October Recap 2012 (might be kinda long)

I seem to be getting further and further behind on my blogging and general update on all things Barber! My goal through the next few crazy holiday months is to do a monthly recap...So for October here we GO!!!!

October started great with Nate and I celebrating 14 years of marriage....add on the 3 years of dating and we have been together more than half our lives....Man that seems like a ling time, then it seems to just be flying by. We had a great weekend with mini golf, line dancing, Venice beach (and some crazy pot heads), and Mexican food with a quiet walk on the beach to end the weekend.

In addition to our anniversary, My youngest nephew, Bryce turned 2 and loves him some batman. My middle nephew Davey turned 3 and was bombarded with little people toys. I hate missing the birthdays but the pictures and sending of gifts is fun too.

This month Nate finished his schooling and now has a Bachelor's Degree. So proud of him for finishing school in 4 years while working full time, being a father and husband.

Cori is now officially off Facebook, if you had not noticed already. This new social networking with a teenage  is pretty hard. So many new rules and ones that Never applied to when I was a kid.

Joel had a rocky month with grades and some lying issues. He has been grounded for 2 weeks and counting.... Grades are coming up and I WILL break him of the lying or he may not make it to enjoy Christmas!

The kids were able to trick or treat with friends this year. First time we did not take the kids out for Halloween. I had to work so the kids found other friends to go with. I have to say I did not miss the trick or treating at all. Kinds over the whole things after 13 years.... I did take the kids and a friend to Blizzard where they got to trick or treat around the different buildings through spooky corners and mazes.

Life for me is LIFE! Not a lot of changes just living at the restaurant and taking care of the family and watching football on the weekends, all weekend. On the medical side, it has been 3 months since my surgery and I am doing well with very little pain, thankfully!

We have found a home church for now. We are not members and with my crazy schedule, we are not in a small/life group yet but that is okay with me. I can't work one more thing into my schedule at this point. The kids get to go on Wed nights for the most part and are really enjoying it.

And finally the best news of the month, We are planning our first visit home! We are planning to be in Alabama the first week of April. I know it sounds like a long way off and it is, but we have to plan and save as well as work it into the kids spring break. There was no way we could pull it together for the holidays and I am not ready to go back for a Cold Alabama winter. So on that note I will say Happy October, See you again after Thanksgiving!

Anniversary Vacation Staycation!!!!

Nate and I celebrated 14 years of marriage on Wednesday.....Add 3 years of dating and we have been together 1/2 our lives! Thats some craziness  We are best friends and love each other more each year....So this year we decided to take a few days off work, plan some stuff to do around LA and enjoy 4 days together. Some stuff with the kids and some without! The weekend turned out a little crazier than we thought!!!!

Wednesday night on our anniversary we went to dinner and ate mexican food. We both worked the early shifts on Thursday. When I got home from work at 6pm, there was a guy on my patio, my patio closet door was open, half my closet was on the patio.....I ask the guy what in the world he was doing on my patio! He was wiring the new Verizon internet and tv to the guys upstairs. I go inside where the kids sitting on the couch playing cards bc they had no tv or internet. I walk to the patio to tell the guy about my cable and that it had to be fixed ASAP! and before Grey's Anatomy comes on! He did not even know he had cut the line to my house. Nate and I had planned to go to Knott's Scary Farms (an amusement park) that evening. By 8pm, we knew we were not going because the guys were still trying to get our tv back up. At 8:45 the guy upstairs came and apologized, ordered up pizza and let me watch Grey's upstairs because of what had happened to us. He felt really bad. The tv was finally back on around 10pm, it took them 4 hours to get ours back up!

Friday we went to the Vera Bradley store (which is in LA) and then the Venice Beach (which we have never done). Venice beach is crazy with lots of weed and crazy people walking around. We saw a guy in his underwear, with a boombox on his shoulder, singing. They have a skate park and muscle beach. We saw a couple of street performers, and I danced with them a little, (I was not very good).

Saturday we went to Camelot Golf and played some mini golf for a couple of hours, then we took the kids to see Batman! Nate beat me by 1 stroke on both games of golf!

