:)

I don't have to work for the next 12 days :)
In 2 days it's Christmas :)
In 3 days I leave for Arizona :)
Arizona is warm :)
Wisconsin is not :(
but that doesn't bother me because I'll be warm :)
for a week anyway :)
I get to spend some time with Harmony and Isaac :)
I get so spend some time with Charity and Aaron :)
in Arizona :)

Then and Now

Ten Years Ago

1.) How old were you? 13
2.) Where did you go to school? Baldwin Woodville Middle School
3.) Where did you work? Not old enough yet to be working... tormenting my mom was my job
4.) Where did you live? The white house on 9th Street in Baldwin
5.) Where did you hang out? on the farm out at jw house when I could get a ride, otherwise my house.
6.) Did you wear glasses? just got out of them!
7.) Who was your best friend(s)? Jessie Walton
8.) How many tattoos did you have? Zero
9.) How many piercings did you have? I had attempted my ears a couple times by this point still to no avail.
10.) What car did you drive? I had a pretty spiffy blue bike ;) had a lot of miles on that thing
11.) Had you been to a real party? holy moses no, mostly just birthday parties ran by whomevers mom
12.) Had your heart broken? not yet
13.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced/Bitter:very single, boys scared the crap out of me

5 years ago

1.) How old were you? 18
2.) Where did you go to school? just graduated from Baldwin Woodville and took a year off before college
3.) Where did you work? Holiday Gas Station in Hudson
4.)Where did you live? 404 Woodville
5.) Where did you hang out? the fort (aka Max's house. he lived in an out building at his moms "farm")
6.) Did you wear glasses? nope
7.) Who was your best friend(s)? Jessie Walton
8.) Who was your crush? Max I suppose
9.) How many tattoos did you have? zilch
10.) How many piercings did you have? I think earring were working for me at this time...
11.) What car did you drive? Teddy the Tempo was gone at this point so Junior the Grand Prix
12.) Had you had your heart broken? yes
13.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced/Bitter: who knows... we didn't know and everyone else didn't either

Now

1.) How old are you? 23
2.) Where do you work? MPL-S as a receptionist
3.) Where do you live? Baldwin
4.) Where do you hang out? my place, but mondays I rotate between my place, jw place, and josh's place... I know, we have an incredibly awesome social life ;)
5.) Who is your best friend? I love my monday crew very much
6.) Do you talk to your old friends? a couple of them but i am still friends with a lot of them
7.) How many piercings do you have? none, my body just doesn't like piercings
8.) How many tattoos? zip
9.) What kind of car do you have? Grandma the Camry, she's been around :)
10.) Has your heart been broken? not since the 5 year business
11.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced/Bitter? very married to my Max

Alright, your turn:
Sarah
Caitlin
Rachel

Happy Holidays!

I ran out of time for Christmas cards so in lieu of getting some fantastic mail, here it is!

Gma and Papa

I kind of forgot about these photos until Gma called me yesterday asking about them. Aren't my grandparents cute! Just thought I would share that with you :)

sleepy

i can't ever seem to go to bed on time :(
today at lunch i felt like someone had shot me in the ass with a tranquilizer not because my butt hurt or anything but because i had to fight off sleep that badly.
and now it is 1030pm and i'm still on the computer.
i need to go to sleep earlier.
soon.
maybe after new years?
probably after i'm 60 years old.
poo.

One Year Ago Today

I promise to stand with you and not against you

I will be honest, patient and forgiving

I promise to be your friend, to laugh, smile, and cry with you

I will not be afraid to compromise

I promise to trust you in all things

But most of all I will always care for you and love you.

One year ago today I married my Max. My wonderful Max. Not a day goes by where I don't thank my lucky stars that I got such an amazing husband. I love you Max very, very much. :)

8 Months

I think Axton's growth spurt happened last month... he definitely seems to have simmered down in the growing department. He was head down at Caitlin's last doc appointment so he is getting ready to come out! Caitlin has his room just about ready and we are very very very ready to meet this little fella!

ass bank girls :)

Oh how I love my ass bank girls :) I miss them so much you have no idea! Today we met up for some supper at B-dubs to catch up and it was wonderful! I really love these ladies. Except for the 2 in the front, we were all very very very close coworkers and I'm so glad we have stayed in touch. Shauna (the one in front on the left) was a customer at the bank and JW of course is JW! I'm so happy that I found such good friends like these girls :) They really are very special to me.... *sniff* They also said I would never put this pic up since it takes me forever to do anything but haha, here it is!

cute as a button!

