Yesterday

Yesterday I managed to clean the kitchen and bathroom, which were both in dire need of cleaning. Our floors are now clean enough to eat off of - though I wouldn't recommend that! Yesterday I was really inspired to make some cards. I haven't done that in a long time! It was such fun. I love sitting in the middle of all my supplies, scheming up ideas for things to make, and then creating them. I got eleven done yesterday afternoon. Here are some pictures of yesterdays events:


My mess of stuff!

Our secret revealed

Anita and I have a plan worked out to keep people from moving in to the two apartments on our floor - and it seems to be working, as no one has lived in them for nearly a year!! Our secret? Levi! We simply release him into the hallway, he strategically throws his toys down the stairs, and it makes it nearly impossible for anyone to get up the stairs! Hurray for us! No neighbors!

Party on Canada

Party on Wayne
Originally uploaded by kk+.

I am not even following the Olympics, but I thought I would show a little patriotism and post this picture of some Canadians in Torino. Go Canada!

This is what 'literature' is coming to

If you are ever in need of a good laugh just pick up a flier advertising the latest in Christian books. Pathetic. Yet comically funny.
Here are some of my favourites:

"Will winning the title of 'Mrs. Proverbs 31' help her to resolve her issues?"

"With sassy style and radical hair, funky Raya Joseph sets out to conquer the Big Apple's garment district. But Raya soon meets her match - in fashion and flair - with personsal trainer Flex Dunham."

"Taking a vow to solemnly declare 'I won't' next time she's asked to be a bridesmaid..."

"...'Her Majesty' nearly suffers a melt down when she has to deal with her husband's job, aging parents, tight finances, and her responsiblities as a new mom."

"With an empty nest, a sagging body, and a sputtering marital spark, she knows she has to do something. But what?"

A means of procrastination

Four jobs you’ve had in your life:
1. Waitress
2. Fire and Water Restoration cleaner-up-er
3. Receptionist
4. Nanny

Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. Gone With the Wind
2. Nicolas Nickleby
3. Princess Bride
4. Stepford Wives

Four places you have lived:
1. Stouffville
2. Ika
3. Lawton
4. North Olmsted

Four TV shows you love to watch :
1. Amazing Race
2. Oprah
3. Dr. Phil
4. Full House

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Kissimee Fl
2. Niagara Falls
3. Las Vegas
4. Bakersfield CA

Four websites you visit daily:
1. yahoo.com
2. essielc.blogspot.com
3. oprah.com
4. allrecipies.com

Four of your favorite foods:
1. cheesecake
2. cheese curds
3. chicken wings
4. mango

Four places you would rather be right now:
1. Nigeria
2. The beach
3. Arizona
4. With Paul

Here goes nothing

This morning I am going to be moping around. I *think* I am coming down with the flu, and I want to encourage it as much as possible. At least until noon. I am going to be part of a focus group that gets paid a nice chunk of money to try a nasal spray. Sounds too good to be true... the spray will probably cause nose hair to grow inches at a time. Or cause warts ugly enough to contend Nanny McPhee's.
Tyler Heasman use to do these sort of things, but with things much more exotic than nasal spray. And he is still alive and kicking. And richer for it too. So here's me, hoping to survive the next two weeks of this nasal spray, so I can add some funds to my Nigeria trip!

Still scheming

Last night was romantic and fun.
The fun part being crashing our neighbors romantic dinner because we need salad dressing (oops, sorry about that). And the romance being the candlelight (to hide the fact that I haven’t dusted in awhile) and the rose petals all over the floor (to hide the fact that I need to vacuum – though the candlelight helped to hide that fact too.)
Of course there was takeout (yummy!), fancy desserts and drinks, poetry, cards, flowers and all that jazz too.
Our first valentines together was fun =)

Enough said on that subject… I am still scheming a way to earn $2,000. I think I will list everything that’s not nailed down in our apartment on E-bay. Or maybe not. But I am becoming more fanatical about selling stuff on E-bay. Last week I earned $6.33 on E-bay. I just listed three more items, and I plan on listing more soon. I just have to figure out what things my husband won’t notice are missing.

I earned $22 from Mystery shops this past week… I am getting closer to my goal – just $1,971.67 left to go!

I am looking into another nanny job, though the thought of being at work at 7:30 does not appeal to me. But the thought of being surrounded by my little black babies does. So I guess I would do it. Just have to see if ‘Jack’ will hire me. Till then I will continue listing on E-bay. And trying to find a radio station giving away a cash prize of $1,971.67. Who knows, with my luck with winning stuff, I might just win it =)

Just waiting for hubby to get home from work

Happy Valentines to ya'll!!

