Thursday thirteen...

This week's Thursday 13 will be the last for the year...since it's New Year's Eve and all. So in honor of the end of another year, this week's 13 is (in no particular order)...

13 reasons 2009 rocked:

13. Holidays. This was the first set of holidays that Madylinn actually participated. It was so much fun to take crazy pictures, dress her up, and watch her have a good time.

12. My friends. 2009 brought new friends, and allowed me to have a great time with old friends.

11. Swimming/Boating. This was the first year Mady got to go swimming at her Pappy's house, and the first time she got to ride on our boat. It was so cute to watch her.

10. 1999. This year was my 10 year high school reunion (wow, am i old!). It was a great time, seeing old friends and looking back on good times.

9. Halloween. This was our first family Halloween. It took a bit of convincing, but i managed to get Frank to dress up with Mady and I, and we entered the parade...and we actually won something!!

8. Shelly's wedding. It's always fun to get together with great friends and drink and celebrate...and what better an occasion than a wedding, and one that was far overdue at that...lol, love you Shell!

7. First birthdays. This year, my little baby turned 1. It was bittersweet. She had such a great time, but it was very sad to realize how fast the time went by.

6. Pregnancy. This year, my best friend found out she is going to be having a baby! It's very exciting news, and she can't wait. Neither can i!!

5. Random firsts. This year brought a bunch of random firsts for Madylinn. Her first tooth, her first steps, her first word, her first plane ride, her first vacation, etc.

4. Ocean City. This summer, we made a family vacation to Ocean City, MD. It was so much fun playing in the sand, swimming in the ocean, and all of it with Mady.

3. Alaska. This fall, we made another family vacation to Alaska on a cruise. It was so beautiful and so much fun. It was Mady's first plane ride and cruise, and she had a great time. We would definately take that cruise again.

2. My family. I love each and every one of them, and it wouldn't have been nearly as great a year without them.

1. Reuniting. Frank and his brother Brad are talking again. It was 2 1/2 long years, and i'm very glad it's over now. They are close again, and Mady has a wonderful Uncle that loves her very much. I couldn't be happier, and neither could Frank. It's so cute.

Happy New Year everyone!!! Make 2010 memorable.

Christmas at The Stiffies...

I don't know about all of you, but Christmas at our house this year was wonderful. It was full of friends, family, and lots and lots of toys. Here is a little recap for you all to enjoy...

We started our festivities on Christmas Eve. Mady was, of course, as excited as a 1 year old can be.

After a restful day at home, we got ready and made our way to Aunt Marian's for our traditional Christmas Even dinner. After dinner, Mady was surprised to see that Santa had come to Aunt Marian's house early for her!

Before bed, Mady made sure we hung out Santa's magic key so he could get into the house (since we don't have a chimney)

And of course, the milk and cookies for Santa and the carrot for Rudolph!

Mady conked out for the night, and Mommy and Daddy went to midnight mass. Don't worry, Grammy sat at the house with Mady while we were gone.

The next morning, Mady saw that Santa had come to our house overnight and had left her lots and lots and lots of gifts!

She had fun playing with everything and opening her gifts.

After opening presents, we made sure to get a few cute family picture

Grammy and Pap Grindstaff came over for lunch, and we all had a great time with them. Then we went up to visit PapPap and Great-Grammy Gallagher, to see what Santa brought them.

Then we came back home to prepare for dinner with Aunt Marian, Uncle Jack, Grammy and Pappy.

Mady must have been a really good girl, because once the day way over, she had made out like a little bandit!

Thank you to everyone who made our Christmas a wonderful day.

All our love, The Stiffies

Thursday thirteen...

In honor of Christmas, this weeks Thursday 13 is (in no particular order):

13 reasons i'm blessed this Christmas:

1. My daughter Madylinn. She is by far the best thing that has ever happened to me. She has made being a first time mom the easiest job it can possibly be. To me, she is perfect, and i couldn't ask for better. She is, and always will be, number 1 on my list.

2. My family. They are always there for me, to support me, to help me, to keep me grounded. I am lucky to have each and every one of you. Thank you.

3. My marriage family. They are part of my regular family now, but i felt they needed their own post as well. They have all accepted me as a part of the family, and they always make me feel welcome. I couldn't ask for a better "extended" family, and i love you all.

4. My job. Especially this time of year, when so many people have no jobs and no income. I am truly blessed to have a job, and especially a job that i love so much. I may complain sometimes, about going to work, or working late, but it really isn't all that bad in the end. And my job gives me so much more time with my daughter than any other job would.

