Friday Excitement... on Wednesday!

Have you ever had a Friday when you were so excited for the weekend that you just wanted to dance through your day?  Your entire Friday is better because you are SOOO EXCITED about what is happening when work is over?

That is how I feel today!
FRIDAY EXCITEMENT... on Wednesday!

When work is over today, Chris and I head to Mexico!!!

Well, we don't really fly out until tomorrow morning, but the other day, my hubby asked me if I would be "ready to leave" right after work on Wednesday?  When I said that I could be... he said that he wanted our vacation to start right after work on Wednesday.

He won't tell me what we are doing between 4:00pm Wednesday and 5:00am Thursday... but apparently our vacation is beginning before it officially begins.

I AM SOOO EXCITED!

We are just flying to Mexico!

TEACHERS DON'T DO THAT IN NOVEMBER!

But, we are doing it.

We are making the most of our Thursday, Friday, and Monday and taking a long weekend in another country.  Its almost like we're going for a fast trip for a wedding... except we don't have the time commitments of a wedding!

How am I going to focus on work today?!?!

I'm HEADED TO MEXICO!!!

OHHHHH MEXICO!




Oh, and Happy Halloween... talk about the LAST thing on my mind right now.

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1,000 Words... Don't Judge!

1000 Words

Worth It!... I Hope

Relief is Coming... I Hope...

Chris and I are counting down, just a few days until we are spending a long weekend in MEXICO!

Teachers aren't really allowed to take vacation during the school year... because our vacation is June and July.  But we made a decision last March to buck the system and join my parents for a long weekend in Mexico.

The AMOUNT OF WORK it takes to take a long weekend out of the country is crippling me.  Many, many, many long weeks... and the promise of many longs weeks when I return, plus a bonus of 12+ hours of work this weekend trying to prepare.

I keep telling myself this will ALL BE WORTH IT!

This WILL all be worth it!

The warm and my parents alone, would make this worth it... but add to that the beautiful setting, the pool, the beach, the chance to earn some money from timeshare presentations, a chance to flee the country at a time in the work year when fleeing the country sounds AMAZING (except, in my head, I don't necessarily come back, lol).

If I look at these pictures too long, I may not come back...

 All this work, WILL BE WORTH IT!

Who's Watching Whom?

These weekends, I am often on my own for a good percentage of the time.  My husband hunts, and I watch football, work, and take care of the animals.

The thing is, the more weekends I spend with my two animals, the more I cannot say that I take care of the animals.  The animals are looking after me as much, if not more, than I am looking after them.

Lexie spends the majority of the day in my lap or in my arms... that is, the majority she tries to spend in my arms or in my lap.  She watches me all day, and waits for a moment when she thinks Lloyd will not bother her, and she comes to cuddle... then Lloyd usually hears her collar so he comes over to see what's going on, and Lexie runs away to look for another opportunity to climb in my arms.

Lexie also sleeps with me every night that Chris is gone.  Lloyd always sleep with both of us, but ever since we got Lloyd, Lexie only rarely will sleep in bed with me.  I always thought that Lloyd was the reason Lexie rarely comes to bed... but every night Chris is gone, Lexie curls up right next to me... on my hip, next to my stomach, under the covers right next to me and sleeps the entire night next to me.  Maybe Chris, not Lloyd, is the reason she stopped sleeping with me every night?

Lloyd is his usual wonderful guard-dog self... but I think he is even more protective when I am hear alone.  Friday night, Lloyd heard or smelled SOMETHING that he did not like and from 10:30pm-12:30am, he was barking, growling, pacing, between me and the back door.  This is NOT Lloyd's typical behavior.  He barks when he hears something (like a car coming in the driveway) and then he calms down.  He has NEVER behaved so agitated and vocal for such a long period of time.

I eventually became so concerned about his behavior that I called the police.

I felt like I had a crying baby on my hands.  I REALLY wanted to go to sleep, but the baby just wouldn't calm down.  The thing is, when a baby is crying and crying, you are not in fear for your safety.  When my dog was growling and growling and wouldn't calm down, I was in fear for my safety.

Praise the Lord, nothing came of Lloyd's Friday night agitation.

When my hubby is away, sure, I feed and love the animals... but really, they take care of me.