I'm probably pretty prejudice but I have got 2 of the cutest nieces around. CUTE!

Miss Audrey Maria

Age: 1 month shy of 3 years old

Miss Stella Anne

Age: 1 month (1 week in this photo though :) )

smells like...

Yesterday was kind of rough because I was not feeling so well. I went home after a long day at work (without JW :( ), ate some supper and took a bath. I mean a real long bath. I have to catch up on all that time without one! Max finally kicked me out of there so I got ready for bed and finished my book. I came down to say goodnight to my honey bunny and what does he tell me?
M- You smell like sick
J- What exactly does sick smell like?
M- (something like) not good
I didn’t realize that sick had a smell? I know that when you are sick and you haven’t showered or bathed in a while you can develop the smell of a sweaty lazy person but as I just got out of a delightful bath with some nice female smelling bubble bath, I wouldn’t believe that I smelled bad. I guess perhaps Max’s brain invented a smell that only he can detect that is associated with being ill. I still love him. Even if he said I smelled like sick.

Welcome Joshua!

Jake and Jummy welcomed into their family Joshua Jacob Mcfarlane Barlass yesterday 11/27/09 at 635am. He was a healthy 6 pounds 11 ounces and 19 inches long. We are so happy he is here and can't wait to meet him! Congratulations Jake and Jummy!

*I stole the pic off Jummys facebook :)

men vs. cleaning

How is it that Max, who has ample time to do anything he wants as he is laid off, thinks the house is spit spot clean, see's nothing wrong with it (other than the dirty floor which is MY job) and is content to leave it at that while I wake up on a Saturday morning and spend 2 hours cleaning the kitchen. JUST the kitchen?
Sometimes, just sometimes, I think a little more time should have been spent on the household area in the man brain.

Happy Birthday Phil!

Happy Birthday Phil! I hope you have a fantabulous day! Happy 29th!

Happy Yesterbirthday Nikki!

My wonderful bank friend and coworker through 4 years has finally turned 21! Yay for Nikki! I hope you had a splendid birthday and had a super awesome night! I can't wait to finally be able to go out with you!

Happy Birthday Clydeypants!

Happy Birthday Clydey!

Technically Clydey's birthday was on Monday but I haven't been able to get on my computer all week so this is late. I'm a bad mom :( Oh well! I love you Clydeypants and things have sure been interesting since my big 70 lapdog came along!

Peculiar Behavior

A little scenario for you. Picture this. I’m watching a movie in the living room. The dogs are of course right on top of me on the loveseat.
I turn off the DVD player and the room goes silent. The dogs are fine.
I turn off the T.V. and the dogs freak out and get super excited and start running around the house. Every time.
What is with this do you suppose?

Gettin' Closer!!

Done with the 7th month now! With all the weeks in there now the pic is getting a bit small... click on it to make it bigger and you can really see the difference! It's crazy to think of how big our little Axton is getting now! Seeing him in the 3d pictures last week was really cool, it's amazing how they grow. Can't wait to meet him!

gone

My Max has left me for Vegas for a week...

I miss him lots and lots :(

Vince

I will get into some halloween pictures perhaps a bit later but for right now, I wanted to leave you with a nice little picture. In regard to this blog here, my husband came up with a pretty clever little costume :) It was a top secret costume until the big show on Halloween. Only a couple knew what he was going to be. He was...................................... Vince the Shamwow guy! My husband is something else... He got a few comments at the club last night, from MEN of course! They are the only ones who truly love the shamwow.

My husband, Vince :)

Happy Birthday JW!

Happy 24th Birthday Smelly!

I hope you have a fantabulous day and enjoy every bit of your Halloween Birthday!

JW and Phil

A couple of weekends ago, JW asked me to take some pics of her and Phillip. Hey, the more practice I get in the better right? It can't hurt anything plus my friend does nice things for me once in a while as well ;) Gotta return the favor once in a while.
We went searching for some cornfields and found this nice one tucked in on some back road on the south end of Baldwin. The sky was nice and blue, the sun was filtered by some nice looking clouds and then the magic started! Haha, I don't know about magic but we did manage to get some good ones!

This one I did with the American Gothic painting in mind. Here is the painting in case you forgot what it looked like. My own kind of spin off of it...