Saturday night we decided to take Cori off facebook. If you were friends with her and wonder where he page is, we deactivated it. She needs to learn a little bit more about what to and what not to put on the internet. That was stressful and NOT a fun conversation.

On Sunday, We took the kids to church. We have found a church that we all like going to. We are able to go most Sunday mornings with my schedule and 1 Wednesday night a month I can take the kids to youth group. Sunday afternoon Nate and I were watching football and on the computer when we heard a crash and saw a shoulder and arm come thru our living room window. The same people who made us lose our cable have now broken our window. So we help clean up the glass and board up the window. The guy is coming late Monday night to fix it. Then we went to Knotts Scary Farm and went thru mazes, scary houses and rode rides thru the haunted park.

  Monday we are resting around the house, hitting the beach and enjoying dinner while watching the ocean. This has been a great weekend of fun and crazy memories!

Pinterest Project #2 and #3

Decorations for Fall!

Project #2

I bought a vase 50% off at Michael's 

Orange candle at Wal-mart

2 bags of each, kidney beans, corn kernels, and split peas. 

I started with the split peas and make a nice layer on the bottom of the vase. 

I added the rocks in the middle to add some height to the peas without adding even more peas

Next came the layer of kidney beans and then a layer of corn kernels (no picture)

Next, I added the orange candle in the center of the vase

I added some raffia to the middle of the vase. I tried to make a bow and that did NOT work out.

Here it is on my mantle

Project #3

Start with a round brown placemat

Add 3 different size vases

With 3 different size candles, and they all have a brown color tone to them. Place corn kernels in each vase, then the candles. I added a couple of fake fall leaves to the back of each candle. Placed them on the

 place-mat on my coffee table. Then I added a few more leaves and berries to the mat. 

Top view

Table view! 

1st Pinterest Project Complete!

This past weekend I found a couple of Pinterest projects that I could actually do and fit into my house. Nate said it was way too early to decorate for fall but since Saturday is the first football game then I say it is FALL!

I found a great Alabama wreath on Pinterest but it was $40 on Etsy. I said no way, I can make this for much cheaper. So off I went to Michael's, Joann's and Walmart for supplies.

Supplies ~
1 - straw wrapped wreath ($2.99 at Joann's)
1 - package of red and white felt (3.99 ea at Michael's)
3 - sheets of grey felt (.50 each)
1 - Roll of Houndstooth ribbon
1 - Philips head screwdriver
I already had a rotary knife, and cutting board. These are needed, scissors work but the rotary cutting makes it so much easier.

First, you cut out 4 in squares in each color, I forgot to count out how many I used but the felt I bought made 90 squares and I did not use all of the them. You can use any fabric to make different styles of wreathes but the felt worked better for this project. 

Place the screwdriver in the center of the square and poke into the wreath. 

Like this. If you don't like the way you placed it, just pull in back out. 

Here is the start of the wreath after about 12 of each color. You just take the different pieces and poke them into the wreath as you want the pattern to go. I randomly poked in the gray for added colors. 

This is about half way, when I had to stop and go to work...lol.

Finished wreath. I  made a bow with the ribbon. I used a garbage tie to tie the bow and then a black zip-tie to attach it to the wreath. 

ROLL TIDE! 

Blizzard Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament

Just wanted to post a few picks about the dinner we just had compliments of Blizzard (Nate company). The company rented out the Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament for over 1600 people this afternoon. They incorporated Blizzard games and fan favorites into the story line throughout the show. We have a great time being entertained, watching the jousting and fighting and eating dinner with our hands. This is something we could not have afforded to do on our own and was even more fun with all the Blizzard family and friends. Here is some pics from the night as well as a couple of videos.

Been a While!

WOW! It has been a while since I have posted to my blog. Let me catch you up on life in the Barber house!

