scrapwithstyle

Frozen memories

2010-01-07T09:03:00.000-08:00

COLD COLD COLD here in Texas today (only about 20 degrees) and it is supposed to stay that way for the next few days to come - colder than it has been in about 10 years. I'm not complaining - and I know how cold it has been up in Minneapolis this year (stay warm & dry family!) - but this type of weather really reminds me of growing up in Minnesota. Great memories of playing outdoors in the snow when I was young, building snow forts in the drifts, and even jumping off the garage roof into the plowed snow piles next to the garage. I remember stepping outside in the mornings to head to the school bus stop, and almost "feel" the ice crystals lingering in the air, and you could almost smell the crispness of the frozen lake nearby. Feels a little bit like that this morning - and it's good.

Live a life that matters

2010-01-05T14:56:00.000-08:00

Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten will pass to someone else. Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed. Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear. So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do lists will expire. The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away. It won't matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end. It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant. So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured? What will matter is not what you bought but what you built, not what you got but what you gave. What will matter is not your success but your significance. What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught. What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage, or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example. What will matter is not your competence but your character. What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone. What will matter is not your memories but the memories that live in those who loved you. What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what. Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident. It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice. CHOOSE TO LIVE A LIFE THAT MATTERS!

Where did the time go????

2010-01-02T17:40:00.000-08:00

The Holiday's really flew by this year - lots of time spent preparing baked goodies, shopping for Christmas gifts, good times with friends and family and having house guests ;-) Whew... I have to say I'm tired - and glad for a New Year and a fresh start.

I don't usually make formal resolutions - I never seem to carry through with them - but I do have ideas for making this coming year better than the last. Here's to everyone I know having success, good health and happiness in 2010 ;-)

I hate shopping...

2009-12-16T12:16:00.000-08:00

Maybe it goes against all of my natural female instincts, but I really hate to shop - especially around this time of year. Why are people so rude and obnoxious when it comes to finding a parking space (speeding through the parking lot to get a space - nearly running people over - just to get 3 spaces closer than the one they were waiting for in the first place), waiting in line (more like cutting in line), being so darn rude (bumping into other people without an apology)????? What horrible examples some people set for for their kids.

No wonder I do more shopping on line whenever I can, than in person in stores. I wish people would have more grace, gratitude and patience this time of year.

So Thankful

2009-12-04T08:18:00.000-08:00

The time has really flown by quickly this past week or so - I can't believe it's already December and prep time for Christmas is already under way. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with a houseful of family and guests, and had great fun watching the Cowboy's game & eating too much turkey & ham. I'm so thankful for having Jeff home this year and enjoying the Holiday with our whole family.

I'm halfway through making our Christmas cards - and hope to have them all in the mail by the 15th. We are planning on getting the decorations up in the house this weekend - it's our tradition to do it all in the first weekend of December - but I'm sure we will have to schedule it around the Cowboy's vs. Giants football game on Sunday.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Preparing for Thanksgiving

2009-11-24T08:04:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to get things ready for the company we are having for Thanksgiving - setting up the extra table & chairs, thawing out the turkey, polishing the silverware, getting some cookies baked and so on. I tend to get stressed out when we entertain, but this year I've tried to get past that stress by preparing early. There always seems to be something I forget every year - but hopefully I have all my bases covered.

I'm planning on trying something new this year too - it seems there are tons of recipes and buzz going on lately about cooking a bacon wrapped turkey - and it is supposed to keep the turkey moist when cooking. Here is a link to the recipe. Hopefully it will turn out!