5. My house. I may complain about where i live, but at least i have a house. There have been so many fires lately, and people who's houses have been re-possessed, i am lucky to have a warm place to spend the cold nights.

6. My town/area. I know not many people love this area, but i feel lucky to have grown up here and to live here now. This is a low-crime area. There are great traditions. There are nice people. I never had to be afraid to walk home to/from school, or to play outside with my friends. I grew up with good morals and good values. I got a good education. I was part of some thrilling sporting events. I have wonderful memories. And i hope wherever we end up, my kids can have the same.

7. My friends. I have some of the best friends you could ask for. They are always there to support me, to be a shoulder to lean on, an ear to listen.

8. My faith. It really gives me meaning for the season, as opposed to having nothing. My faith has grown so much in the last few years, and i'm lucky to have a wonderful church and such a caring and giving priest to celebrate with every week.

9. My dogs. I may complain about them, sometimes more than others...but they are always happy to see me, they always love me, and all they want is to be where we are, spending time with us.

10. My dad. I know, it doesn't seem fair to give him his own number and not everyone else. But it's different. After coming so close to losing him this past year, it makes me even more greatful that he is here. And in a way, this post isn't just for him, but for everyone. It makes me appreciate every day i wake up, just a little bit more.

11. For the people who aren't here this holiday season. Don't get me wrong, i'm not saying we are blessed to NOT have them, but more like we are blessed to have known them and had them in our lives. We wouldn't be who we are without them, and it's nice to be able to sit back and reflect on the memories we have with them and smile.

12. Our things. Not in the selfish way, but in the "we don't NEED anything" way. We have food and clothes, our daughter has toys and clothes and diapers. There are so many people who don't have basic things, i am just truly blessed to have what we need everyday.

13. My hubby. We may argue, we may fight, but who doesn't?! At the end of the day, we love each other, and we have each other, no matter what happens. Very few people find their true love, i guess we're just some of the lucky few.

Mime girl speak-eth...

Well, after great anticipation, our little mime is now officially saying words. She actually has them pretty down pat, if i must say so (and hear so) myself. Her first official word was "dada". Not that i'm not happy that she's talking and all, but why does her first word have to be dada?! I'm the one that plays with her, works with her, pretty much does EVERYTHING with her...and how does she repay me?!?! By saying dada first!!!!!! But i'm not bitter.
Her second official word is "hi". She learned this one pretty quickly once we started. She likes to wave to people, and say hi. It's quite cute actually, even when she does it to strangers. hahaha.
And her latest word is "ball". Well, it kinda comes out more like "bbbaaaaa", but she points to the ball, and i know what she means. It counts people!!
I'm so proud of my little talker!

Ho, Ho, Ho...

So Saturday, Frank and I decided to brave our way to the mall to try to finish up our Christmas shopping. We knew there was a storm coming, but there just wasn't any other time we could go, so out we went. After spending the whole morning shopping, and re-charging over a delicious Applebee's lunch, we went back to the mall for the ever daunting task of...dum dum dum...pictures with Santa!! While waiting in a rather long line, Mady must have thought she was Miss America. She was waving at people as they went past, and she even blew some people kisses! It was quite funny to see all the people stop, smile, wave, and even blow kisses back at her. And she would just laugh and move on to the next person. We finally made our way to the front of the line, and then it was our turn with Santa. This guy was a good Santa too. He looked genuinely jolly and his belly was very much similar to a bowl full of jelly. And his beard was real to boot! We put Mady down on his lap, and walked over to where we would be out of the picture. That's where it all started. She gave us the confused look, like we were going to leave her with this guy she's only seen in pictures. Then, she realized we were just going to take her picture, so she got all pouty and started looking down like she was shy. Then, out came the boo boo lip. She didn't cry, she just stuck out that lip a mile long. The lady that was taking the pictures was really good though, and she managed to get her to look up and to at least not pout. We did NOT get a smiling picture, but a not crying one will suffice for this year at least. As soon as i get one scanned, i'll be posting it for you all to see.

Thursday thirteen...

I know, it's friday not thursday...but this has been a very busy week for me! My days are all messed up and running in to each other. But don't they always say, better late than never?! :)

My Thursday thirteen for this week is (in no particular order):
13 things i hate about my commute to work

1. Slow drivers. These people are really slow. They are people who insist on going 20 in a 45! Seriously?! If you want to "sight see", then find another road to snail upon, and stop getting in my way!!

2. Road kill. It's like playing frogger everyday. Weaving here to miss roadkill, bobbing there to miss it. Everyone on that road looks like they just left the bar with a nice buzz tied on!

