He Finally Did It!!

Brian Accomplished a Nine Year Goal!!

He graduated from Tarleton State University on December 13, 2008
withhis Bachelor's degree in Business Systems!

Where do I start with this blog? I am so proud of my husband! He has been working full time at the same company for 9 years and attending college the entire time. There have been several times when he wanted to take a break, but decided to keep on trucking to finish his Bachelor's Degree. NINE YEARS of tests, classes, papers, projects, etc. while working full time and keeping his family life together, whether it be Brilye and I or keeping his Mt Calm roots and relations strong.

The past year and a half, he has dedicated finishing school to his daughter... he has said that he wanted his degree so he could give Brilye a better life. He is so thoughtful and considerant of her.

He wasn't that excited about graduating, as a matter of fact, he was a little embarassed that it took him so long, but I am proud because he didn't receive any freebies from anyone while attending... he worked hard. Up until 3 years ago, he would put in 45-75 hours PER WEEK at work as a leadman of his shipping department. He has worked hard and deserves recognition for his perseverance and accomplishments. I love him so much and I know I have lucked out with him... he is a GREAT catch!

Here are a few pics of the ceremony and afterwards:

What Have I Done to Deserve This?

Just so in Love With my Life...

Thank you, God for all of my blessings!

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
~Matthew 18:19-20


When you have once seen the glow of happiness on the face of a beloved person, you know that a man can have no vocation but to awaken that light on the faces surrounding him; and you are torn by the thought of the unhappiness and night you cast, by the mere fact of living, in the hearts you encounter.
~Albert Camus

Some Peekture Fun

Picture Tag

I saw this on my friend Alicia's Blog, and I, too, was very curious to see what I would find... everyone seems to have cute, sentimental pictures that have a lot of meaning.

The object of the picture tag is to:

1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer

2) Select the 4th picture in the folder

3) Explain the picture

4) Tag 4 people to do the same - NO CHEATING! (cropping, editing, etc!)

Well, since my computer recently crashed and I have not had a chance to add my old pictures back on to my computer, here's what I found:

That's right, homemade SUSHI! My friend Angela and I went and googled "how to make California sushi rolls." Went bought all of the materials and ingredients (there's actually a lot of small things you wouldn't think about, like rice vinegar, bamboo mats, wasabi [gotta have that]etc.). Well, our first batch, we forgot the rice vinegar and sugar and salt, and as nasty as it smelled, it actually added a lot of flavor. The second batch is what is pictured above.... it was a spicy Philadelphia cream California roll... haha, we didn't realize until later that we combined the ingredients for a Philly Cream Cheese Roll with Spicy California Roll's ingredients. All in all, we added cream cheese, imitation crab, cucumbers, avocados, spicy mayo (homemade as well) and.... I think that's it! So, unlike everyone else who has the cutest pic of their kid, I have a dilapidated piece of sushi... that figures!

love,
bug

Guess It Isn't the Right Time Yet

Well, as you know I have been looking for a new job with more responsibility and steady hours. I applied at Baylor and crossed my fingers, but today I received an email from their Human Resources Department that let me know I didn't make it to the final stage in their interview process... rats! I was really hopeful too. Oh well, I guess that it wasn't meant to be for now. Maybe I will hear from them on a better job soon. I was told I tested really well in all areas, but there were a lot of applicants. Better luck next time, Scat!

In other news, I have been eating right and exercising lately... ten pounds have vanished so far! WOO! I am running twenty five minutes a day and lifting weights, so I am happy to see these results, granted it has taken about a month already. In return for my hard work, I received a nice gift from the toenail gnome! I had a severely ingrown toenail, ouch! They cut both sides of my nail off on the 2nd toe, so it looks a little funny right now.... kind of like a rat tooth! It is healing quite nicely though. I have decided that I will spare you the pictures... I got some really cool pics mid-surgery of the procedure too... I guess I am weird like that. It was interesting.

