Time for an update!

Seems like I never have time to update anymore! I know a lot has been going on, and I will try to recap here!

September was pretty good:) Jody and I managed to get a homework routine in place and she adjusted to her new school.

October came and went, with her first conference, which her teacher tried to tell us she was reading at a lower level that she actually is. I also got a job and started the end of Oct. I LOVE my job! I am working for Action Day Primary Plus. It is the private preschool and elementary school that Jody attended for the past 3 years. I am working as a substitute teacher and I am really enjoying it. We headed to Santa Barbara for Halloween. Jody was a Fiesta Girl (it is a summer festival in SB) and had more fun helping Grandpa pass out candy than she did trick-or-treating:)

November is kind of a blur. It took me a bit to adjust to working after being home for almost 2 years. We headed down to SB again for Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful meal and I went shopping with my mother in law, which is always fun:)

I think that brings us to December! Jody turned 7 on the 5th! We had a small party at a pizza place on Sat to celebrate and then she had 4 friends over for a craft and a movie. 3 of the girls stayed the night and they all played for a few hours in the morning. I have finished all my shopping and wrapping:) Now I can focus on the true meaning of the holiday! Jody and I were talking about it in the car the other day and I realized she is understanding a lot more and it would be good to get more in depth with her.

I am heading down to Lockwood and Bryson this coming weekend and I cannot wait! The little girls that I used to watch when I was a teenager are now teenagers! I am staying with a friend that night and heading to church on Sunday in Lockwood. I miss the area a lot more than I thought I would. I don't have any family down that way anymore, so I don't get down there very much.

On a happier note, I already have my New Year's resolution!I am excited about it, and will share more about it later!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

Jody and her questions!

Jody- "Mom, what's for dinner?"
Me- "Won ton soup"
J- "Soup?!?! I LOVE soup!"
Me- "Yep"
J- "What are won tons?"

**I pull out the won tons I made earlier and show her and then measure out the broth and water and explain that I will heat it up and then put the won tons in***

J- "Oh! That looks like pineapple juice!" (she was talking about the chicken broth)
Me- really? it looks more like apple juice to me"
J- "Can I smell the won tons?"
Me "sure"
J- "they smell yummy! It is going to be so good! Oh, whats inside them?"
Me- "leftover pork from last night and shredded cabbage"
J- "Yummy! Can I help you put the green onions? You know I don't like onions right?"
Me- "how do you know if you don't try them?"
J- "I just know Mom."

and off she went to play...now I'm off to finish the soup and get dinner served....Will she eat it?

Pictures from friday

Bethany, Abigail, and Jody

They look so happy because they are!

Abigail is just too cute!

Erick and MaryAnn

AA Great God and Good Coffee...his blog, he wrote a whole post about that coffee cup....

Abigail, being her photogenic self!

The girls swimming in the trough

Bethany, Jody, and Abigail posing for me

Of course, Jody can't take a regular photo...the ham!

Abigail and Jody running down away from the cows

Abigail telling Jody about the cow's horns

Bethany mid-jump, bouncing Jody and Abigail on the trampoline

Back in Bryson, There's these people....

Jody and I took a day trip to Bryson to visit the Reinsteadt family on Friday. It was an awesome day! We left San Jose at 9am, because Google said it would take 3 hours to get there. I grew up in Bryson and in the back of my head, I knew it would only take 2 1/2 hours, but decided to play it safe and give myself the 3 hours. As soon as we hit Gilroy, we could see the smoke plume from the Lockheed Fire. Jody decided she was thirsty, so we made a pit stop in Soladad. Once out of the car, we could really smell the smoke. Once we got into King City, it cleared up quite a bit.

Once we got to Lockwood, Jody started to recognize things and asked a lot of questions! Turning onto Bryson-Hesperia road brought back so many memories for me. I loved living there and really miss the area. Just as you get on the road, there is a couple that put melons out for sale every summer. As we were driving by, I realized he was out in the drive watering, so I pulled in to say hello. It took a moment to register who I was, but after that, we chatted and visited for a while. He even gave Jody a watermelon and made her morning of being stuck in the car so worth it! The mailman stopped by while we were visiting, and it was Larry, the same guy who delivered mail while I was growing up! He remembered me and was surprised to see me with a child of my own! Then it was on up the road of memories.

