1. Do you cook every night?
It goes in phases - I'll get in the mood for cooking and do really well for a week or two, then we get super busy and eat out a lot. I work a lot of 12 hour days and it's REALLY hard to cook a whole meal on those days, so some sort of fast food fits the bill (although I try to make it a little healthy, i.e. apples and salads instead of fries.) I really want to eat at home more and I have a lot of recipes I'd like to try. Secretly, I wish Brandon knew how to cook - wives, if your husband is a cook and loves it you are a blessed woman!
2. What kind of laundry detergent do you use & why?
Usually All rain scent and Snuggle fabric softener. I love our clothes to smell fresh and sweet!
3. Do you do laundry every day or loads at a time?
I try to do clothes and towels once a week on a day off, then tackle blankets and sheets on my weekend off. I like to have every ounce of laundry completed on my weekend off, the kind of keep up during the next 2 weeks.
4. How often do you eat out per week?
Depends on the week. Definitely lunch and dinner on Sundays, then maybe a couple times during the week depending on how busy we are! We eat out way too much and I am so aware of that!
5. Where do you usually eat out?
We eat Mi Ranchito a lot. I try to limit McDonald's, but my boys love it! We also do Applebees some, and I like Taco Bell every now and then. I eat lunch at the hospital some, but prefer to pack b/c then I always know I'll like what's for lunch:)
6. What is your favorite retail store?
I love Target, but the closest is Danville so we go to Walmart a lot. For clothes, I like Old Navy and Gap the best.
7. What’s your favorite thing to drink?
Sweet tea and water.
8. Do you take vitamins? What kind?
2 Flintstones everyday.
9. What percentage of the household chores to you do?
Brandon helps out a lot, so probably about 60-70%. Maybe more if you count the laundry, but he does a lot of dishes and swiffering. I do most of the rest, but he does outside stuff and the trash.
10. Do your children do chores? {Or will they, did they, etc}
Cam definitely will. Now, he is responsible for putting his toys away and making his bed. He does a pretty good job. He's also supposed to clear his plate after dinner.
11. Do you go to church?
Sunday mornings on my weekend off. Brandon and Cam go every Sunday morning and night. We also do Wednesday nights.
12. Do you have a housework schedule?
No, we just do what needs to be done. Laundry is probably the most scheduled thing.
13. Do you keep a working budget?
Brandon does the finances. We try to save as much as possible, if we eat at home more, we'll definitely be able to save more:)
14. What do you do at night as a family?
Depends on what we have going on with church stuff. If there's nothing planned, we watch tv, cam plays with toys, I scrapbook and read, Brandon does computer stuff. Sometimes Cam and Brandon play X-box together. We're pretty low-key around here.
15. How do you prepare yourself for a new week?
We just kind of go over my schedule, make sure Cam's bookbag is ready, I pack Cam's lunch if he doesn't want to buy. We don't so anything too in depth.
16. What do your mornings look like?
On a workday, I'm up at 545 am and I shower and get ready for work, then hea dout by 625 am. Brandon gets up at 7 or 715 am and gets Cam ready, then takes him to school. If I'm off, I'll take him to school and sometimes Brandon and I get breakfast together. On weekends, we take it easy unless there's a youth trip planned, or it's my weekend to work.
17. What time do you get up in the mornings?
See the previous question:)
18. What time do you go to bed at night?
10 or 11pm, Cam goes between 8 and 9, Brandon will go between 12 and 1 (he's bad for that).
19. How do you manage all of the paperwork that floods into your household? {bills, school work, magazines, ads, etc}
Brandon takes care of bills, I read my magazines whenever (they go on a table in the living room), I don't really get coupons, but we don't get the newspaper either. Cam's school stuff is gone through after school each day, I sign what needs to be signed, we do homework, and make sure his bookbag is ready for the next day. Junk mail gets tossed immediately, I hate clutter:)
20. How do you keep your household organized? {calendars, charts, etc}
We try to keep a calendar on the fridge. I kind of keep up with both our schedules, and remind Brandon of where we are each week:) We just try to keep it simple, not too complicated.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
A Day Off (Sort of...)
