rhododendrons!! Isn't it pretty?!

The plants themselves are still fairly small but they are also growing and we've been really good about watering them both morning and evening.

Oh yes, the quality of photography! I really was outside working in the yard today! I was trying to reach up on the porch to get Grace's water when Colt took this picture. I like it. It's my better side. Ha!

Grace and Layla enjoyed some wagon time!

Corey is just a little whacky!

Goofy girl with red cheeks! She's been outside the majority of the afternoons this week! When she was with my father-in-law I think he kinda forgot to put on the sunscreen and yesterday she had on a little tank top and her shoulders burnt. The rest of her arms have already tanned and don't burn so bad. Today I put sunscreen on her! That girl LOVES to be outside more than anything.

This is a really cool picture Gene took of the piano earlier while Colt was playing. Doesn't that look neat?!

And here's Colt playing. That kid's got talent and I just love the sound of the piano!!

Ok, that's it. My day in a nutshell. Now I'm off to bed!!

and thursday wasn't much better

Bla...my week just did not end well.

First Wednesday with my medical drama and then yesterday I felt like I'd been hit by a truck all day. I was so tired, had no energy, and my mind was just not in the right place. I guess it just took a lot more out of me than I thought it would. I was just worn out.

As if that wasn't bad enough we were told that there are fixing to be a ton of changes at work and due to those changes (of which I can't discuss just yet) my days off are having to switch back to Thursday/Friday instead of Friday/Saturday because we've got to have enough people on the weekend days since it's getting busier with the warmer weather. Grrr.... I was very sad. I really really love my Friday/Saturday but we were also told that as soon as our new people are trained and we're back up to where we need to be then we can all switch back. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!!

It'll be ok. I just have to stay positive. The good thing is that since it is warm weather finally we will really start getting busy and Saturday nights are always hopping and I LOVE it when it's super busy!! Last night was a great preview because we had a call of some juveniles that had broken into an abandoned house and when the officers got over there they busted out one of the windows and started running from them. The guys got into foot pursuit and I was working the main police channel so I was right in the middle of it!!! And you'll be happy to know that they caught ALL of them. They ended up arresting 4 of them. While all of that was going on and there were about 13 officers on that one call we also had 2 different disturbances and a commercial burglary alarm so we were busy busy for a while! I love it though! We're all pretty much adrenaline junkies and wish for crazy stuff to happen and for us to get busy!! Mom says were crazy!

Some of the changes are taking place next week, including my days off switching, so the rest will happen mid May. We'll see how it goes.

This weekend will be good though. Today we're going to plant our garden and get some flowers to plant. I've also got to find a dress to wear to Crystal's wedding tomorrow!! Teresa and I will be helping her set up for the reception tomorrow morning while she is getting her hair and make-up done then the wedding is at 3!! I'll definitely be taking lots of pictures to share with you guys! It's going to be just absolutely beautiful.

I'm off of here for now to take a shower and run my few errands before coming home to plant so I'll post later with pictures of my shrubs and our garden!!