As we drove along the winding road, I pointed out things from my childhood to Jody. Where the trailer park, that my best friend lived in, used to be. The house I grew up in, where I took music lessons and line danced, The Dayton's where I used to babysit as a teen, My friend Tracy's old house...All the things I remembered as I was driving along the road. Some were sad memories of neighbors who are only with us in spirit these days, while others were funny memories of dancing, music, and potlucks. I still remember, during my senior year, I could hear Tracy start his car in the mornings and I could follow the sound around the curves in the road and pinpoint when he was going to pull into the driveway to pick me up! I saw houses of childhood friends that I have lost touch with. Jody saw a lot of wildlife and was sure to point each animal out to me.

We arrived at Erick and MaryAnn's and almost immediately, the girls were off and running! They had such a good time together and played so nicely! Jody was drawn to Erick's "other girls" and was amazed at how close she could get to them (his other girls are 3 cows :} ). I took some awesome pictures of the girls jumping on the trampoline and swimming in the trough. While the girls were off playing and enjoying their time together, Erick, MaryAnn, and myself enjoyed sitting on the screened porch with the misters going and just catching up and chatting about life and anything that came to mind! MaryAnn made some awesome chicken for lunch, even Jody ate it! I got a chance to talk to each of them separately and together, which made for great conversations!

Before we knew it it was already 4:30! I needed to pull Jody away from the water and girls and get going home! It took us a good 30 min to get them all dressed and keep them from running off to play on something else! Their girls were awesome and getting so big! I can't believe Bethany is going to be 9 in December! It seem like it was just yesterday she was a baby! And Abigail has gone from this tiny baby that only wants Mom, to this adorable 4 yr old that will climb into your lap and just tell you all kinds of cute things as she snuggles in your lap! I took a few more pictures out in the front yard and finally managed to get just my little one in the car, and we waved goodbye and were off!

Now, before we even got out of their driveway, Jody tells me that she misses them already! Driving down the dirt road, she tells me she wishes she could live there and asks when we can go back! She had such a good time visiting and getting to play with Bethany and Abigail, I think next time, We will have to plan a weekend at the lake or something! We were warned to watch put for the UPS guy on the road as we were leaving, and sure enough, just after I passed Grandpa and Grandma's old house, I ran into him! Lucky for me, I was already around the big corner so it was a bit better!

So, Erick, Maryann, Bethany, and Abigail, we thank you for a wonderful afternoon and for opening up your home to us! We hope to see you all very soon! Larry, the mailman, keep on delivering that mail for many years to come! To the UPS guy, the same thing we yelled to you as kids "Slow Down! this isn't the freeway!" We had a great day and can't wait to get together again!

I will do another post with all the pictures!

Old pictures

When I went to Texas in 2008, my mom and I went through a bunch of pictures and I snagged a few to make copies of them. I made the copies and Just realized I never put them anywhere! So here are the ones I made copies of! I still have a bunch that Mom gave me to keep, that I need to take to Walgreens and upload to a disk, but here is a start!

My mom and I, I was less than a year old here.

My dad took this picture of me in Maine. I was about 2 1/2 or 3. The sut off person is Tricia. she is around 18 months to 2 yrs.

My 1st b-day! A couple of family friends (no clue who they are now), their baby, my Grandma and Grandpa, my mom, and my Aunt Lynn. My mom was in labor with Tricia but waited to go to the hospital until I had ate cake, LOL!

Me in the snow in Maine, ange 2 1/2 or 3

My Kindergarden picture. Sept 1988!

This is from Winterball 2001. My date for the evening was Tracy Bork. We went to dinner at AJ Spurs and then headed to the dance, where we met up with our friends for the evening. Good times!

This is my Grandma and Grandpa, probably in the late 1990's (my guess is '97 or '98) taken in the front yard of our house up in Bryson. I loved that place and wish grandma would have stayed there, but I understand her need to move. Perhaps one day, I will go back there!

Boring life!

So yeah, I have nothing to write about!

Jody has been at her Grandparents house in Santa Barbara since the end of June! Mark and I met up with my sister (Patricia) and her husband in Vegas. We spent a weekend there and it was fun, just not really our thing, I guess! I took quite a few pictures, but for some reason both Facebook and my Photobucket won't upload them!

My baby sister (Julie) was married July 4Th, but I wasn't able to be there, and haven't seen any pictures. They are expecting a baby in Feb!

