Sunday, February 25, 2007
We dropped Zach off with Gretchen's parents this afternoon. :( We're so sad. We miss Zach already. The only reason we let him go to Maryland is because it's his cousin Kara's 4th birthday. We wanted him to be there for her for her birthday. Zach was so excited to see Nana and Pop-pop. We told him we were going to be so sad and he said, "It's okay. I'll come back." Isn't that so sweet?? :(
On the way home from dropping him off with Gretchen's parents (we met them a little less than half way for us), we were talking about how much we already missed him. Of course, we do realize that we need to take advantage of this opportunity for it to be the two of us. Especially since we haven't really gotten a lot of that from the time we even met.
Gretchen is kind of looking forward to this week alone. She can sleep in. She doesn't have to worry about fixing meals for anyone except for Corey. She can go to the gym without worrying about Zach crying because she leaves him in child watch. She's planning on really watching her diet and going to the gym and cleaning the house this week. Oh yeah... and lots of R&R. :)
We decided to join Blockbuster online since we could exchange movies at the store with our online account. We haven't received any movies yet because we just signed up yesterday. So, we'll see how long it takes to get the movies and how their services are. If we don't like them, then we'll be joining Netflix.
Corey starts his normal hours tomorrow. We're pretty excited. Corey's hoping to get up around 4:30 AM so he can go to the gym before he actually starts work. They have a gym at his work for everyone to promote exercise and healthy living. Corey likes it a lot. We'll see how he feels in the morning, though. lol Before Zach was born, Gretchen used to get up and be at the gym by 5:30 AM. That got old quick!! However, it was very energizing and she did see lots of results from it.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
It's that time.... to shed the weight. Ever since we went on that cruise, we haven't been eating as healthy as we should. In fact... we've been eating ALL junk food for the last month. Gretchen started her "Fat Smash" diet today. She also starting going to the gym again.... FINALLY! She has tried over the past month but has been sick twice! Hopefully it will stay away this time.
We haven't been doing a whole lot. We sent our taxes off to Corey's Dad. Hopefully we'll be getting that next week. It will definitely help us to pay off our bills. We'll be down to just a house payment and truck payment along with all the utility bills. lol Our goal is to try to pay off the truck next year. Then, we'll start working on paying the house off. That will probably seem like forever. lol :)
We've rented about 4 movies in the last 5 days. So, we figured it's time to join an online movie subscription.
This is Corey's last week of working night shift. It's a bitter sweet thing. He starts working straight days Monday-Friday next week. It will be an adjustment. We know... most people don't understand HOW it could be an adjustment when we're the ones going back to the "Norm". It is though. Technically, we won't get as much time together but at least he'll be home every night with us. :) Plus, it helps Gretchen because now she doesn't have to worry about bringing Zach to worship team practice. Although, he is such an angel while at practice. The Pastor even commented on how good he was. :)
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Thursday was Gretchen's birthday. She turned the big 27!! She doesn't like it at all because it means she's closer to 30. She had a pretty nice birthday. We took Zach to school in the morning. She was sick but wanted to go look at furniture while Zach was in school and while we could do it together. We didn't get anything but we were looking at what we wanted.
We picked Zach up from school and went out to eat. Then, we went to Walmart and got some paint to paint the kitchen. When we came home, Zach took a nap and Gretchen wanted to start painting. We started painting around 3:30 p.m. and didn't finish until 11:30 p.m. Plus, we had to clean up our mess for the next morning because Corey had Bible Study the next morning. We did get all the painting done except for touch-up stuff. It looks soooo much better! We took a picture during the day but it didn't turn out real good because the sun was shining in pretty bright.
Some bad news to report is that Corey is being forced to start working days starting the beginning of March. We're really going to miss having his whole 4 days off. He'll have to work Monday-Friday, 8 hours a day. He has to do this for 6 months and if he doesn't like it then he can go back to his shift work. This affects mostly our vacation. We were able to go to Maryland during his 4 days off. Now, we don't know when we'll be able to go. Plus, we had to cancel our trip to Missouri in March. It's a difficult time but we did pray that if it was God's will that they would make Corey go to all days. So, it must be God's will. Everything will work out. It's just a matter of adjusting. I guess in some ways it could be good news because now Corey can get involved with church. We will see!
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
We had a lot of fun on the cruise. It was nice to spend some time with Gretchen's parents. We didn't see them a whole lot. They took Zach the entire week. We ate dinner and lunch with them several times. We also had a competition game of cards going on between us. lol We played 500 Rummy all week. Most of the time, we would play it by ourselves almost every night but then Gretchen's parents joined in the last 2 days. We did get Zach one time for naptime because Gretchen's parents had a rough night with Zach and needed some sleep. We didn't mind the cuddle time with Zach, though.
We were suppose to go to Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Key West but we lost one port. A guy got deathly sick and they needed to get him medical attention right away. So, we went to Cozumel for 2 days instead and ended up saving the guy's life. We didn't like that we had to miss a port but if it saved someone's life then it was totally worth it. The ship was really good about changing our shore excursions and things like that. Corey ended up going scuba diving while Gretchen went with her parents and Zach to the beach for a couple of hours. The next day, we went kayaking and snorkeling by ourselves. It was a lot of fun. We saw a baracuta, a stingray and lots of tropical fish. It was really nice.