School is out for the summer. I now have a daughter in 8th grade (last year before high school.....ahhhhh) and a son in 6th grade (cant believe no more elementary school). Both kids are SO glad to be out of school...duh! I'm glad to be able to spend more of my day with them and take them to the pool and beach. Cori made the A honor roll and ended the year with perfect attendance and a 4.0 gpa. Joel brought his d's and f's up to a's and b's and finished 5th grade Strong!

Nate and I are taking Bella (our dog) to the beach at least once a week. This makes for great family time with the kids and exercise and socializing with other dogs for Bella. We have been 3 times now and she is learning that she can be off the leash as soon as we hit the sand. Bella also has learned to "protect" her area around my chair on the beach but is starting to sniff and run with the other dogs. She loves going and we all enjoy the break from work to play at the beach. I think this will be the summer we take REAL advantage of living a mile from the beach.

Father's Day at the beach!

Nate is doing well at work and of course still loves his job. He is almost done with school....will be out in Oct with his bachelors degree. My work is going well, we had a manager quit, which leads me to be a full time key manager (still hourly but a big step in the right direction). I still love working in the restaurant and it is never boring.

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I have been having some health issues which is really weird to say at the age of 34 but it is the truth. The bottom line of the entire story is that I will be having laparoscopic surgery the end of July or 1st of August to find the source of pain in my right ovary. Since I don't want (nor can have) more kids living with only 1 ovary is fine with me. We won't know the true reason and solution for the pain until the Dr can preform the surgery.  The pain has been gradually getting worse over the weeks since it started in early April. The dr's are managing the pain with meds but as I have a very active life, I can't always be "doped" up on meds nor can I sit on the couch all day.
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Nate's company released their 1st of 3 games this year, which is unheard of with a studio, and the next game will be out this summer. This means lots of overtime and crazy schedules but what would life be like without a little crazy.

We signed another year lease and are so bless and thankful for the way God has worked to provide for us and let us live and enjoy life out here. We always miss our family, especially on the big occasions but it gets easier. We have seen Nate's mom, Jen and baby Bryce in April, my cousin in May and my mom is coming in August to that has helped with the missing of family.

When my cousin came to town in May, we all went to a Dodger's game, (don't worry still a Braves fan) and loved the stadium and fans. The game was awesome and can't wait to go to an Angels game too!

It is funny how I was not sure if I would have much to talk about but as I type the stories and thoughts just come flying at me. Sorry if it sounds like I am rambling or jumping from topic to topic. I will try to focus more on my blog updates and keep everyone in the loop of life out here!

Prayer Requests Please!
~ I will miss at least a week of work with the surgery so prayers for finances, and then also a safe surgery and very quick recovery.
~ Nate's continued growth with his job
~ Overall wellness for my kids
~Continued strength as I prepare for the surgery and endure the pain until then!!!! Thanks!!!!!1

Embracing Each Birthday

Tomorrow I will turn 34 and I'm embracing each year with a smile and a party.

When I was born my mom told me I was the light in my Fathers eyes. My father was 24 and dreading turning 25 in April. He talked about it a lot and so as God had planned in His time, my father died of a heart attack 2 weeks before his 25th birthday. For 6 weeks I was daddy's little girl. I never knew my father except through the stories told my mom, aunt and grandparents. Every year as my birthday approaches I remember this story, think of my father and embrace each birthday with a smile and a party.

At least one person will tell me that I won't always be happy about celebrating my birthdays or announcing them to the world.....I know I will always be thankful for each day and year as I also celebrate my father.

I don't get emotional or upset as the anniversary of his death or birth approaches but the next 6 weeks is always a reminder of the few things I did learn/inherit from him.

Don't get me wrong, I love my Daddy who has loved and raised me and God knew exactly what he was doing when he took my father and gave my mom and I a totally different life.

I am the person I am today because of both my father and his traits and my daddy and his faith. Without these men in my life I would not be the outspoken, independent, bossy, smart, Christian woman I am today.

Thank you Father and Daddy! I love you both very much!

The Juicer Experience!

Nate has just purchased a juicer is loving it. He is juicing everything this weekend and losing weight in the process. Here is his dinner for tonight.

Before the juicer

Juicing!

After

YUM!

The leftovers ~ no juice