My favorite! I barely even touched this on in the editing process. It was just right the way it was :)

Photo Restoration

I forgot that I knew how to restore old photos! It was in my first photoshop class in college but since then I haven't even thought of it. Then one day, Grandma Jenny (Max's gma) was showing me this photo of her daughter that died 5 days after birth from a heart condition and it was the only photo she had of her. It was beat up pretty badly. I told her I could fix it for her and I think it turned out pretty good don't you? The computer doesn't show how bad off the photo was but believe me, it was well past its prime condition. I'm very happy that I could do this for her and I think that Max and I will give it to her for part of her Christmas present :)

ahem...

Dear people who don’t know how to make a phone call properly,

A. know who you are calling. If someone just called you from this number it would probably be smart to check your voicemail. There are 16ish people here who could have called, I’m not going to know which one. Don’t be lazy.

B. don’t breathe into the phone like you are Darth Vader. You sound like an idiot.

C. ARTICULATE! I can’t understand your mumbling and will always get your name wrong if you can’t even say your name right.

Thanks from your friendly(most of the time) receptionist.

Stella Ann

My beautiful new niece Stella Ann was born today :):):) She was born via C-section and was a very hard lady to get out apparently! Miss Stella was 8 pounds 3 ounces, 20.5 inches long and born at 8:09am. I'm so happy to finally meet her and to have her in our family! I can't wait to see her grow and to be a part of her life!
Congrats Scott, Angel and Audrey!

Night Owl

Lately, for some reason, my body has just refused to go to bed when I tell it to. I used to very easily be in bed by 930pm and be sound asleep... those were the days. Now I am lucky if I can get to sleep by 1100pm. Now I know for some people, this isn't very night owlish, but for me it is. For example, I had to stay up late tonight working on photos and pricing sheets and now it is 1230am. Max has told me several times to go to bed and I really should, I work in the morning, but I am not very tired. Poo. I just want to sleep like I used to :(
no need to comment on how sexy i look, it's chilly in my house!

part D for directions is missing

I would just like to take a moment to defend myself.

My sister writes that she had to take me ALLLLLLLLLLL the way to freeway since I wasn't paying attention on the way to the hospital. Well, sorry to say that even if I wasn't on the phone, I wouldn't have been able to get there. It's not my fault that she took all these windy streets with half turns and weird names.

A good sense of direction just was not installed when creating me was happening. I believe this problem should defer to my parents :)

oh max

(Caitlin hands me a newborn long john type onesie)

J: Max, can you picture holding a little baby this small!!!!

M: eh, ah, oh.... I can't even hold an imaginary baby this small.

future father of my children. awesome :)

6 Months

Baby Axton is getting bigger and bigger!

oh yeah :)

Oh yeah... looks like my showers just got a whole lot longer :)

*don't mind my disgusting basement... the nasty floor is pretty much the reason we got a new water heater. that and our water heater is from 1984.

Salsa madness

My husband made 28 pounds of salsa tonight.

I should rephrase that in case mr. sensitive reads this...

My husband and Justyn made 28 pounds of salsa tonight.

They used so many jalapenos and habeneros that I could barely even be in the house. My eyes were watering, my nose running by just being around this salsa.

This is their second batch so together they have probably made 50 pounds of salsa.

Apparently this is very good salsa... as long as you can handle your tongue being burned off.

Kristi, I think Max might be able to give John a run for his money in the hot department.

oh lol....

one perk of being a photographer is that you get to see all the "out takes" that no one normally gets to see. it makes the experience of being around a bunch of people you don't know worth it. maybe sometimes i should put together an "out take" slideshow, now that would be funny. if anything it would be funny to me because these family photos i'm editing right now are cracking me up.

i just want to say that i have no idea how my sister in law turned out so normal :)

Second Wind

I am ashamed to say this but I am no morning person nor am I a night person. I am a middle of the day person so unless I do my chores during the day, they usually don't get done. Which doesn't sound like something I should be too ashamed about except for the fact that my house is a disgusting mess. All I usually would have to do is spend a couple hours cleaning and it would be fine but unless I hit that special "Jessie will do stuff" time, it won't get done.
So imagine my surprise that once Cody and Caitlin left tonight at 830, I had a splurge of energy! No worries, I did NOT waste it :) I got the kitchen cleaned up, the dishes done, garbage went out (max did this) and I even mopped the kitchen and bathroom.
Now, I got to thinking... I effing have to mop my floors all the freaking ass time. What the hell? I realize that I have Max who isn't the most efficient cook. Little bits of food get dropped on the floor and since my dogs are somewhat picky, they get smashed to the floor once Max steps in it... I also have dogs especially Luca who thinks that my floor is a bathroom even though he IS potty trained. But seriously, I have to mop my 1500 square feet of hardwood/plank wood floors EVERY. SINGLE. WEEKEND or it is not a good idea to walk in my house without slippers.

