That up there is my picture of the day taken at 0430am this morning as we were “on our way to work” extra early. When we opened the garage, we saw how much snow there was. The husband actually believed that our truck was more powerful than what Mother Nature had poured down over us. We got stuck right away- as we were pulling out of the garage in what we later found to be more than knee-deep snow. After about 30 minutes of shoveling the truck out of this mess (going forward and reverse), we parked it back into the garage. I, of course, had the worst job of going forward and reverse. Dexter had the easier job of actually shoveling out there! *sigh* Dexter proceeded to shovel the snow in the driveway as we were determined to get to work, even if we were going to be late. It was still 0515am, so we could still make it in time. DUH! Look at the damn street that we had failed to even notice until we cleared the driveway. It hadn’t been plowed at all. After about an hour of contemplation, we had nothing else to do but call it a day. I called in to work late and told them I couldn’t make it. We really both did try to make it in, but it would have been impossible and dangerous. It was better to be stuck in our driveway than anywhere else. It’s been crazy. I don’t remember the last time the weather was this bad that we were literally “snowed-in” inside the house. Take care out there guys!

We have returned. It has been quite a hectic start to the summer. We were gone for a month to the Philippines. It was a very mixed emotion type of thing. It was fun but so hard at the same time. There were many days when I just wanted to cut the vacation short and head back, but we both managed to make it through. Now I am finally recovered and everything is back to normal. Janelle has grown so much in the recent months. She is talking so much more and is more toddler-like. Both the girls now sleep with us and it’s kind of like a blessing in disguise. We all sleep late at the same time, but they also wake up later. No more early morning wake up calls from the little one. Unpacking and organizing everything will be a bitch though. I haven’t even started doing that yet.

My computer  (the older one) fried its own hard drive while we were away. I admit, I have not been giving it much attention since I got my iMac. It won’t turn back on and it says files cannot be read. Dex called the company and they made him open everything up. The diagnosis: hard drive overload which lead to a massive stroke and loss of information. We never backed anything up, so I was devastated to lose 90% of Jasmyne’s baby pictures which I did not get to download into my Flickr account. Now I am making all their albums from Flickr, because there is no way to transfer from Flickr back to my computer. So in essence, I still have all of Janelle’s pictures, but from my Flickr account. Jasmyne’s first year is mostly lost because it was so chaotic during her first year that I didn’t get to move her files. We were moved twice and was living in our apartment at the time. That’s what I get for procrastinating. Now I’m rushing and spending lots of money making them their baby books before something worse happens and I lose it all for good! Oh well. Life goes on right?

Well next mini holiday is Father’s day. My husband will definitely deserve this day and so much more. I know you think your husband or father was the best, but I tell you now, MINE IS! . The Fourth of July is coming. I’m excited because it has become one of my favorites- especially our yearly Taste of Chicago excursions. Then there’s my brother’s wedding and then our FIVE YEAR anniversary. Planning where and what we’re doing this year is in the works. It’s a special number and definitely deserves some sort of celebration, so we’ll see.

I can’t believe that’s it is already February. I felt like I was wishing you guys a happy new year just yesterday. Anyhow, I think this will be a busy month for me. I got myself another job as a registry nurse closer to my home. For all of you who are not in the health field, I basically schedule myself to work whenever I want. It’s kind of necessary since I only work three days a week and I spend money like it grows on trees. Honestly, my hubby and I need o be more financially responsible, but we are not. OUR motto is that you only live once. You never know when the end will come, so you gotta just enjoy life and your money. Saving is not even in our vocab. Irresponsible, I know! So starting this Friday marks the first day of my 16 day in a row work flow. What the? I have never ever in my life worked that many days in a row. At least it will all be paid, right? My interview and acceptance of my new job was all so random and not planned for. My assistant manager was kind enough to let me have the two weeks off. Since I felt guilty, I offered to work the weekends when he took me off the schedule for those two weeks. I can already see my crankiness level at its highest on Day 16. At least my orientation times are only 8-430PM, so I am not expecting it to be too bad! I guess I’m just really trying to look at the bright side.

Life otherwise has been pretty good. The girls are growing up right before my very eyes. Sometimes I tear up just when I think of it. Janelle is still my little baby, but she is so big and doing more and more things independently. Jasmyne has pretty much been independent since she started walking. LoL! She honestly was feeding herself before she turned one. Her language skills were always above and beyond those her same age. So I am honestly enjoying “babying” Janelle. I feel like I didn’t get to do that with Jasmyne. We almost have a routine of playing Wii all times of the day in our bedroom. Yes! We have to take turns with each other and Jasmyne as well. The only thing I really play is the “shooting” game on Wii Play. For some reason, I am addicted to trying to beat the highest score. It’s so crazy! I wish I didn’t start it again. I’m not even trying to look at our guitar for Hero! Well I’m gonna try to enjoy my next two days off- kinda like the calm before the storm. The song above calms me. I spent moost of the day downloading songs into my beloved iMAC. This song definitely brings it way back.

