Long Time....

Well, it's been over a month... how sad is that?
the even sadder part of all of it is that nothing has really even happened in over a month...

Matt and I are still living together.. we have our moments/issues but we have taken the tired and true advice of others.. never go to bed angry.. All we have left to do is a few odds and ends, organize and clean the basement, and set up the guest bedroom...

We had a nice quite and relaxing 4th of July... we went to the parade in Cannon Falls, went to the Twins game in the afternoon(we had the best seats! 12 rows right up behind home plate), we took Lincoln swimming for the first time in the Cannon river(it runs behind my parents house) it was fun to see his reaction.. he was scared of the water at first and it took him a while to warm up to the idea but soon he was sticking his head under the water and playing around.. we are hoping to take him to the lake this weekend and see if he is going to be a dock diver after all! We ended our 4th with the Fireworks in Cannon and then headed home to bed..

I have two interviews this week... Today is at Rocco's and tomorrow is at Mia Maxx in the Bursnville Mall.. I love spending my days with Lukas, I just want to see what options are out there and take my time investigating salons before I jump head first into the salon world again...

We have another busy weekend ahead of us.. Car Craft if this weekend, this year I get to actually go since I have Friday off.. So it's off to the state fair grounds with the boys Friday.. Matt will go again on Saturday with just the boys.. Saturday Jenae and I are meeting to get things started for the JV dance season.. Sunday we are headed to the MN Zoo to see the new Africa Exhibit, and maybe head to the lake later on in the afternoon with Lincoln...

I've got some new motivation for the blog and will be posting more and adding pictures!

have a great rest of the week...
alice

It's Been A While....

Well, Hello again!
I know it's been a while..
A lot has happened since the last time I blogged.. (ok maybe only one thing)

Matt and I took a HUGE step the first weekend in May, we moved in together!!
So far, so good..
We took on a pretty big project at the house, we wanted to turn the house into "our" house so we painted and did some pretty major cleaning.. We still have lots more to do... but one day at a time and I think everything from the trailer just might actually get into the house. So between me spending my days with the little man, working at the fabric store... and Matt working, and running a business, and yup it's official I'm a fisherman's widow on Thursday nights(it's his "new" fishing night) so now it's time for me to find a hobby.. we might actually have "our" house by October.. I will post pictures on the one and only room that is complete and that is the bedroom, I just have to find what box the camera is in first!

Life around here is always interesting, things are always busy...

This weekend marks the start of the Car Show "season" for us..
The first Car Show is this weekend, it's at the Little Log House in Hastings, and the Hastings Car Shows start May 30th.. so every other Saturday you'll find us down under the bridge!

I have officially decided that I DON"T like Lincoln anymore.. the dog has chewed way to many of my underwear and he ate an ENTIRE pair the other day.. what kind of animal eats a WHOLE pair!! He slobbers EVERYWHERE and there is ALWAYS water on my kitchen floor from this dog.. It's a good thing Matt likes him or he would be for sale.. the price FREE!! but he is Matt's dog, I guess I won't be picking out anymore dogs EVER!! I do not pick good ones!!

A week from Saturday my cousin will be graduating from Law School and so the whole family is going to Swan lake to celebrate.. It should be interesting, my cousin and her family are coming up from Texas..its been like 15 years since everyone has been at the lake.. Matt and I will be set up in the bunk house.. I'll post pictures when we get back, and I'm sure there will be some stories..

well, I think that is all I have for tonight.. just a quick update..

And So It Starts...

I know its been a couple days..
It's been a rough couple days..
I battled a migraine all last week, and then got sick (with what I thought was the flu, but my family insists that it is acid reflux)
I'm feeling much better today after some rest, a good nights sleep, and starting day one of seven with the prilosec otc, yesterday was a rough one. Throwing up (just that nasty bile stuff that burns on the way up and out)
Anyways, today is a much better day...

I've set some goals for myself...

I tried starting Weight Watchers the 1st of March which lasted about a week (ok so maybe three days) Then I said I'm going to do this, yup you guessed it that lasted a whole week this time... then I said I'll start after we come back from Vegas, that lasted about a week and a half.. SO this is it I started again on Monday and things have been going well... I've started walked a mile and a half every day.. I'm starting their walking boot camp this coming Monday..