My Best Husband

 My husband is so perfectly my best friend.  But he is so much more than my best friend, because calling him a friend doesn't account for all the chemistry, problem-solving, patience, love, and marriage between us.  He is more than my best friend.  He is my best husband.

Lately, I've been overwhelmed by how much I love the little moments of life with him, because my best husband is also my best friend.  I get to live every day with my best friend, and even little tasks become fun and funny.

The other day, I was trying to remove a little window fan from our bedroom window (where it has been for over a month, since it was cool enough not to need a window air conditioning unit).  I needed to open the window a little wider to remove the fan, and then close the window completely.   My hubby offered to help me, but I said Thanks, but that I could do it.

I tried and tried and TRIED and Tried... and I could not budge the window.  Hubby and I started giggling, and I finally relented that I would appreciate his help.  But he tried and tried and TRIED and Tried... and the window still wouldn't budge.

We were really laughing now and trying to figure out what was going on.  I finally piped up, "You don't think the painters did something to our window, do you?"  Yup!  Sure enough!  Our window was painted half-open.

It took teamwork, knives, arm-strength, and some time, but we eventually were able to open, and then close our bedroom window.

Friday morning, my 4:00am alarm went off, and neither Hubby or I wanted to get out of bed.  I had to get up and off to work... and we had had a snowstorm, so I needed to allow extra time for the roads.  And Hubby wanted to get up with me at 4:00am (a rare occurrence... who can blame him?) because he was headed out hunting.  He district went to 4-day school weeks for financial reasons, and so some of his Fridays are free.  :-D

We both groaned, and pet our animals, Lloyd on Hubby and Lexie on me, and tried to ignore that we had to get out of bed.  My wonderful hubby decided we needed some music, and started playing songs from his iPhone.  Before I knew it, we were both dancing around with the animals and our Friday was off to a wonderful start.

Things like this... a stuck window laughing marathon and a 4am animal dance party don't just happen.  It takes living with a man who is my best friend, my companion, my teammate, my team captain, my ally, my heart-throb, my lover, my man.
It takes living with my best husband.

Lately...

Lately... I've been craving Margarita pizza from Naples, like Chris and I ate on our honeymoon, and like I ate Fall 2004 when I studied abroad...
So, I've been trying to re-create a Neapolitan Margarita pizza... my efforts have no business in the same category as any Amazing Italian Pizza.

Naples Pizza (left), Miller Pizza (right)  Not really the same.

Lately... our mountains and roads are looking BEAUTIFUL!

Are your skis ready?

Less snow in other parts of the valley... but winter's coming!

Lately... Lloyd obeys, but pushes the limits.  In this picture, I'm in the bathtub and Lloyd kept poking his nose into the tub.  I told him to lay down... and he did... but he always kept his head and nose up and curious for the rest of the my time in the tub.

Don't you want me in the tub with you?

Happy Friday!

President Garfield and a Twist

When Chris and I were traveling this past summer, we learned an interesting story about President Garfield.

President Garfield was elected President in March of 1881.  His presidency was one of the shortest of any president: just 200 days.

The story Chris and I were told was that a Frenchman, Charles J. Guiteau worked for President Garfield and helped him get elected.  After becoming president, President Garfield didn't make room for Mr. Guiteau in his cabinet and so Mr. Guiteau vowed to assassinate the president.

Charles Guiteau shot President Garfield on a train platform in July 1881.  One bullet grazed his arm and another embedded in his abdomen.

The president was rushed to the White House where doctors performed surgery after surgery trying to locate and remove the bullet in his abdomen.  The doctors felt it was the highest priority to follow the path of the bullet in his abdomen and procedure after procedure was performed to no avail.

The White House commissioned Alexander Graham Bell to create the first metal detector to help the doctors locate the bullet.  The metal detector always detected metal, so the surgeries continued.

President Garfield eventually died in the White House on September 19, 1881.  In an autopsy, the bullet was located behind the president's pancreas.

Current doctors theorize that the president could have survived the gunshot if the doctors had simply left the bullet alone.

In, what we find a pretty hilarious I LOVE LUCY twist, the metal detector that Alexander Graham Bell invented was definitely detecting metal... the president was laying on one of the first metal spring mattresses.

I can hear the I LOVE LUCY theme music...