I think this month, I will be busy trying to pack a box or two to send to the Philippines for our trip. I need to have so many things for the girls while I am there. I HATE to pack for the worst because it doesn’t seem like a vacation, but that is what I am going to have to do. On my short list: Diapers Galore, Clorox Wipes, all types of medicine, IV fluids, all sorts of ointments, Cereals, Geber Sausage Links, all sorts of snacks and food, Mosquito Drugs and oh so much more. My list is so bad that I have to pre-send the boxes over to prevent us having to bring it all on top of everything else. I am more anxious than excited about this trip. If it were totally up to me, I would not go, but we must. Oh well. I gotta stop procrastinating and get to it this time around.

I also hate when things go wrong at the wrong times. It’s like when you’re late for work and you catch all the red lights and all the slow traffic is right ahead of you. I started printing some much needed stuff and my printer decides to act up! It says that there is no more ink when I just got it filled last month. I knew that guy did not know what he was doing! The hubby better fix that issue by tonight! Oh my poor hubby always getting the better half of me! Gotta love him! Goodnight everyone!

So I finally got my Keurig Coffee Maker and I must say it is one of the best things ever created- for ME! I only like to drink flavored coffee and for the most part- ICED!. Nobody else in the house drinks flavored coffee. Nobody else likes to drink iced coffee either. My parents drink Decaf, so making coffee in the morning was pretty chaotic. Okay. Okay. It wasn’t that chaotic. It was just not that satisfying for me. Therefore, I rarely had a cup of coffee at home. I usually waited until we stepped out of the house and bought it somewhere. So enter my new Keurig obsession and we have solved everything. Everyone is happy with their coffee needs everyday and WE HAVE NOT bought a cup of coffee from anywhere since our purchase. It has pretty much paid for itself overnight. I ordered a whole bunch of different flavors for myself. Extra Bold for the hubby. Decaf for my parents. Tea for everyone. The best part is that everything is single serving. No coffee in the pot wasted. Everyone makes a cup of their liking. I have a different flavor every single day. I even have it twice a day sometimes. I can also have my lemon tea before I go to bed. It has also saved Dex and I money and time. We had to stop by McD’s or Dunkin D’s every morning to get our coffees before going to work. Now, we brew and go to work. Oh the simple pleasures in life that I do so love.

Another thing I have grown to love is my new MAC, and I am not talking about make-up. Although my eyes feel beaten up by the big 27 inch beauty that I am staring at, it is one of the best things ever created. I love it! I have a lot of pictures, and I must say that I may just have to say goodbye to my FLiCKR account. My new Mac functions just like it, if not better. I still have a lot of learning to do, but so far so good. I was a bit hesitant to get one before, but after countless visits to the Apple store, I was convinced that I had to get that “cool looking” thing not knowing anything about it. I have Jasmyne to thank for it for always wanting to go to that darn Apple store at Woodfield. Now,  I find myself excited to go home to get to know my Macky better each day. I am excited to go home to have a cup of lemon tea. HAHAHA. Okay. I think this means I need to stop blogging about my loser life. Have a good night everyone! I leave you a picture of my new baby and some of the goodies.

I was always the type to be creative and I love arts and crafts. Even back in grade school, I remember looking forward to doing my science fair project just so I could “decorate” my poster board. Who knew that science and decorating went together, huh? I know, I know. What a nerdy thought! It is also said that people who are artistic and creative always crave change- for obvious reasons. That proves to be true with me. So in recent months, I have been craving for a much needed change around the house. I actually wanted a couple of rooms repainted to more vibrant colors, however, that was DENIED by the husband. I tried many times to convince him of this need for change, but he kept declining. So I had to settle for less drastic and subtle changes, which have been in effect over the recent weeks. I guess I can be satisfied for now. I put up some new paintings and pictures on the wall. I can say I am satisfied, even for just a little while. With all the picture frames needing pictures and lots of pictures needing to be printed, I realized just how much my kids have grown. Jasmyne turned three in July, and I have yet to create an album for her. I take loads and loads of pictures and download them to my computer- and then the red light is on. That’s where it stops. My goal for next year is to organize my organized mess and make an updated album of both of my beautiful kids. As much as I’d like to get my creative juices flowing to create beautiful albums, I don’t think it’ll happen. It is just too time consuming and I will actually settle for much less. I’d just be happy to get it done.

I am so glad I have been snappy happy all these years, because I sure have lots of beautiful pictures that will help me to keep the moments alive. If there was ever one great investment I ever made, it would have to be my camera and my lens that go with it. Oh and my 2000 Honda Civic that still drives me to and from work after all these years! Man that car has been probably the only thing that has stuck to me (by choice) for ten years now! Wow. I think it’s time for a change soon!

In other news, did I ever say how much I hate taxes. Well if I haven’t already- I HATE EFFIN TAXES! Okay. There. I feel better now. Good Day!