I went to Texas July 8-15Th, and was able to attend my brother's wedding on the 11Th! I went to Shreveport with my mom and grandma and enjoyed getting to know my new Sister-in-law!

Other than that, I am just studying and cleaning/organizing the apartment. Jody is all registered for school and starts the 2ND grade on Aug 25Th! I can't believe she is in the 2ND grade already!

I'm working on quite a few projects! I designed a crochet purse and need to make a few tweaks to the pattern and decide to either sell the pattern or make the purses and sell them, I have a baby afghan started, 2 regular afghans put on hold until it gets cooler, an knit baby hat and booties set on the needles, and a crochet bag almost finished!

Busy times!

Wow! I never realized how busy I actually am, until I log onto my dashboard and realize it has been almost 3 months since I updated my own blog! Where did the last 3 months go??? Seems like my days are filled with the same routine every day, take Jody to school, study, do stuff around the apartment, pick Jody up, homework, dinner, bed. And in the last few weeks, lots of stuff to keep us busy!

My sister decided that her and her boyfriend were finally going to get married this year. First, her plan was an actual wedding, all the talk about wanting Jody to be a flower girl and such. I played along, knowing that it wouldn't happen. Sure enough, a few weeks later, she calls me to say that instead, they are going to get married in Vegas in June. Once again, I played along, undecided as to how this would end up. She payed for their room (and my brothers), so we went ahead and reserved a room in the same hotel. a few days later, I'm informed that they spent all their "wedding money" to pay the vet bill as their dog was hit by a car. Now, their plan is to get married at their City Hall, and still go to Vegas for the weekend. Fine with me, Mark and I are getting a much deserved break, the first "vacation" without Jody in 6 years!

Then in April, my brother called me to tell me that he asked his girlfriend to marry him! They are getting married July 11th! I will be taking my first plane ride to Texas to attend his wedding. I have spoke to his girlfriend once on the phone and will meet her in Vegas the 26th! I am excited for him, as she has been a very positive influence in his life.

And, Just last week, my baby sister, who is 17, called me to tell me that her boyfriend popped the question and they will be getting married July 4th! He is leaving for boot camp July 15th! I will miss her ceremony by a few days!

That's right, all 3 of my younger siblings are getting married within a few weeks of each other...and before me! I told Julie (shes the 17 yr old) that when i get married, I want the month to myself, I'm not sharing it with them!

So once the first sister informed me, I started on an afghan to give er as a wedding gift. I finished it, but was not really happy with it. When Kenny (my brother) called, I started on an afghan for him. I finished his and love it! So now I am about 1/3 of the way done with a 2nd afghan for my sister (Jody is taking the original), and about 1/6th of the way done with the one for Julie that I started on Thursday of last week. both need to be finished in the next week as I need to take one to Vegas with me, and the other two need to be mailed to Texas! All this in the midst of continuing with my classes and all my normal duties around the house!

Jody has 2 weeks of school left. On the 1st, is the semi-finals of the 1st grade spelling bee, and I will be so happy when it is over! She has been driving me crazy practicing! The 3rd is the finals. Then the 4th, I will be at the school from 10am til 2pm for the 1st grade BBQ! Wed night I will have to make the "Ants on a Log" that Jody has requested we take, along with going to my knitting group that evening to work on one of the afghans. Thursday, I will go to my crochet group to continue working on them and I need to bake cookies when I get home for the bake sale during the End of Year BBQ for the school! Then the real fun begins!

Jody has the last week of school, then we are home a week, during which I need to gather everything she will need to take with her to visit her grandparents for the summer. We will celebrate Father's day and then I will drive her to her grandparents in Santa Barbara, spend the night and drive home. Pack for Vegas, we leave the 26th and return the 28th. I have a week to get stuff done, and pack for my trip to Texas. Got on a plane July 8th, return to San Jose, July 15th...and find time to continue my studies! It is going to be a hectic few weeks! And in the middle of all this, our lease is up the end of August, and we do not want to stay here, so we are looking at houses in the Morgan Hill area!

quick update

Lots of stuff going on around here! I started back to school on the 26th! I am attending a correspondence program through Penn Foster. I am studying Criminal Justice. I have been spring cleaning a lot lately! I also have been working on a lot of crochet and knitting projects! I have finished 2 dishcloths and an afghan (for my sister). I also started another afghan (for my brother), and another dishcloth along with another baby hat!