Sometimes and Always

Sometimes: The best feeling is curling up in a warm and cozy bed
Always: The best time for this is at the end of a long day, on a Friday night when I don't have to move again for many hours.

Sometimes: I DO NOT understand the actions of some parents.
Always: Probably, someday I will be a parent that someone doesn't understand my actions.

Sometimes: After years of hardly even reading "The Mountain Millers" blog, my hubby suddenly decides he wants to weigh in on the Mountain Millers writings
Always: He does not tell me when he does this

 

Sometimes: A break in my routine sounds enjoyable and amazing
Always: A break in my routine really throws me off for a couple of days

 

Sometimes: A shower sounds amazing.  Sometimes, a shower sounds exhausting.
Always: I feel better after a shower.

 

Sometimes: At 4:30am, when I get ready for my day at work, I think an outfit or a hair style works, "Why haven't I done this before?" I wonder.  "It was so easy, I don't know why I've shied away from this hair 'do or sweater before."
Always: Around 10am, when I look at myself in a mirror at my 3rd school of the day, it becomes clear why I have never worn my hair that way, or that sweater before.  My appearance has really suffered with this 4:30am dressing time.  Things look okay at 4:30 that look HORRIBLE in the light of day.

 

Sometimes: I decide to do Sometimes and Always even when the blogger hostess doesn't host Sometimes and Always
Always: I enjoy doing it, and I don't mind that I'm the only one.

 

Sometimes: Its hard to believe that it was a year ago that I blogged every day in October.
Always: That month really started a habit.  I've blogged 345/365 days of the past year.  Wow.

 

Chris' - The Streak is Broken

Every great run comes to an end.  This is a reality.  However, it wasn't supposed to happen until years down the road when we surpassed the total World Series wins of the overpaid Yankees.

Yes, last night the Cardinals lost to the Giants. They didn't just loose, they were stomped.
They had some hits, but failed to score a single run.  In fact, they only scored one run in the last three games!

They only had to win one of the last 3 games, but they choked.  They started the series off winning 3 of 4 games, then they couldn't pull it together.

Going back to the amazing World Series win of last year, we had won 6 straight elimination games.  Yesterday that streak was broken.

We were excited for a St. Louis/Detroit World Series, but we will just have to hold on to the memory of beating Detroit in 2006.

The Cardinals are mourning.
St. Louis is mourning.
Half of the Miller house is mourning.

Some kid came up to me this morning to give me a box of Kleenex.
Brat.

But she was right, we'll get them next year.
At least we haven't had to wait over a hundred years like Cub fans.

Treasuring the Present: Saving Money

This is a period of time when Hubby and I are saving money.  We are cutting out things that are unnecessary, planning inexpensive meals, and working together to save.

Some days, I take great pride in what we're doing and how we're working together... and some days, I really want to order Chinese food, or a large pizza.  :-D

This means,  I need to focus my attitude on the beauty on what my hubby and I are doing right now.  We are working together, loving each other, saving money and making sacrifices together.  This is a beautiful time in our life.  And we're eating healthier as a result!

As much as I am treasuring this time in our life, if anyone wanted to give us a gift card for our local Chinese place, I would happily accept.  :-D

Weekend Images

What a wonderful weekend.

Lexie has loved cuddling lately.

The only problem is when she decides cuddling is more important than my work...

Friday afternoon Rhino Ride!  A Rhino is like a golf cart for hunting.
It's not a golf cart, it's a side-by-side 4-wheeler. 
More correctly termed- UTV (Utility Terrain Vehicle)
You and your dad call it a "Bike" so I think a golf cart is much more descriptive than a bike...
 

WHEEEEE!

Ready for the Michigan v. Michigan State game.  GO BLUE!

YAY!  Michigan WINS!  Lloyd Carr and I celebrated!

Look how close Lexie and Lloyd are laying!

Lexie is on my chest, and Lloyd is in between Hubby and I.

At times, her tail was touching her rear and they were both exhausted and happy.
Doesn't her tail always touch her rear?
I meant his nose was touching her rear.
  

 Have a wonderful week.

The Lesson of Time

I learned a very valuable lesson at a young age.