Answer me this people please, how often do you mop your floors? Sounds dumb but it is one annoying chore!

still indecisive

Thank you, thank you everyone for your comments about my hair :) I really enjoy having lots of comments on all my posts and obviously I wanted lots of help. While most of you were no fun and stuck to my exact same hair, I appreciated those who tried for something new!
I'm not positive about what I'm doing but I think it's between red (a red like Ashlee Simpsons hair there on the right) or just making my hair blonder or something. Red for if I'm feeling daring the day I go get it done and blonde for if I'm not. I really want to find a color to dye my hair because highlighting is just so expensive! Dyeing my hair is a little cheaper.

I just wanted to let you know where your comments amounted to!

Who has more fun???

It's usually about this time every year where I get stir crazy about my hair. I'm really enjoying the length of it right now but I'm in need of a little color change. Boredom. It hits me. It never used to, I never used to get bored with my hair. I had the same length and color for about 10 years. Not anymore. So my question is, what should I go with this time? Should I go super blonde? (not highlighted, but dyed) Should I go dark dark? Or should I be daring and attempt the redhead look? That one is risky but I think with my pale casper skin and blue eyes, I might be able to pull it off.

Please give me your HONEST opionions! I don't want to make a terrible choice. Let me see those comments!!!

What the hell

I’ve had a crap day. Not only am I experiencing an elevated amount of PMS but I have added crap things to make this a crap day. I know my “happy go lucky, it’s all in your head” husband will not be much help as he hates it when I “whine and complain” but I like to call it venting. I need to vent. And I have already done so today with my mother. Thanks mom.
I haven’t been sleeping well lately. I am the type of sleeper where 5 min after laying down, I’m snoozing. Not lately. It seemed like last night all I did was doze. All. Night. Long. Not a good addition to PMS.
I also have a wisdom tooth that is coming in and it’s in the shape of a fang. Probably not actually but it’s sharp enough where it has cut my cheek and now a cankersore has made a little home and that fun little fang is rubbing up on it all day long. My cheek is swollen up a bit on the inside and I sound like an idiot when I answer the phone. Mudth, Porter, Lundee and Seegin instead of Mudge, Porter, Lundeen and Seguin. Poo.
I got to go to my annual exam at the gyno today also. Now when IS a good time to do this? Surely not when you are PMSing. It was the first time I have let any man down under other then my husband and for some reason I was nervous about it. Other factors were involved in that fun little experience that might make a TMI moment. There are a lot of TMI moments that I won’t share that are involved in this but just try to get a mental picture. Lets say that it didn’t help the crap day.
The office is freezing and the outside is freezing. All I want to do is take a bath and I have no bathtub. This has been an ongoing problem through the years but we have no money to remodel the bathroom.

I guess I can see where Max is coming from A LITTLE. Not a lot though. Don’t you ever have those days where you are just a negative nelly and you aren’t having a good day at all? At least Max doesn’t read this much so I don’t have to hear about it from him. I’m hoping that once I get home, put on my warmest comfy clothes and head over to JW house for a little Monday action with enchiladas and a movie that my mood will improve. The big factor on whether tomorrow will be better will be IF I get any sleep tonight. Perhaps I’ll cheat and take a PM medicine tonight that will knock me out. That makes me sound like some sort of addict but I promise I’m not, I’m just REALLY TIRED!!

Thank you for listening to my ranting and raving and venting and whining and complaining. I appreciate it!

Miss Stella (soon to be)

Today was my first attempt at shooting maternity photos. I think that we really got some great shots! Here are a couple to share, I just had to work on a couple once I got home :)

My Husband

I just wanted to share my hands down favorite new photo of my husband :) I took it today while we were on the train.

Grey's v. Office

Why oh why did Grey’s have to be on at the same time as The Office? Do these T.V. executives realize what they are doing to me????? My two favorite shows and I have to watch one on the INTERNET. How rude.
Grey’s……. Office…… I love you both. Don’t feel like one is better then the other, it’s not true. You are both equally special to me! :)

fluky deductions

A photo gallery of some of the desultory weekend that I had :)

A. Luca got a bath :):):) Isn't he cute!

B. Realized that we should go into business as toupee makers... three types of hair! It was haircut day in our house.

C. We have African Killer Wasps living in our backyard... notice the size difference compared to the clothespin. Not. Cool. Also notice the double stingers... I guess size does matter.
(that's what she said)

Sarah came over!

There you go.