A funny

One winter morning a couple was listening to the radio over breakfast. They hear the announcer say, "We are going to have 8 to 10 inches of snow today. Please park your car on the even-numbered side of the street, so the snowplows can get through." Norman's wife goes out and moves her car.
A week later while they are eating breakfast again, the radio announcer says, "We are expecting 10 to 12 inches of snow today. Please park your car on the odd-numbered side of the street, so the snowplows can get through." Norman's wife goes out and moves her car again.
The next week they are again having breakfast, when the radio announcer says, "We are expecting 12 to 14 inches of snow today. Please park ..." Then the power goes out.Norman's wife is very upset, and with a worried look on her face she says, "Honey, I don't know what to do. Which side of the street do I need to park on so the snowplows can get through?"
With the love and understanding in his voice that all men who are married to blondes exhibit, Norman says
"Why don't you just leave it in the garage this time?"

Mystery shop, love and dream queens

I spent part of my morning in a Panera Bread shop being paid to do what I do best- eat, analyze and critique =) The Mystery Shops certainly don't pay enough to make any sort of living off of, but they are very fun. And there is something about being paid to eat anything off the menu that excites me =) I have yet to do a grocery store mystery shop, or a bank one. Those are the popular shops for this area, but someone else in this area is pretty consistant about applying for these shops and always snatches them before me!

While at Panera, and on my way home, I started dreaming up ways to earn the $1,600 needed for my plane ticket to Nigeria. If I could figure out a way to earn an additional $200 a week then I could do it! Mum has me all excited about it. And then to top off my excitement I called and talked with Angie for two hours today. That girl is a dream queen! We have got both our lives sorted out for the next few years, plus our families, and all the world problems. Our gift is gab. Anyways, she got me even more excited about the thought of returning to Nigeria. I would be able to see all my babies, who won't be babies anymore. I will be able to eat su-ya. And boiled peanuts. And play catch with oranges. Sleep under a mosquito net. See hundreds of ants crawling on my bedroom wall. Suffer through tempatures of over 120 F indoors... oh ya... those were the bad things =) BUT I want to have that all happen again. I want to return! And I want to go with my mother! I am giddy with excitement! Although it certainly is all just a dream.

On to other things... Mark and Jason are so cool!! Check out the movie they made: http://www.markjenkinson.com/crux.mov I love it. Great job guys!! What a cool thing to do on the streets of Toronto!! I got a letter from Joy today - thanks =) It brightened my day. Made me homesick for those firesides though!! "Written in the Word"... ya'll have to come here and have a C&C fireside here!! =)

Disturbing, yet funny

Paul and I were at the market yesterday, and they had a lot of raw meat that they were selling. One of the meats there were dead, skinned rabbits. In honor of Valentines day a sign by one of them read

"BUY A BUNNY FOR YOUR HUNNY."

Ladies Time Apart - tea party

Here are the pictures from the tea party Thursday night!!
There were four tables of ladies, and one table for the jr. ladies =)
There was a hostess assigned to each table, and the hostess was responsible for decorating their own table and keeping their teapot full.
Several ladies made the wonderful food we had to eat - I won't even try to name it all as I will forget something! But you can see it in the pictures.

I know there are two of this picture, but I can't delete one without deleting all my pictures!! =(

Photo Hunter Blog Roll

For my future daughter

I will let ya'll know from the start we are not pregnant! I am posting these pictures because Erin and Crystal have inspired me, and I wanted my dad to start thinking about how he could recreate these for less than $47,000 (the coach)- or even less than $6,400 (the cottage.) They are darling though! The whole site is beautiful!! My momma could sew the bedding, curtains or canopies, and my pops can create everything that is wooden =) I guess I will just have to change my mind about wanting only boys...

Anyways, here are the links to the pictures - I can't get them to load on here!!

The fantasy coach - http://www.poshtots.com/catalog/pop/product_images.asp?product_id=927&image_number=3

The fairy tale bed - http://www.poshtots.com/catalog/1355/2498/product_detail.asp

The homepage http://www.poshtots.com/ for anyone who wants to browse and have their jaw drop at the prices!!

A cool kid

Who he is: Caleb Michael Crowe

When he came to be: He was born on May 3 - he's got a birthday coming up! Woohoo - better start planning that party!

Where he is from: A hick town north east of Toronto

Why he is cool: Because I am his sister! Ok, also, he has great taste in music, is an amazing writer, and buys great presents for people! (Like "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" for me for Christmas!!)

What he will be when he grows up: A sand castle builder (duh! See pictures.) Also a writer, maybe an artist. I think he could do anything he sets his mind to. Model, singer, doctor, dentist, teacher, personal foot massager to his favourite older sister (I am rooting for that career.)

Cinnamon Rolls

Here are some pictures from Saturday!
I took a picture of each of the girls staring in the oven, but the other pictures won't load for some reason! :(

Our place - part 3

Our Living Room:

This is our love couch - the USA teddy is the one he gave me the day he proposed =) Anyways, the picture right below is just to the right of the couch:

That's our wedding framed mat thing that people signed at our wedding - then the side table is a little out of order as it had been temporarily "baby proofed" for my nephews visit =) The picture below is to the right again - the hall is between the two couches - although the couches are on different walls.

