Her Birthday & Our Best Day!

26 years ago today, John and I had the best day of our lives....

Let me back up a bit. That day, 26 years ago, started out around 3:00 am for me. Waking up from slight pains in my stomach.  It wasn't until I realized that the pains were coming off and on every 10 mins, that I thought...THIS IS IT!!! OMG!!! I'm having a baby! Yikes!  

I reached over and nudged John and said "I think it is time"...can you believe I said it like that? But I remember it well because right after I said it the bed started shaking! That's right, after hearing me say "it was time", John started shaking so much that the whole bed started shaking!  It's funny now...well, it was also funny then, but I couldn't tell him that! 

The rest of that day is kind of a blur to me thank goodness!  I do know there was a lot of pain involved and a bit of puking, but there was also a lot of excitement! We were about to become parents!  We didn't find out the sex of the baby a head of time, so we also had the excitement of finding out if we would have a boy or girl.  You would also think we were having the "Royal Baby" with all the family members who were showing up at the hospital! Royal no, but this was going to be the first grandchild and niece or nephew for both sides of our family, so everyone was excited. 

Finally at 9:49 pm on August 10, 1987 John and I became parents to a beautiful baby girl, Lisa NiCole Werntz (now Miller) and it became the best day of our lives! 

Today is HER birthday, but our BEST day! And with that said...you can't have a birthday without cake...

Happy Birthday Lisa!! 

Welcome August!

I call August the "Hurry Up" month. It is our last full month of summer, so it makes me feel like I have to hurry up and pack in as much outdoor things as possible.  

I started off August by going to the Amish Acres Festival on Thursday (the first day of August). I go almost every year and it is normally so hot out, but this time it was an enjoyable 73 degrees.

Then, Thursday evening John and I went to our 3rd. Concert in the Park.

Friday, (the 2nd. day of Aug.) I got a visit from my Aunt Sharon and Uncle Larry from New Mexico. They came to my house with my mom and my Aunt Anna and Uncle Dick. We had a nice visit (outside on the deck) and it was good to see them all. This is a picture of the 3 sisters, Anna, my Mom & Sharon...

Today, Saturday, (yes, Aug. 3rd.) I spent most of the day going to garage sales and to an estate sale to get things for E-Six. This is some of what I came home with...

I have big plans for the round side table and the tall corner cabinet!  And if you were wondering...no, this wouldn't all fit in my car. I had to call John to come meet me with his truck! :) But I did get that tall cabinet in my car!

I spent the rest of the day painting some furniture out in the garage enjoying the breeze from the overhead door...and then John grilled some tasty burgers for dinner. 

I'm going to try to soak up every bit of sunshine and fresh air that I possibly can before we have to say good-bye to summer 2013.

Summer Concert in the Park

If you have a Thursday evening free in the summer and you are in the area, you should grab a lawn chair or blanket and take yourself down to Beutter Park in Mishawaka. All summer they have free outdoor concerts. You can pack a picnic or pick up carry out on your way. They also have a Beer Garden and there is normally a food vendor there.  It is a relaxing way to spend an evening.  

John and I went last night....

It is on the River Walk...a really beautiful area. And did I mention it is...Free!?!

He "Pretty Much" Gets It!

While I was working, John "pretty much" had Saturdays all to himself. I'm not sure what he did with most of his day, but I do know that he "pretty much" went every Saturday to the Restore. I know this because I would come home from work and see something that he had purchased and "pretty much" most of the time I wasn't happy about it!  

2 Saturdays ago I get home from work and I spot a rather large pile of.......let's just call it "Restore Treasures" sitting in the garage.  I was "pretty much" ready to throw a fit when he started telling what he wanted to do with it.  As he was explaining, I started to get a warm fuzzy feeling inside because I realized that he was finally on the same page as me!  It not only was a good idea, it was something that we both would contribute to and I "pretty much" couldn't wait to see how it would turn out!

This is the pile of "Restore Treasures":

And this is what it looked like when we took it to E-Six tonight:

I "pretty much" have to admit that this is my favorite project so far. He had the idea. We built it together and I finished it off with paint. It feels like a great start to getting things back on track for E-Six....and yes, I "pretty much" wish we could keep it! 

What's Happening in July....

E-Six got a patriotic makeover:

We had our annual 4th of July cookout & fireworks show:

John brought me flowers..."Just Because":

The weather finally allowed us to go to our first "Concert in the Park" of the season:

I grilled shrimp on the barbie: 

John's mom was given the news that she is officially cancer free!:

John and I spent last Sunday turning this pile of scraps into a functional piece of furniture. (Will post finished pic's soon):

I turned in my notice at work and completed my last day:

I won $50 on a $2 scratch off ticket!:

What does the rest of July have in store?
Besides getting back to work refinishing furniture, I hope to go to more "free" outdoor concerts. Go the the Elkhart Co. fair because I was given 2 "free" tickets from Bontrager Pools and spend some "free" time with Lisa before she goes back to work. FREE is important to the unemployed!  

Getting My "Creative" Back!

Have you noticed that I haven't blogged about any furniture projects lately?  Well, I've found that with working 10+ hours a day on my feet and doing a lot of heavy lifting that I just didn't have it in me to come home and start sanding and painting furniture...and of course the never ending chores of laundry, grocery shopping and cleaning the house.  

E-Six was suffering, I wasn't happy therefore John wasn't happy and I had to decide what to do. I had to admit that it was all to much for me. So while I liked having the added income from going back to work, I didn't like the job at all anymore. I dreaded each day I went in, I felt bad that I wasn't getting any furniture done for the booth and I missed how I felt when a piece of furniture that I refinished sold.  So with John's blessing, I turned in my notice at work last week and this coming Saturday will be my last day!  

I'm looking forward to getting our house back in order and to being creative again!  I also hope to spend a little time with Lisa before she starts back to work.  

I can't end this blog without thanking my wonderful husband who is beside me and behind me, nudging me in the right direction. Thank you Sweetie! 

4th of July

Hi everyone! Hope you had a wonderful and safe 4th of July! We did our normal night at the Cove on Tuesday night with Lisa and Ty for the game and fireworks show.  If you haven't been to the Cove in awhile you should go. They have really made some very nice improvements to the place.

Then yesterday we had our annual 4th of July cookout and fireworks show put on by John and Ty. We didn't have as many people show up this year, but it was still a lot of fun. Here's some pic's....

After we ate too much food, we sat around the fire waiting for it to get dark enough to do the fireworks.

We started with the lanterns. Harper and Hayden did one and Lisa and Ty did the other one.  I always like these!

I took about 25 pictures of the fireworks, but this is the only one that turned out...my other 24 pic's were just black!

And here is a small portion of the damage when they were done. You may see a mess to clean up, but all I see is dollar signs floating up in the smoke!

A night with good food and family. You can't ask for much more than that!