Dinner

The times when my husband isn't home is when I realize it might be smart to learn how to cook something.

He is up at Turtle Lake tonight so it looks like myself, a bowl of cereal, and watching The Office is in order.

What would I prefer for dinner? I have been craving some of my hubbys AMAZING stir fry and won tons. What do I get? Captain Crunch.

A visit from Rachael Ray is in order.
If Cesar Millan wants to visit as well that is fine by me :)

Whip me into shape. Whip the dogs into shape. Done deal.

Oliver

My September nephew was born today! I don't know any details about numbers but he was born at 243pm Vermont time and he definitely took his time coming out! His full name is Oliver McFarlane Frank (McFarlane being a family name). Congratulations Kaela and Dom! Can't wait to see pictures of him!

*Little Oliver was 7 pounds 13 ounces and 21 inches long :) A nice healthy baby!

nobody puts baby in the corner...

Oh sad, very sad. I'm glad that his fight is over and he can just rest in peace now. My heart goes out to his wife with whom he made it through the Hollywood crazies and were married for over 30 years.

i heart dirty dancing <3

Shamwow anyone?

What is it with men and the shamwow?
Seriously? It's not like they clean up messes anyway (men I mean).
We are cheap people and we brought practically no money to the state fair and what does my husband spend it on? Shamwows. His reason... "I bought one, and got two free Jessie! where else am I going to find a deal like that? no where."
All the people standing around the shamwow presentation were men.
It's Reeeeeediculous.

Halfway there!

The next four weeks of my always attractive sister and my nephew (that's what it's going to be). We find out a week fromThursday!

Lazy Bones

Yesterday I took a nap... it doesn't sound like a big deal but I NEVER nap. It's probably because if I do nap my naps have to be at least 2 hours long...

My husband finally wondered where I was after 1 1/2 hours of not hearing anything and came upstairs to find me face down, backwards on the bed. Since this was such an unusual sight, he checked my pulse. Yes he did I promise. Surprisingly (apparently) I was still alive and just needed a snoozer. Ok, back to poker he says.

And I slept on. Weird.

mad, crazy professor

All I have to say is this:
working at a law firm, you come to hear some pretty crazy stories from some pretty crazy people. the fella that i encountered today on the phone, won. hands down. he had the mad professor thing going on. i'm not sure how much i can tell you without interferring with the whole confidentiality thing (he's not a client though so does it apply then?) but this guy was, lets say crossing some religious boundaries with his get rich quick scheme. he can read the word of god through the alphabet. its a gift. he's like mozart. he was drop dead serious. gosh, there isn't a way to tell you everything, how mouth dropping my 20 min conversation was with him. dang.
just believe me, your mouths would have also dropped to the floor. you can ask jw, she saw my mouth wide open. wow. really, wow.

Say it loud, say it proud

I'm not ashamed to say it, nope not at all.

Midol, I love you.

That one day a month that I need you, you are there with unfailing devotion to assist my every need. You are good to me. Thank you!

Book Review

Taking a cue from Erin I guess... I got the idea to start up a separate blog to keep record of the books that I have read and a small, slight description of the book and whether or not I liked the book. I did this mostly for myself but if anyone wants ideas of something new to read or could offer suggestions on some new books, then go ahead and take a looker at it. I would especially love it if anyone wanted to give suggestions. I fly through books so fast that it's nice to have some options of new ones to read. I hate those lulls that you get into when you don't have anything to read :( Anyway, I will keep a link under my lists under Fascinating People (even though I am not a fascinating person) if you can't find it. Otherwise here is another. Remember, I did this for myself, I am NO EXPERT book reviewer. Don't expect life shaking amazingness.

Happy Birthday my Max!

My Max turns 24 today. I know it's not old but considering I've known him since he was 16, it's hard to believe we are already at this age. Time flies. I love you babe and I hope you have the best day tomorrow even if you do have to get up at 530am to go to work and you are allergic to your job... dang concrete. We will have a cou*fine*gh dinner cooked by the world famous chef (this is me folks) and a good movie. Anyway, happy birthday love :)

Max's birthday also marks our dating anniversary :) He finally got the courage to ask me out on his 17th birthday so here's to hitting 7 years love!

This is the oldest picture of us on my computer right now... Max is 18 and so am I.

Happy Birthday Stinkerbutt!

Since I have no kids of my own yet, my puppies count and they deserve their bday shoutout :)

Happy Birthday Chunky Monkey!

Luca Henry, born 2 years ago. Never have I had a dog that was such a pain in the ass.

Good thing he's cute.