Here is the hallway =) The bathroom is at the end. There are three closets on the left, and on the right the first door is the computer/guestroom and the second door is our bedroom.

Here is the other couch! I love the cushions, although they don't look so healthy in this picture!! The fabric came from Nigeria, and my mom sewed them for me =)

This is to the right of that couch - I need to clear out my magazine stand!! =) And that red thing is a balloon left over from hubby's party!! =)

Our place - part 2

The table:

This is our big glass table - I love the black and white look =) What I can't decide on is a center piece... hehe... so that's why there are three pictures... one of each center piece, and one of both center pieces =) Eventually I will get something bigger and better... and when its a fancy meal it will change... but for every day... what do you think?

The kitchen:

Our window - such a blurry and bright picture!! The curtains are very short for the window I think, but I also think they're really cool - as you can see in the close up =)

This is our drinks table =) Its to the right of the window. It has our coffee pot, blender, tea pot, sugar and teas and hotchocolates on it. Usually there are mugs on a mug rack, but they're in the dishwasher, so I pulled the empty rack off =) Oh, and I updated that calender block thing just for the picture =) I usually forget to do that... unless company is coming!!

Our place - part 1

Nicole has inspired me! I haven't gotten our whole apartment photographed yet, but here's a start!

Our bathroom: (a bamboo type theme)

This bamboo "vase" is one of my favourite pieces! We also have the independant toilet paper holders =) I think it's cool - and the "canoe" type thing on the toilet - more about it below!

Here it is again! I just love it and think it looks so cool - the potpourri inside is from Sarah from Australia!! =) I really like it.

Our shower curtain - it has pineapples and palmtree branches on it. The other one is dark green and striped - anyone know how to fluff it properly? Sigh... I can't figure it out!!

Our bedroom:

Here is our bedspread - it's green, if you couldn't tell. The glare from the camera makes it look funny =) We have it pushed against one wall to make more room in the rest of the room =) Then we have those two floating shelves - one holds a lamp or any drinks, and the other one has an ornament on it.

Our window in our bedroom.

Routine and neglect

We are just like old fuddie-duddies. Every night we have a chess game. Or two. Or three. Along with a cup of tea. Last night we weren't able to play as we had our class, and we really missed the game. Grandpa and Grandma Dibble played Skip-bo just about every single night, and I thought it was such a cute idea to do - but I thought we'd do it when we were 70 or 80!! We have started young.

There is comfort in routine and traditions. And that is why I like our nightly chess games (ok, and secretly, I like beating him too.) Our life has been pretty void of routine. In Oklahoma it was nice, he would get home from work and we'd usually go out to the refuge and spend a few hours there, then go out to the Dollar Theatre, do grocery shopping, or hang out with some friends. We had our Friday night house church, and our Sunday afternoon lunches at the Servicemen Center. Things are still so rumble jumble here. There are very few daily or weekly routines. It's harder to have them when I am working every other week, and his hours at work are so late - some nights he isn't home until 8:30! And too, there isn't the same gorgeous scenic outdoors to adventure around in. In the last couple weeks we have started some new things up, and hopefully they will stick and continue to be in our weekly routine.

On to other things. I would never have called myself a procrastinator, but alas, I have been. Almost to the point of getting in trouble with the law. I have not been able to bring myself to get an Ohio drivers licence. Our insurance company started getting on me about it nearly three months ago, and I kept putting them off. A police officer pulled me over once for some minor thing, and when he saw my licence chewed me out about not having switched. I don't know why getting my Ohio licence has been such a huge deal, but it has been, and I have been ignoring it. Maybe it is because we don't have the legal documents yet to prove I am Jessica Morris, and the licence will have to be in my maiden name. Maybe it's because it's identifying myself as a Ohio-ian, when I am really an Ontario-ian. A part of my identity will change. Maybe it's because I am lazy. Maybe it's because I am scared of the driving test. There are many reasons why I might have put it off, it's likely it is a little bit of everything. But as of tomorrow, I will have an Ohio licence! I have my test scheduled for tomorrow morning, and -men don't read any further!! - I am borrowing Anita's little car to make paralel parking and any other driving stunts easier! =) I don't want any rude comments from any male as I warned you not to read that part! When I told Paul what I was doing, he said he could take me out and we could practice in the big car... uh uh. He missed the point. I don't want to learn to do it well in a big car. I want the easy way out. Besides, I will never use parallel parking. I take after my momma. And I am proud of it. I will drive around a block two dozen times waiting for two spots to be free, just so I don't have to parallel park. (I bet you didn't know that all those times you did that around Care and Share your daughter was watching and learning that THAT was the way you park big cars!! =) So men, be disgusted. I don't care. Just don't tell me about it, as you were warned!