3. Repeated songs. I don't just mean hearing one song, maybe twice. I mean hearing the same song about 5 times on just about every station! It's so annoying! Radio stations really know how to kill your favorite songs, really quickly.

4. The length. I drive around 40-45 min one way every day. It's enough to drive you insane. At this point, i'd be willing to live in a box to get closer to my job and out of where we are right now.

5. Trucks. Not just regular trucks, but those really extra big ones with the tires that are bigger than my car. They kick up so much dirt, i can't hardly see the road in front of me.

6. Buses. In the Line Mountain School district, everyone is so spread out that the buses have to stop, litterally, every 100 feet to drop off 1 kid! It's honest to God, stop, go, stop, go, stop, go, stop, go. You have to either beat the buses out of the school, or wait about 45min until they are gone so you can have a safe ride.


7. Construction. It never fails, and it's all the time. They have you sitting in line for about 10+min, and then when they finally let you through, they aren't even working! Seriously?! What the heck was i even sitting there for this whole time?!


8. Gas prices. My drive is 30 miles one way. I'm lucky right now that i have a car that's good on gas, but i'm getting ready to trade my car in for something new, and i'm not so sure i'll be this lucky next time. And gas isn't cheap ya know. It adds up quick!


9. Lack of gas stations. I should re-phrase this one. There are 3 gas stations between Trevorton and the school, and they are all "cash only" gas stations. This is not good for me, since i only carry my card with me most of the time.


10. No passing zones. There is seriously 1 passing zone from the manor to Trevorton. If you don't get ahead of the slow drivers there, you are screwed for a long time. It's very frustrating....very!!!


11. Spotty cell phone service. There are 2 or 3 places on my commute where i don't get any service what-so-ever. Most of the time, i get good service, it's just those few areas that scare me.

12. Weather differences. Line Mountain might as well be in another country than where i live! It can be warmish and sunny when i leave my house, and freezing and rainy when i get to work. It's ridiculous

13. Slow people. I know what you're thinking, this was #1. Well, i hate them so much, i have chosen to make them another number as well! They just really kill me!!!!!!!!!

Bah Humbug!!!

So here it is, December 15th, and i'm still not done Christmas shopping. I've finished for most people, but there are just a few people that i am having such a hard time shopping for! The hardest of them all is my dad. What in the world can you buy him?! He has pretty much everything, and i know this for a fact because I was the one who bought it all for him! He really doesn't need anything. He has all the TVs, IPod touches, sneakers, hoodies, computers...everything...that you could need! I am at such a loss this year. And i know how much money he spends on us, so i can't just show up with a gift card and be like "Here's your present, Merry Christmas!" Any ideas on what to get the hardest man in the world to buy for would be greatly appreciated. Greatly.

Thursday 13...

This past wednesday was my mom's birthday. So, in honor of her birthday, my Thursday 13 iiiissss.....13 reasons why i love my mom!
Here they are, in no particular order...

1. I love my mom because...she can fix ANYTHING! She is so much smarter than i am. I always say, i'm gonna have to have her teach me that one day.

2. I love my mom because...she is technologically challenged. It's takes her forever to change with the times, and to pick it up. It's kinda funny actually.

3. I love my mom because...she is always there for me, whether it be 1am or 1pm, if i need something, she is there to help or to give it to me. I hope i can be there for my daughter that way.

4. I love my mom because...she is an awesome cook. I love food, and i'm sure it never hurt that my mom's home cooking was the best ever. I've tried to learn her recipies so i can make them, but they just never taste as good as when she makes them for me.

5. I love my mom because...she would throw me the best birthday parties EVER when i was a kid. All the other kids would be totally jealous. And she would (i can't believe i'm going to admit this somewhere where people can actually read it and look at it and use it against me) make my cabbage patch kid an outfit that matched the one i was going to wear. All the kids were jealous, and i loved it...at the time. Now i look back, slightly embarrased, but still laughing.

6. I love my mom because...she would never play real board games with me, she only wanted to play Trivial Pursuit all the time. At the time, i just wanted to play a game so i didn't care. For a while, i was mad because, Trivial Pursuit was NOT a fun game for a kid who wasn't born when over half of the answer happened. But now, i guess it wasn't that that bad. I am kinda smart, after all.

7. I love my mom because...every year for Christmas, she makes me pecan teabiscuits, my absolute favorite cookie that only she knows how to make. It doesn't matter if she's busy, or if money is tight, she always makes me my cookies. I gotta learn that recipie one day.