This has been a nice weekend. My mom, Paul, Z, my aunt, and cousin came to visit Thursday. We went to Fairy Stone on Friday, and they left Saturday morning. My boss let me change my schedule to come in at 11am so I could eat breakfast with my family before they went home. After eating, I headed into work (getting completely drenched in the process), only to find out I was on call until 3pm. So, I went in from 3-7, which was nice for a Saturday. I got to spend a little more time with my boys at home. Today (Sunday) I got put on call again, which was fine with me. The only problem was that I couldn't go to church because we have crappy AT&T and I can't get a signal at church. So, I've been here at home enjoying my coffee and watching a little bit of tv. The house was already clean, and the laundry was pretty much done b/c I did a lot of it yesterday. Its kind of a lazy morning for me! This week will be weird at work (and next week) b/c I have to work an 8 hr. night shift and a 12 hr. night shift each week. I've only ever worked one night shift and it wasn't a whole night - 3am-3pm. This should be interesting!
Cam started kindergarten last week. He did so well, and seemed to really like his new class and teacher. He said she's a "great teacher" and talked a lot about his new friends. He even remembered names, which he never knows, so I guess they made an impression on him. He walked in the first day like he owned the place, didn't even wave good-bye to us! My baby is such a big boy! I'm so proud of the little man he is becoming, but it's really hard to watch your baby grow up. He still fits in my arms and I can still pick him up, so that's good. He knows he'll always be Mama's baby b/c I tell him all the time:)
That's about it for this post. Nothing much else going on, just have to get through two crazy weeks of work! I'll let you know how the night shifts go!
Cam started kindergarten last week. He did so well, and seemed to really like his new class and teacher. He said she's a "great teacher" and talked a lot about his new friends. He even remembered names, which he never knows, so I guess they made an impression on him. He walked in the first day like he owned the place, didn't even wave good-bye to us! My baby is such a big boy! I'm so proud of the little man he is becoming, but it's really hard to watch your baby grow up. He still fits in my arms and I can still pick him up, so that's good. He knows he'll always be Mama's baby b/c I tell him all the time:)
That's about it for this post. Nothing much else going on, just have to get through two crazy weeks of work! I'll let you know how the night shifts go!
Friday, August 7, 2009
What interests me...
I think I want to see that new movie about Julia Child, but one thing bothers me. I get caught up in the whole cooking through her cookbook in one year. I think about how much it would cost to buy that much food and then how horrible I'd feel if I messed up the recipe. I'd feel like I wasted all that money! because this cookbook is a french one, not jut a basic one. Anyways, I still think I'd like to see the movie, although I'm sure Brandon would not:) Maybe I'll learn something about cooking from the movie!
So, we're back from a wonderful week of vacation! We went to the zoo, spent time on the beach, and got plenty of shopping time in. Brandon and I went to a movie, also, which was nice. It was so nice being away, but it felt good to get back home in our own house and beds. I like the feeling that this has really become our home. We talk a lot lately about future plans, and I truly feel like we may be where we are supposed to be. I know God has His plans for us and can send us where He wills, but I hate feeling like everywhere we live is temporary. I think that happens with youth ministers, versus preachers. Youth minsters sometimes seem like they have a 5 year limit or so at a church, but as we near 5 years in Horsepasture it just doesn't feel that way. I think churches as loving as Horsepasture and rare and far between (at least in our experience).
I started back to work on Wed. after being gone for a week and a half, which was different. I actually felt like I can't believe my vacation is already over - I felt like we'd just left! I love my job, I really do, and I feel blessed to have it, but it makes me really appreciate those days off! Some weeks it feels like all I do is work, especially when it's busy and I may get called in for additional shifts. But, overall things are great at work and I definitely can't complain in this day and time!
Cameron starts kindergarten on the 19th, which is unbelievable! He has grown up so quickly, I wish it'd slow down just a bit, so I can enjoy each moment even more! He keeps us busy, but is one of the funniest, most independent little boys I've ever met! Everyone who meets him lets us know how unique he is and I take that as a total compliment. He' just his own little person with a huge personality! Keep us in your prayers as we continue to try to expand our family, I won't go into too much detail, but we are trying some treatments and hope that they'll work without us having to turn to high measures.
Have a great day everyone out in bloggerland!
So, we're back from a wonderful week of vacation! We went to the zoo, spent time on the beach, and got plenty of shopping time in. Brandon and I went to a movie, also, which was nice. It was so nice being away, but it felt good to get back home in our own house and beds. I like the feeling that this has really become our home. We talk a lot lately about future plans, and I truly feel like we may be where we are supposed to be. I know God has His plans for us and can send us where He wills, but I hate feeling like everywhere we live is temporary. I think that happens with youth ministers, versus preachers. Youth minsters sometimes seem like they have a 5 year limit or so at a church, but as we near 5 years in Horsepasture it just doesn't feel that way. I think churches as loving as Horsepasture and rare and far between (at least in our experience).