When I was in 5th grade, we gave a friend of the family a ride home from church choir practice.  She was in 8th grade at the time and during the car ride home, my mom and she made small talk.  She told my mom about a big research project she was working on and how it was an 8th grade requirement.  I remember my eyes getting wider and wider as she talked about the 10-12 different references she needed to compile and how if you didn't pass this research paper, you didn't pass 8th grade.  I remember thinking, as a wise old 5th grader, that I better go to a different middle school because there was no way I could write that kind of paper.  I would never pass 8th grade if I had to do that kind of research paper.

Three years passed, and I attended the same middle school as the family friend... and sure enough, the middle of 8th grade brought THE DREADED Research Paper Assignment.  As soon as the assignment was presented, I remembered it from the car ride home 3 years prior.  I breathed a sigh of relief because I was ready to tackle this paper.

The three years in 5th, 6th, and 7th grade had prepared me for this kind of assignment.  This was still a new challenge, but the 8th grade teachers offered plenty of support and I was going to be just fine.  As an 8th grader, I acknowledged that I did not have the skills in 5th grade to successfully complete this task, but when the time came that the paper was assigned, in 8th grade, I was up to the challenge.

At the ripe age of 14, I realized that many tasks will seem overwhelming when I hear about them because I am not ready for them yet.  Many challenges seem insurmountable when they are viewed from afar; however, when the time comes to face the challenge, I will have the skills necessary to tackle it.

As a freshman in high school, I was overwhelmed when Seniors discussed college plans.  When this happened, I took a deep breath and remembered the lesson of the research paper.  When the time came to apply and attend college, I would be ready.
As an underclassman in college, I would see the big impressive thesis projects that Seniors completed.  Instead of being overwhelmed, I would take a deep breath and trust that when the time came for me to begin that Sr Thesis Project, I would be ready.

Somehow it was very natural to trust that my teachers would prepare me during those high school and collegiate years and make me equipped for my Sr. tasks.  Why does it come less naturally then to trust that when the Lord places new tasks, paths and challenges before me, that He will have equipped me for what lies ahead?

What happened to my deep breath and my trust that when I the assignment came, I would be ready?

Lord, please help me trust Your preparation and Your timing.  When the assignment is given, You will have me ready for the task.  The task may be challenging, but You will not send me out unprepared.

Go MICHIGAN!

I've thought of about 12 different topics for today's blog, and only one will do.

MICHIGAN PLAYS MICHIGAN STATE TODAY.

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There is nothing else I can write about except the game I am SO excited to see and for which I've been waiting since last year's game ended.

MICHIGAN, PLEASE BEAT MICHIGAN STATE!

How much Michigan apparel are You wearing today?

I know, I posted this yesterday, but really, WHO can get enough of this song?  I LOVE this song.  It is a great work out song, running song, skiing song, driving song, dancing song... oh, yes, and CRUSHING the COMPETITION FOOTBALL SONG!



LET'S GO BLUE!!!

I LOVE October!

Friday Letters: Way to Go Tigers!

•  Dear Hubby, You are unbelievable, and very funny. Apparently this is a blog from both of us today.
• Dear Student, I'm not really happy you're absent today because you really need the time at school... but I appreciate not having to drive 180 miles on a Friday!  So, thank you!

• Dear Tigers, WAY TO GO!  WORLD SERIES BOUND!!!

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•  Dear Cardinals, the Tigers are waiting for you.  We would love for you to join them so Chris and I can be happy whomever wins the World Series.

(This is Chris) I will only be happy with one outcome!

Sorry for editing this myself dear.

• Dear 2013, I think you are going to be a rough year... I need to change my attitude

• Dear Hubby, I love how we have faced challenges together this week.  I feel like we are really learning how to support each other and work as a team.  I Love you SOOO MUCH!

I will support you when you are crying from the Tigers' humiliating losses to the Cards!

I love this picture taken of our little family.
So relaxed, so happy... just us as we are!

• Dear Michigan Wolverines, BEAT MICHIGAN STATE TOMORROW!!!!

• Dear Body, Please keep working out.  You're two weeks into the workouts and three pounds down... keep it up!

• Dear Hubby, You're losing weight like crazy this fall.  You look AMAZING!  I LOOOOOOVE you!

• Dear October, You are AWESOME!

• Dear Weekend, I hope and pray you are relaxing and productive... that beautiful, elusive combination, and that a deer walks in front of my sights.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

1000 Words

1000 Words