My favorite time of the year

2009-11-22T14:58:00.000-08:00

It is really is starting to feel - and smell - like fall here in Texas - and it's my favorite time of the year. I guess there are just certain things this time of year that really remind me of growing up in Minnesota, like the smell of crisp night air, falling leaves and cinnamon apples. I have such great memories of my Mom's cooking - and since we had a huge apple orchard behind our home - most of the baking & cooking revolved around apples. She was always baking apple pie, making apple sauce, apple bars, and whatever else she could think of with the crop that those trees produced. I try to treat myself to my favorite tea whenever I can - and there is nothing better in my humble opinion to take me back to those special memories than this:

New Kitchen

2009-11-21T10:02:00.000-08:00

I love the look of the finished new tile floors, back splash and counter tops in the kitchen. It took longer than we had planned, and eating out got a bit old & expensive, but I'm very thankful to have it all completed. Perfect timing for the 12 people we are planning on hosting for Thanksgiving dinner this year. I do need to re-decorate a few things - the old tired blue accents have got to go - so guess what will be on my Christmas wish list this year ;-)

Getting some work done

2009-11-15T05:41:00.000-08:00

While the contractors are working on the kitchen, I've been working on my Christmas cards. Still a lot to do - for both things - but it's coming along - and progress is being made. We'll be eating out for the next few days - but it is looking good so far.

I have about 10 cards done - but I need about 30 more. I love stamping, and have a big selection of stamps, but I kind of got away from it in the past few years. Lately it's been so much more fun doing it using my Copic markers. I took a Copic 101 class last June - and learned so much. I feel just like a kid again who went off to school with a huge box of brand new crayons.

More R&R

2009-11-13T07:51:00.000-08:00

I wish R&R means rest & relaxation right now, but unfortunately, for our family recently, it means repairs & renovations. We had ANOTHER water damage event 2 weeks ago - the culprit was the hot water heater in the garage - and it leaked under the wall and into the breakfast nook area in the house and damaged the wood floors. So, we are in the middle of replacing the floors (thanks to our insurance company once again), and also decided to upgrade our counter tops to granite in the process.

We had planned to do that in the future - but with all the work going on - we thought we could get it all done in one shot. We have a great contractor who has helped us in the past - and we were thankful he could help us this time as well. The hardest part was deciding what color of granite to choose, but after a few discussions, Jeff settled on exactly what I wanted - imagine that ;-) I'll post pictures of the finished project once it's completed - but here is a photo of the granite "we" picked. I can't wait for it all to be finished.

Back to school time

2009-08-24T06:46:00.000-07:00

Not sure yet if I'm happy or sad about the girl's heading back to school. Katie started back this morning - 7th grade already - and it's amazing how grown up she looked heading out the door. The days of having her hair perfectly curled and wearing the perfect outfit are here. Oh joy ;-) Teresa moved into her new apartment over the weekend - but she is only 45 minutes from home - so not too far to drive when she needs something. She's already been home once - picking up a few things she forgot. She couldn't do that when she was at Mizzou.

I know I'll have some much needed quiet time during the day, and time to get back into my routine and get some things done - but I'll miss them - but I'm very proud of both my independent girls.

All Finished

2009-08-14T14:36:00.000-07:00

I'm so thankful the renovations in our master bathroom are done - just in time for a very luxurious and long soaking shower this morning for my birthday. Here is the finished product - I love it!

Holy blog post Batman!

2009-08-08T10:14:00.000-07:00

Man, has it really been 5 months since I last posted to my blog? I have been bad & I feel bad. And not really sure about the reason. I could say how busy I have been, and that I have had no time, but that would not be completely correct - I guess not too much worth posting about, and I've just been lazy about keeping it up.

Life has changed a little bit for the Rodriguez household in the past 5 months. We managed to get through the spring and the end of the school year without any problems, and Jeff returned home from his 3 year long assignment in Africa at the end of June. It's so good to have our family back together under 1 roof again. I hope we never have to be separated for that long again. He is still working for Dyncorp Intl., but is working based from here instead of overseas. He is still very much involved with projects in Africa, and may travel again for quick visits, but I can handle that.

We took a few vacations & trips after he came home, one to Va. Beach for a friend's wedding, and we took our annual trip to Mexico last month. While we were gone to Va. beach we had some water damage in the house from a broken toilet tank in our master bathroom, but luckily Teresa was home that weekend, and was able to turn off the water & do some of the clean up with the help of some great neighbors, and she was able to minimize the damage. We did have to place an insurance claim once we got home, and we are just about done with the master bathroom renovations. I'll be so happy once it's finished. Here is a before & in-progress shot:

I'll post the finished photos once the custom shower doors are installed, and I finish with the decor. I really love the new tile look - and it was much less expensive than we thought it would be.