GOAL #1: stick with Weight Watchers, and walk/workout six days a week...
Sub-Goal of Goal #1: use Weight Watchers, walker boot camp to walk a 5k this spring

I've always been a person who procrastinates, I wait until the last minuet on everything... and my procrastination has lead to some laziness in which I'm over being lazy.. I've got a great oppertunity to do what I've wanted to do for a long, long time..
Matt and I are moving in together on May 1st, I'm very excited about this.. We will finally be able to start our lives together instead of trying to live our separate lives when we aren't together and live a life together on the weekends... So here is my chance to organize, have an office, decorate, make dinner, etc., etc...
GOAL #2: Get organized... so that I can't procrastinate...

I have a tendency to not have follow through, it really bugs Matt, as well as some others I'm sure.. I've always been a planner, and I've decided that with good planning the end result has got to be good follow throught..right!? I hope so..
and that makes...
GOAL #3: Follow through on what I say

Those are my begining Goals, for the start of my "new" life... When I feel that I have got a handle on these things.. three more goals will come...

Wish Me Luck!
all for now
alice

Good Friday

This is my favorite time of year.. EASTER
It's usually pretty nice out...
You can enjoy time with family with only a little stress...
Who doesn't like coloring eggs?
Nothings better than the Easter Bunny and Easter Egg Hunts...
Ham is always good, even a few days after Easter..
Cute clothes for one and all...
Tonight as I sit here with my family eatting our traditional "tuna suprise" and coloring Easter Eggs I'm truly reminded how very luck I am to have the amazing family I do. I'm so excited to get to be experiencing my nephews 1st Easter/1st Hoilday!
Happy Good Friday

Migraine......

As I sit here enjoying the next couple of hours I have that I can half function because of wonderful medication waiting for the throbbing to return for the latest mirgraine battle.
I’ve decided to tell you about my battle with migraines.
It all started 8 years ago when I was a freshman in High School. I got the stomach flu really bad, it was awful.. (I’ll spare you the gross details) I was home sick from school for a week, I wasn’t getting any better so off to the Cannon Falls Clinic I went. They didn’t do any blood work, no tests of any kind, they did however ask me if I could be pregnant, yup they did and there was no way that was a possibility unless I was the next virgin Mary which was highly unlikely. The doctor there concluded that it was probably a virus and it needed to work its way out. Ok, so with that off to home I went they did tell me however that if I wasn’t feeling better in the next day or two to come back. Nothing got better so back I went, then they told me (yet again after NO tests) that I had mono and just needed to rest. Now started the horrible awful migraines (I had no idea at the time, that that’s what I was experiencing) they were so bad that the only way I could get any relief was to lay on my back have my Mom straddle me and press with all her weight into my forehead.
Mind you I had been taking all kinds of Tylenol, Advil, etc., etc. to try and get some relief. My Mom took me to see a doctor in Red Wing, who decided it’d be a good idea to do some tests.. but he said that I had Hepatices C (but in his defense with all the Tylenol, Advil, etc., etc I’d been taking) it probably seemed like a logical explanation, but I’d only been at school and at home. So there was a small chance that , that was what it was.. Back home I went.. As the next couple of days passed I only started to feel worse any my headaches only got more intense. So back to Red Wing we went, this time to the most wonderful man (he will continue to be my one of my Hero’s in all of this) he took one look at my grey/green skin, sunken in eyes, and the fact that I was crying and no tears were coming, hadn’t gone to the bathroom in close to four days. Yup, you’re right it was pretty bad. I was admitted into the Red Wing hospital the Friday before super bowl Sunday and was in the hospital for five days. I was given close to 10 bags of IV fluids and it took four bags before I finally went to the bathroom. I was given morphine for the migraines and was finally back to my old self a week later.
I did well the rest of my freshman year and the start of my sophomore year. The middle of my sophomore year the migraines returned full force. My migraines were so bad at that point my Mom was ready to go buy me some pot to smoke so that I could get some relief. There were too many to count trips to the ER in the middle of the night for drugs that were only going to give relief for a couple of hours before a rebound migraine would start. I had steroids shot up the base of my skull, that didn’t work and to this day I still have knobs on the back of my head from those stupid steroids but when you are at a point that I was you were willing to try anything. I missed a total of a month and a half of school before they decided it’d be a good idea for me to be homebound tutored for the remainder of my sophomore year. I was put on a 504 plan at school which is a federal program that gives students with medical problems more time to complete things and more or less makes teacher back off and help when needed. At about the time I was being homebound tutored we found who I can pretty much sum up as my HERO! Dr. Pat! My Mom in all her research had read that chiropractors were known to be able to help with migraines so we made an appointment with Dr. Pat. He found that I had fibrotic knots up and down my neck, into my jaw, and into my shoulders as well. There was a point there that I saw him as often as two or three times a day for weeks at a time.
By the time my junior year rolled around I was on the mend. Yes I still did get migraines but I knew when one was coming, unlike before. I could sort of predict them and knew what to do to try and make them less painful. I knew that if I needed to I could go see Dr. Pat to help ward one off or to get rid of one.
To this day I still battle migraines but they are few and far between and I know what sets them off.. Sometimes like the one I’ve been battling this week is most likely because of change of routine, a new job, and the fact that I’m leaving home for good the end of the month to start a life in Hastings who is the most wonderful, and amazing guy a girl could ask for (besides my Dad that is J ) So with the help of Dr. Pay, bengay on the forehead (yes it really does work, it warms up your forehead very nicely and makes you able to sleep), some rest, and with the help of my migraine medication I’m going to beat this one(hopefully soon)
That’s all for now, I know it was long but thanks for reading.
This story is part of how I got to be where I am today.
Remember Everything Happens for A Reason!
alice