On Wednesday, I have a meet-up with my knitting group and on Thursday I meet with my crochet group! 2 hours of kid-free, distraction-free knitting/crocheting!! Yay!!!

Jody is doing great! Almost done with 1st grade! We just took her to get pictures done, and they came out soooo cute!!!

This is one of my favorite poses!!!

I hope everyone is doing well!

Rissa

first week in February

Not a lot going on at all this week! Jody got her report card and all was good. Her teacher even bumped her up to the next reading group! I joined some meet up groups this week, one for knitting and one for crochet. The knitting one was on Wednesday and it was a lot of fun, I made some new friends, and will be joining them again! The crochet one was on Thursday and while the people were nice, the venue (bookstore) wasn't the best place. The group was large (12 people), therefore, the noise level was too high. The Organizer also brought her dog, and brought her into the store. I think it is irritating when people do this, especially when people are working with yarn, nobody wants to have dog smells or dog hair on their projects. I probably will only go to those that are hosted in the coffee house or elsewhere, not in the bookstore!

I took Jody to Chuck E Cheese this morning. The place was packed! We had to ask for a table to sit and eat our lunch! Josy had fun playing the games and such and is not content to stay home this afternoon!

I still have multiple projects going, including 3 afghans and now I have started knitting dishcloths to give to my MIL next time I see her! Which might be in 2 weeks, so I should really get to work on those this week!

Neighbors, hats, and Cancer Battles

I am so tired of apartment living!

So the people in the apartment next to us are moving out. They have been there for a while, I'm guessing around 6 Month's or so, and they are not friendly neighbors. They don't say hello in passing or even smile at you. Well today, as they were moving stuff, they kept hitting the wall of my apartment as they were carrying stuff down the stairs. This normally wouldn't bother me too much except today they were hitting it hard enough to knock my stuff off the shelves on that wall. After 2 hours of this, I finally opened my door and politely asked them to be more careful about hitting the wall because they were knocking stuff off the wall. The father went off on me! I couldn't believe this! If someone had said the same thing to me, I would have apologized, asked if anything had broke, and tried my best to be careful! A bit later, I decided I better get a rebate in the mail from P&G Brand, so I stepped out of my apartment, locked the door and started towards the mail box, the guy verbally attacked me yet again! This time telling me I was "an ugly person, just an ugly person". I didn't even say or look at the guy!?!? WTF??? Now it is okay to just call people names?? I stopped by the office to let them know what was going on, and the guy had already went to the office and complained about me?!?! The people in the office don't care for me anyways, so of course, they didn't care what I had to say so I just told them that if he verbally attacked me again, I would call the cops on him. After returning to my apartment, they started purposely hitting the wall and harder than they were before. I opened my door once again and asked them to please be careful, and they guy tried to start arguing with me yet again. I refused to be pulled into such childish games and closed the door. At this point, I am scared to leave my apartment, and scared still to stay in my apartment, so I decided it would be best to just leave the premises and stay way until he was gone. I walked around the mall and treated myself to lunch. I drove by after I was done and he was gone, but by then, I needed to head to pick up Jody from school. It is now early evening and they are back, not sure if they are moving stuff or not, but at least they are quiet!

On a happier note, I got a response back from Stanford Medical center about donating hats for the babies, and they said they would gladly take the donation! So, I am working on getting some more made (I'd like to have 25 to take up there and right now I have 6 1/2 completed!). I am hoping to take them up there next week.

Also, my dear mother in law had surgery again today to remove more cancerous matter from her liver. She is out of surgery and looking good (according to my father in law or brother in laws), so I will continue to keep her in my thoughts and prayers that this is the last one! My cousins little girl has also been battling cancer and had a test done this past Friday, and everything is looking good for her as well!

Hope everyone is keeping safe and warm!

Larissa

Here we go!

Ok, so I have decided to start a blog...I am going to *try* to write everyday, but I cant guarantee anything! My plan for this blog is for random thoughts I have, updates on the kid and family, and of course my crafts. I recently picked up crocheting again and now I am using a Knifty Knitter to make hats with all the left-over skeins I have. I hope to donate the hats to a hospital, but still need to figure out the avenue for that.

Please leave your comments, ideas, and questions and I will get back you you!

Larissa