More soon.... I promise!
Sonja

Unexpected night out

2009-02-07T12:38:00.000-08:00

I had a great night out last night with Mike & Jill. The evening started out with both girl's out of the house with friends & sleepovers - so I thought I would be home watching old movies all night by myself. I was very excited to get Mike & Jill's call saying they were at Grimaldi's Pizzeria and they had ordered a bottle of wine, and to come on out of the house & join them ;-) It didn't take long for me to change out of the comfy sweats and head out the door. It was great to just relax & enjoy good company - it takes my mind off missing Jeff - and it was just what I needed.

Best Friends

2009-01-30T09:58:00.000-08:00

To Mike & Jill - Love you guys - I know you always have my back ;-)

"Ice Ice Baby"

2009-01-28T05:35:00.001-08:00

That's what Katie said when I went to wake her up this morning and told her school was canceled today due to the bad weather. Teresa's classes were canceled as well, and the college won't open up until 4 pm today. We had freezing rain last night and now we have a pretty good coating of ice all over everything this morning. It looks so calm & serene outside, but I'm very glad that we are all safe & warm in the house & that we don't have to be out on the roads. The temp should rise quickly today once the sun comes out, and hopefully it will all melt this afternoon.

One last goodbye

2009-01-24T17:48:00.000-08:00

Jeff headed back to Africa this morning and is somewhere over the Atlantic ocean right now. It's such a long trip - several stops and 24 hours long - and he should arrive tomorrow afternoon. We had what we hope is one last goodbye until he returns in June. I'll be counting the days ;-)

Back on track

2009-01-22T07:41:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since I've been blogging, it seems like the end of last year went so fast, and then with Jeff home, I've been too busy and distracted to get online very often.

A few changes at the end of the year came up, first of all, Teresa is home from Mizzou, and is transferring to SMU here in Dallas. It's been a big change having her move back home, and the jury is still out whether her living here again after being out on her own is a good thing. It's good to have her here to talk to & be a bigger part of her life, but she is a true teenager still, and expects me to be her maid at times. We're working out the kinks and hopefully things will settle down since she started classes again this past Tuesday.

The second change is the extension of Jeff's job in Africa. He originally took the position thinking it would be a year to 18 months, but it has turned into something much more that we expected. He was due to come home for good in December and take a job with the same company on a different project, but that position has not yet been opened due to contracting delays within the State Dept., so extending where he is at now just made sense. So, we are holding on for another 6 months, and he has promised to be home for good by June 15th. Let's see if he can keep that promise - this being apart stuff is getting old.

We have had a great month together though, and as much as I hate having him leave again, I know it's the best job for him right now. If the company gets it's act together and works out the contract delays, then he'll be home sooner. Keeping my fingers crossed ;-)

Great time in Vegas

2009-01-21T05:59:00.001-08:00

Jeff & I were invited to spend last weekend in Las Vegas with some wonderful friends Jill & Mike and stay at their timeshare property with them. We all had a great time, did a little gambling (won a little bit too), saw a few shows, and of course we all ate way too much ;-) It was a great chance for us to get away together without the kids & such, and it was perfectly timed knowing Jeff will be heading back to Africa for his last (I hope) extension until June.

We had a fabulous dinner at the "NINE" in the Palms on Saturday night to celebrate Mike's birthday - and I have never had such a huge & tender steak, nor a better bottle of wine to go with. It was so much fun people watching as were toured the strip at night and watched the fountains at the Bellagio. It was Jeff's first trip to Las Vegas and it was fun showing him all the sights and seeing everything as new through his eyes. He's not much of a gambler and he didn't try it for himself until the very last day when Mike convinced him to suck it up and put a $20 bill into the slots. His second pull won - and the $20 turned into $75 - and he was done - and completely satisfied with himself ;-) He'll never admit it - but I know he enjoyed that.

Here are a few shots I took while we were there:

My new blog!

2009-01-11T05:55:00.000-08:00

Thanks for checking out my new blog! It's a work in progress, and I'll be adding more content as I learn more about Blogger, so please be patient!