8. I love my mom because...she always went overboard for Christmas. I know what you're thinking, this sounds a bit selfish. I don't mean it that way. I mean, she always made sure i got what i wanted, even if it meant spending more than she should have. We always had a huge tree and lots of presents. But secretly, if i didn't get as many presents each year, i would have been ok, mostly because she puts so much time and effort into buying my stuff and making it extra special.

9. I love my mom because...she has read every book in the public library. Ok, maybe not every book, but i would definately say 80% of them (there is a children's section, lol). I'm not a book person, but i know that if i ever really wanted to start, i could ask her the best ones in a category and she would tell me. It's a kinda nerdy quality, "Hey, my mom's read every book EVER!", but it makes her her! So it's ok. I still like to tease her about it though.

10. I love my mom because...every Halloween, she would humor me and my crazy ideas for costumes. She would either help me find it, or make it for me if we couldn't find it. She never laughed at me, or told me i had a stupid idea, she just went along with it. And every year, i looked so awesome!

11. I love my mom because...she can't hold her liquor. Well, she can hold it, just not much of it. She is a lightweight, a cheap date. It's funny. And the drinks have to be "fruity" and "taste good". That's how you know she's a lightweight. After enough drinks, everything starts to taste the same, that's why it's so easy to keep drinking!

12. I love my mom because...she was a picture-a-holic. Maybe that's where i get it from. I think there are well over 5000 pictures of me from when i was little. Every special event, every holiday, every present for that matter. I will never be able to say "I can't remember (insert event here)", because there are undoubtedly 50 pictures from that very day!

13. I love my mom because...she is my mom, what other reason really matters?! I love you mom! Happy Birthday!!

It's beginning to look (and smell) alot like Xmas...

With Christmas fast approaching, i knew i needed to get my butt in gear and get everything going that needs to be done. The first of many things on that list, is get a tree. This is one of my favorite parts of the season. We always go to our favorite tree place, we get a bow saw, we trudge through the snow and the cold until we find the perfect tree, then we (and by we i usually mean Frank) cut it down and get it shaken and wrapped and take it home. Then i decorate it with all the pretty lights and ornaments we have.


Well, this year, there are 3 of us going tree hunting. It actually wasn't as hard as i thought it might be...it was actually pretty fun! We bundled up, since it had snowed about a foot the previous day, and we made our annual trek to Snyder's tree farm. My mom and Gary followed us this year. They decided to go with a real tree (horray!) rather than the nice, but still artificial one, they put up last year. Once there, we set off in search of the perfect tree. We wanted one that wasn't as big as years past, mostly so we have room to walk through our computer room without having to shuffle sideways. To achieve this goal, we took the measuring tape with us. Now, keep in mind, we've tried this feat every year now, and we still end up with a ginourmous tree in our house. So we trudged around for about 30min, and we finally found the perfect tree. Frank started the cut, like usual, then i took my turn. I usually only cut about 1/3 of it and then i'm tired, but this year i managed to cut 3/4 of the tree!! I am so proud of myself. When we got home, we rearranged the room and got the tree up...but we didn't get the decorations on it yet, i was way too tired once we were done.



While i was waiting for Frank to get the tree anchored to the wall and get it straightened out, i made my way to the kitchen to start the Christmas cookies. I usually make lots and lots of chocolate chip cookies, mostly because that's Frank's favorite type. I always make sure i have at least 1 batch in the fridge, ready to go. I baked 1 batch last night, and they are almost gone already!

Then i tried to get our Christmas card pictures done and out of the way. I'm not sure how they came out yet, but i guess we'll see soon!

Thursday 13...

So, after so browsing around other blogs, i stumbled upon something i thought would be fun to try. It's called Thursday 13. Every thursday, you make a list of 13 things...anything really. It could be 13 of your favorite shows, 13 of your favorite recipies...you see where i'm going with this, right?
So this week, to kick off my new favorite thing for Thursday's, i bring you:
Stacey's 13 life lessons

1. Never pass up an opportunity to pee. This is one of the most important things anyone can learn. I found this lesson to be MOST valuable when i was pregnant, as there were days when i felt i could pee every 10 minutes.


2. Everyone seems normal, until you get to know them.


3. If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You have another chance! Don't blow it.


4. Learn to pick your battles. Ask yourself "Will this matter in a year/month/week/day?"


5. You only need 2 tools: WD 40 and tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD 40. If it moves and it shouldn't, use the tape.


6. The 5 most important words for a healthy relationship are "I appologize" and "You are right". But don't just say them to say them, you actually have to mean them.