I started back to work on Wed. after being gone for a week and a half, which was different. I actually felt like I can't believe my vacation is already over - I felt like we'd just left! I love my job, I really do, and I feel blessed to have it, but it makes me really appreciate those days off! Some weeks it feels like all I do is work, especially when it's busy and I may get called in for additional shifts. But, overall things are great at work and I definitely can't complain in this day and time!
Cameron starts kindergarten on the 19th, which is unbelievable! He has grown up so quickly, I wish it'd slow down just a bit, so I can enjoy each moment even more! He keeps us busy, but is one of the funniest, most independent little boys I've ever met! Everyone who meets him lets us know how unique he is and I take that as a total compliment. He' just his own little person with a huge personality! Keep us in your prayers as we continue to try to expand our family, I won't go into too much detail, but we are trying some treatments and hope that they'll work without us having to turn to high measures.
Have a great day everyone out in bloggerland!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Little update...
It's been awhile, again. What have we been up to? We just got back from a great week of camp last week at Pitt. I was the official camp nurse this year, and everything pretty much went well until the last hour of camp, literally. One of the campers became unresponsive on the girls' bathroom floor, where I proceeded to get her to wake up a little bit and did some nurse-like things (vitals, finger stick, sternal rub to wake her up). She vomited several times all over the place, so I called an ambulance b/c I couldn't transport her half-awake and vomiting (that's just begging for some aspiration). In the end, she had a ruptured cyst, which can be extremely painful. It was a little scary b/c I'm used to the ICU where we have everything on a monitor right in front of you, we just have to evaluate the results (heart rhythm, pulse, BP, O2 sat, respirations). This is not the case at a rural camp. It is not fun to find someone pale, cold, and clammy, and not be able to check their O2 content. Cameron Bailey had literally left 5 minutes before this happened, and he had equipment that would have been extremely helpful to me! Rule for next year: he has to stay as long as I do:) I also never want to call a mother again and tell her I called an ambulance for her daughter, that felt awful. Other than that the week went great. Brandon and Tim Hunt put together an awesome experience for the kids, we had a great staff, and several kids made important decisions. The best part? I got to spend the whole week with Teri and Ariel! We both value our friendship so much and living so far apart is sad sometimes, so it was nice to be able to catch up and actually have the time to hang out. And don't even get me started on Ariel, the cutest baby in the world (besides Cammy, of course). I could have snuggled her all day, everyday! She is so sweet and happy - I think everyone there enjoyed their special smiles she passed out:)
Now that we're home, it's been back to real life. I'm back at work, which hasn't been too bad. Cam is enjoying his summer "bacation", (can't make a "V" with no front teeth). He's lost another tooth on the bottom now, so that's a total of 6 teeth missing from the front of his mouth, hence he has a big hole that his tongue will fit through. He'll be getting speech therapy at school this year b/c he needs some help in that area. Part of it is the missing teeth, the other part is developmental.
At camp, Brandon accidentally spewed lime chalk? all over a room he was in and proceeded to inhale it. He had to go to Urgent Care yesterday b/c he was having trouble breathing with a raspy cough and his skin burned. The diagnosis: Pleurisy (his lungs are inflamed and irritated from the corrosive lime), and chemical burns on his back. He's on prednisone now and doing ok. Scared me a bit b/c nothing is ever wrong with Brandon, so when he says his breathing is hard, it's not good.
I've been doing more cooking! My friend Liz told me about a cookbook called Hungry Girl and I have fallen in love with her recipes! They are revamped ideas of our favorite foods that are bad for us and they are yummy, yummy! I also have been going on Foodfit.com and getting really yummy, easy recipes. We are eating much healthier, which feels so much better than fast food on the run, which Brandon and Cam love.
Pray for me this week. I have a dr's appt. that will hopefully address some of the fertility issues I'm having. I won't go into more detail now, but it's a little scary for me and depressing. We hope God will bless us with another baby, but it's just not going as easily as we'd hoped.
I think that's about all for now. We have VBS coming up and then vacation in Wilmington, which i cannot wait for! This weekend is the fourth of July and we'll be at Smith Mountain Lake with Alicia (one of my best buddies) and her family, as well as some other good friends. Hopefully Brandon will be feeling better so he can wakeboard, he loves it and is really good! I'll just enjoy being out on the boat and the lake! Have a great Independence Day! Until next time......Jess.