In Everything Give Thanks...

After a nice long hot shower, a phone call from a good friend, and a good movie last night I feel 100% better than from where I was last night..
I have so much to be thankful for.. I have an amazing family, a great boyfriend, his family is amazing as well, a good solid group of girlfriends, two great jobs, a place to live, a car to drive, and the list goes on and on..
So I felt rather ridiculous this morning when I read my post from last night.. Why get down on my self for things that I can't change, they are in the past and now it is only to look towards the future and learn from those choices I have made. Life is full of adventures big ones, small ones, you get the idea. I'm going to embrace my life and the exciting changes that are coming my way and I'm going to sound silly here.. but I'm going to be the best me I can be.
The only person who can change the things I don't like, is me and only me. So, here I go.. I'm on my way to embrace life, do what I want to do, do things that make me happy, and set some goals for myself, and my future!
So look out world, here I come!
I'll probably end up posting later again this afternoon, the carpet cleaning guy is on his way here!
alice

Advice

Well, today has been one of those days...
This week has brought on a whole new set of challenges and exciting events, but all I can seem to think about is why I'm not where I had pictured myself at, at this point in my life.
I sat at the kitchen counter almost four years ago as a senior in High School trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, graduation was fast approaching I had no clue.. I thought then as I sat there with my Mom and she asked me "Alison are you SURE you want to go to beauty school in St. Cloud, is this really what you want. If it is great lets get moving! If not lets figure out what you want." well me being who I am said yes it's exactly what I want, now as I sit here tonight I realize that all I wanted was to move away from home and experience life. I don't do hair well, I don't have a passion for it, I do it for friends and family because I like to help people out don't get me wrong I don't hate it, I just don't feel like I do any of it well. I think I took going to beauty school as an easy way out of college, I could get done in 10months I could get away from home for a while and spread my wings. What I ended up doing was transferring home to a beauty school in Hastings, finishing in a little over a year, moving back in with my parents, worked at a salon in Farmington that didn't last very long or go very well for that matter, finding a job at a salon in Cannon Falls (ending up where I had no intention on returning to ever again) working for a month short of two years, leaving there to work at a fabric store for the most amazing people you could ever ask for to be your boss, and taking care of my nephew and creating a bond so strong with him that NO ONE not even his momma could understand and loving every minuet of every day that I get to spend with the little man in my life.
All of this very long first blog, is all of my thoughts from today because the little man in my life slept most of they day so I was left with just my thoughts. Being stuck with all these thoughts all day long I do what I do when I'm having a rough day.. I message my best friend over facebook, venting to her about all of these things and she gave me the best advice that lifting my spirit and made me see life in a whole new light.
Take it one day at a time, So to sum up my lecture I'm going to tell you to be thankful for where you are in life, don't worry or panic about the choices you made in the past or will make tomorrow because the great thing about life is you can learn from them and they will make u a better person for having gone through that experience.
So my new motto: Take it One Day At a Time, that's what this blog is all about.. giving me a place to vent, journal about the current happenings in my life, and give me something to do.. if you choose to read great, if not totally understandable..
Until Tomorrow.... Alice