7. If he/she says you are too good for them, BELIEVE THEM!! And never let anyone put you down, for any reason. There is a lid for every pot out there, sometimes it just takes a while to find it.


8. Never give yourself a haircut after 8 beers, or 3 margarita's, or 5 shots. Let's face it, how about you just never give yourself a trim/haircut. We already know it's going to come out badly, so save yourself the hat wearing for a month.

9. Be really good to your family and/or your friends. You never know when you're going to need them to empty your bedpan, or wipe drool from your chin.

10. When you make a mistake, say your sorry right away. The longer you wait, the harder it's going to be to get back where you started. And don't just say you're sorry to say it, you really have to mean it.

11. Living well is really the best revenge. Being miserable because of a bad or former relationship just might mean that the other person was right about you.

12. If you are going to be able to look back at something and laugh about it, you might as well laugh about it now.

13. Work is good, but it's not that important. Money is great, but you can't take it (or anything else for that matter) with you. Statistics show that most people don't live to spend everything they've saved. Some people don't even live to retire! Anything we have, isn't really ours, we just borrow it while we're here...even our kids. So live well, laugh often and love much. And don't sweat the small stuff!

Looks...

Why is it that men don't care as much about their looks as women do?
Women work and try and strive to be skinny. They eat healthy, they diet and they exercise all year long so they look good in swimsuits, so they look sexy in dresses, so they don't gain too much weight at the holidays. They strive to look the way they did in high school. And why do they do this? So men will think they are sexy.
Men couldn't care less. They eat what they want, at any time of the day. They rarely exercise, they never diet, and they eat fatty foods like they're nothing! They think their beer-bellies are sexy, hanging over their swim trunks. The bigger the belly the funnier! They eat double helpings of desert at the holidays, too. And they couldn't care less about looking like they did in high school. Dieting is a bad word to them.
So why is it so different? Why can't women get fat and not care at all, and men have to work and worry and suffer to look sexy for us girls! Sometimes i really get mad about this, especially when i'm trying to eat healthy and exercise to try to lose all the baby weight and my wonderful husband sits on the couch eating cheesesteaks and french fries and saying to me "Why do you need to go running?! Sit here with me...eat!"
All this stemmed from our Wii fit. It gave us a Wii age and a BMI rating. I was normal. Frank was obese. He just laughed...didn't care. WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Decorations...

So it's that time of year again. It's time for the Christmas decorations to come out of the attic and get put up around the house. This brings me great angst. Why, you may ask? I know what you're thinking. It's Christmas time, it's supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year. Well, it is for the most part. EXCEPT for the part where i have to hand the lights up. That is what gets me, and it does it every year.
The first big step is to untangle the lights. I have no idea how they get so tangled up in a matter of 11 months. I put them in there ever so carefully, gently in fact. But somehow they come out in knots and wrapped around each other, all just to tick me off. Then, i have to test all the lights out before i hang them up. I never used to test them, until one year i hung up all my lights and half of them didn't work...and it was the MIDDLE half of some of the strands! So now i've learned to test all the lights before they get hung up anywhere. Well, this year, the lights decided to work when i tested them, but then stop working when i went to hang them up! It was really testing my patience. My final gripe about the lights is that i have to go around and clean all my windows 2x before i hang the lights, otherwise the suction cups don't stick and i spend the entire holiday season re-hanging the suction cups and lights in every single window. That one really gets me. Even when i clean the darn windows, sometimes those stupid suction cups don't stick. Instead of looking like nicely decorated windows, they look like giant holiday x's!
And every year i have to make sure the front of my house looks nice, and i usually like to add something to it to make it better than it was the previous year. We've managed to go from just plain lights around the windows and posts, to lights on the fence, to red ribbon on the posts too to make them look like candy canes, to green realistic garland and bows around the window too, to now the "tree-like" garland ALSO around the posts. I haven't hit that "too much" point yet, at least i don't think so.
The final step here at the Stiffie household is to get the Christmas tree. We have to have a real tree every year, per my orders. None of that fake tree stuff here! We make our family pilgramage to the tree farm and we cut down our own tree that we hunt for hours to find. This year, Mady gets to join in the fun of the annual tree cutting. We've agreed to get a "slightly" smaller tree this year, mostly so Mady doesn't feel the need to pull it down. We do tie it to the wall every year, so you think we would feel safer. I guess we'll have to see how that goes when we get to it, but somehow i'm thinking we're gonna end up with a huge tree that gets pulled down at least once. LOL