Now that we're home, it's been back to real life. I'm back at work, which hasn't been too bad. Cam is enjoying his summer "bacation", (can't make a "V" with no front teeth). He's lost another tooth on the bottom now, so that's a total of 6 teeth missing from the front of his mouth, hence he has a big hole that his tongue will fit through. He'll be getting speech therapy at school this year b/c he needs some help in that area. Part of it is the missing teeth, the other part is developmental.
At camp, Brandon accidentally spewed lime chalk? all over a room he was in and proceeded to inhale it. He had to go to Urgent Care yesterday b/c he was having trouble breathing with a raspy cough and his skin burned. The diagnosis: Pleurisy (his lungs are inflamed and irritated from the corrosive lime), and chemical burns on his back. He's on prednisone now and doing ok. Scared me a bit b/c nothing is ever wrong with Brandon, so when he says his breathing is hard, it's not good.
I've been doing more cooking! My friend Liz told me about a cookbook called Hungry Girl and I have fallen in love with her recipes! They are revamped ideas of our favorite foods that are bad for us and they are yummy, yummy! I also have been going on Foodfit.com and getting really yummy, easy recipes. We are eating much healthier, which feels so much better than fast food on the run, which Brandon and Cam love.
Pray for me this week. I have a dr's appt. that will hopefully address some of the fertility issues I'm having. I won't go into more detail now, but it's a little scary for me and depressing. We hope God will bless us with another baby, but it's just not going as easily as we'd hoped.
I think that's about all for now. We have VBS coming up and then vacation in Wilmington, which i cannot wait for! This weekend is the fourth of July and we'll be at Smith Mountain Lake with Alicia (one of my best buddies) and her family, as well as some other good friends. Hopefully Brandon will be feeling better so he can wakeboard, he loves it and is really good! I'll just enjoy being out on the boat and the lake! Have a great Independence Day! Until next time......Jess.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Our goings -ons:)
I actually had to go back and see where I left off so I could update! Last weekend we went camping overnight for Cam's first time. He had a blast! While Brandon and I put our tent up, Cam collected all the firewood, and I mean ALL! He found huge, dry limbs and dragged them over for us to break up - some were so big that we couldn't break them, we'll have to bring an axe next time. I was very proud of him - we were set with firewood for our whole little stay. We only stayed overnight b/c we had church on Sunday and had to get home. Mom, Paul, Steph, and Z met us. It was a nice time overall.
Monday we went up to the lake for the day. Brandon got to wakeboard a lot, which made him happy (and sore). He's getting really good - water sports come so naturally to him. He stood up the first time he got on the wakeboard - its kind of like surfing behind a boat, so he would be good at that. He misses the beach so much sometimes, it makes me sad, but things are so good for us here that he makes that sacrifice. We will go for a week this summer, so we're stoked about that.
Cam graduates from preschool next week, which is crazy! He's been practicing his songs and standing still for the ceremony. He's excited about kindergarten and talks about it a lot. He's grown so fast! I'll probably cry at the graduation. He is so not a baby anymore!
Well, that's about it for now. Working and home stuff keeps me plenty busy and it's so hard to stay caught up. Brandon said I could hire a housecleaner to come once very other week to get the deep cleaning done that I don't have time for. One of our kid's mom cleans houses, so I think I'll talk to her. We shall see!
Monday we went up to the lake for the day. Brandon got to wakeboard a lot, which made him happy (and sore). He's getting really good - water sports come so naturally to him. He stood up the first time he got on the wakeboard - its kind of like surfing behind a boat, so he would be good at that. He misses the beach so much sometimes, it makes me sad, but things are so good for us here that he makes that sacrifice. We will go for a week this summer, so we're stoked about that.
Cam graduates from preschool next week, which is crazy! He's been practicing his songs and standing still for the ceremony. He's excited about kindergarten and talks about it a lot. He's grown so fast! I'll probably cry at the graduation. He is so not a baby anymore!
Well, that's about it for now. Working and home stuff keeps me plenty busy and it's so hard to stay caught up. Brandon said I could hire a housecleaner to come once very other week to get the deep cleaning done that I don't have time for. One of our kid's mom cleans houses, so I think I'll talk to her. We shall see!
Saturday, May 9, 2009
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