So, Christmas is coming up and I am almost done with all my shopping! I only have four kids left to buy for. For my mom I am making this awesome Decoupage calendar frame. I made a blanket for my dad out of two pieces of fleece, one side is sporting the Cowboys... gotta have that! I want to paint a couple of wooden plaques for my sisters on top of what I already bought them. I just don't know what to paint on them yet. Ideas??

I'm Still Here...

It has been a while since my last blog... my dear friend Alicia keeps telling me to update, so here goes.

First off, a little explanation why I have been absent for so long. I actually planned on creating this elaborate blog page and started getting the hang of Photoshop, but then my computer grew a brain of its own and decided to retire! Seriously, it refused to turn on anymore. We took it to this teeny tiny repair shop (which was ironic because the name of the store is Computer Giant) and they said after three weeks and three different prices, that it would cost $423 dollars to fix it (that's after a promise it would only take three days and $79.99 to fix the laptop). Well, after that third call I kind of lost it with the repair technician and told him he could take his hard drive and shove it in someone else's [eh-hem]. So, needless to say, the guy did not fix my computer, dang hot-headed temper! He was able to recover my pictures (no projects though) so he charged me $45 for the disc... grrrr.

So then I was stuck with a broken computer. My sweet mother in law, Betty (MIL from here on out) brought her laptop over for us to borrow because she knew we were too lazy to hook up the desktop again. Well, her kindness connected me to the virtual world, but it took longer than stinkin' dial up! I mean, we have high speed internet at my house, but this computer is so slowwww that once, when I was bidding on an ebay item that was about to expire in 2 minutes and 9 seconds, I missed the whole auction just trying to sign in and place my bid!

Great, now I have a no-brain laptop and a laptop running off of a steam engine! Okay, that was a really dumb metaphor, but whatever, you get the point.

Well, two weeks ago my father in law, Billy (FIL from here on out) took our computer to the school where he works so the computer guy there could fix it... he ordered the parts and when he installed the new parts, the computer crashed again within just a few minutes... so, he gave us a new laptop and kept the old one to work on as a project. SWEET!

Thanksgiving was great this year. I was in charge of bringing sweet potato casserole, and let me tell you, it was scrumptious! I made it with orange juice, marshmallow cream, cinnamon, etc. Oh yeah, and sweet potatoes. Even my husband, who hates sweet potatoes ate some... he actually said he liked it too! I had to make enough to feed 50 plus people at my Nana's house in Belton... I looked like a total weirdo walking through Wal-Mart with 32 sweet potatoes. I'm not sure where I came up with the number 32, but I just filled up 6 bags and bought them. I baked them all too..... my house stunk for a long time, in fact, I think I can still smell them! Regardless, they were good, the family was good, the time spent together was good. I laughed a lot and learned some new things about my family. For instance, my cousin Adam is basically this AWESOME photographer that I never knew about... he has travelled all over the world and taken pictures for National Geographic... check out his ABSOLUTELY AMAZING pictures at www.mylivingimage.com and let me know what you think! He took a few family pictures of everyone... he even did one of just me, Brian, and Brilye which I cannot wait to see!

My job at the police department is still super exciting, but I am looking for a new job now with steady hours and more responsibility. I applied at Baylor where a couple of friends work, and I went and tested yesterday for clerical skills. I did pretty well on my tests, so everyone cross your fingers. They said it will take a couple of weeks for my scores to be forwarded to the correct department, but that I should definitely hear something back.

So, this has been a little long, but I wanted to catch you all up on what's been going on. Brilye is doing fantabulous.... she is almost seven months old! Brian is loving his new job... he has more freedom and a lot of responsibility. My sister, Kim is pregnant with a boy! She is due in April around Easter weekend (super excited for her!!) And yes, Alicia, that means I will be needing one of your amazing wall plaques!

So here I am... I need to install Photoshop now and get to work on my page... all tips will be appreciated... uhh, that's informational tips, not monetery, unless you really want to ;-)

XoXo
Kellye
-aka-
~ScatterBrain~