Key West was our last stop. It was nice to be in a clean place like that, compared to Cozumel which seemed kind of dirty. The water was a little bit colder in Key West than in Cozumel. We went parasailing together. It was Corey's first time and Gretchen's 3rd. We asked for them to dip us in the ocean. They certainly did. It was FREEZING!! It felt like they were dragging us through the water. It was so fun, though! After that, we walked around, got something to eat and then went to this place that was right on the water to see the sunset. There were people performing, which was quite entertaining and other people who had stands set up. It was really nice. After the sun went down, we went back to the boat. We were exhausted from all the walking that we did.
It was a nice trip. When we got back, both Corey and Gretchen got sick. Corey got a little stomach virus and Gretchen has a head cold. Oh well.... at least we didn't get sick on the cruise.
Friday, January 26, 2007
We've almost made it. Two more days and it's official. We'll be married for 1 whole year!! Time sure does fly. Don't worry.... there WILL be many more to come! We're so happy and excited.
The first year was a little tough. Of course, we were instant family also. The hardest part was Gretchen moving to a new state and not knowing anyone. Some of Corey's friends' wives really helped with that after about 6 months of being married. So, the first 6 months were definitely the hardest with Gretchen being in a depression and Corey not knowing how to handle that. Then, Gretchen got involved with a women's bible study which helped to get to know more people. Plus, Gretchen was so used to being a single parent that it took some time for both of us to learn how to work together to discipline Zach & other areas of how we wanted to raise our child(ren). Overall, it's definitely been a growing time for both of us. We're closer and much more stable than we were a year ago and that's what counts. God has stretched us and b/c we have had faith in HIM, we have a wonderful marriage.
So... to celebrate, we're going on a cruise.... with Gretchen's parents and Zach. lol Well.... it'll be nice. Gretchen's parents are taking Zach for Saturday night through Monday (at the very least). That way, we can still see them if we want or we can just be by ourselves. Corey is looking forward to EATING! lol He has no idea what's coming to him. He has never been on a cruise before. We feel so fortunate that God has blessed us to be able to do something luxurious as this. If it wasn't for God's blessings that He's given us.... it wouldn't be possible.
Gretchen just started reading a book called, "Shepherding a Child's Heart" by Tedd Tripp. It's very good. It definitely gives a better perspective on how to parent. We focus on what God wants for him now, instead of what we want for him. That way he understands that it's about glorifying God and not just obeying us b/c we're his parents. We're God's messengers to him. We especially like how he talks about parents being disobedient to God if they don't spank their children. Proverbs 13:24 says, "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him." The world wonders why we are living in such a corrupt society yet psychologists are telling parents to do the exact opposite of what the Bible says to do like put children in time out instead of spanking them. They took prayer out of schools, they want to take out "UNDER GOD" out of the pledge of allegience and NOW they want to make it illegal to spank your children. Our society is the way it is b/c it's going AWAY from what the Bible is teaching. A child learns to receive correction, not b/c parents are always right, but b/c God says the rod of correction imparts wisdom, and whoever heeds correction shows prudence (Proverbs 15:5, 29:15; "Shepherding a Child's Heart"). Parents only muddy the waters when the bottom line in discipline is their displeasure over their behavior rather than God's displeasure with rebellion against His ordained authority. We tell Zach, when he disobeys us, that God says that we have to spank him when he disobeys us. So, if we don't spank him then we're disobeying God. He really listens when we tell him that. It really seems to make a difference. God definitely knows what He's doing better than any psychologist. If you are a parent with children living at home and haven't read it, we recommend that you do.
Okay... we're getting off our soap box. No posts for the next week. We will definitely let you know how the trip went. Have a good week, everyone! :)
Saturday, January 13, 2007
It's been so nice getting back to a normal schedule lately. We're kind of glad the Holidays are over with. There's usually so much chaos and business. Plus, it's nice to have the Christmas decorations packed up and put away. They are nice for a time but can feel like clutter after a while.
Gretchen started back at the gym on January 2nd. The gym was definitely busy with all those people making "New Year's Resolutions". Although, the gym has already slowed down some. Gretchen is trying to lose some weight before the cruise. Corey thinks she looks great already but she's very self-conscious. She was doing really well until she got sick. Last Saturday, she had a really bad headache and could barely get off the couch. It progressively got worse throughout the week. Her head started feeling better and she went to the gym 2 days this week but she started getting really congested. So, she's been trying to rest and eating chicken noodle soup and drinking lots of orange juice to get better. She can't wait to get back to the gym.
We go on the cruise with Gretchen's parents in 2 weeks. We're really looking forward to it. We'll be celebrating our 1 year anniversary on the cruise! Can you believe it??? ONE YEAR!!! It should be fun! We're going parasailing, kayaking and snorkeling on Grand Cayman Island. Corey is going scuba diving on Cozumel while Gretchen, Zach and her parents go to this "Beach Break" thing. Then, we're planning on just relaxing the rest of the trip. It'll be a nice break for Corey since he's been working so hard the past 5 months.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone! We've had a nice couple of days together as a family. We've been able to relax a lot. Corey has been able to play his xbox 360 except he's had problems with it the past day. He called Microsoft yesterday and they are sending a box to us to ship it in. Hopefully they'll be able to fix it. It plays on a regular TV but when we try to play it on our new 62" HD TV, it won't stay in the HD setting. So, hopefully we can get it fixed so all of us can play it. :)
We got this TV about a month ago. We weren't planning on getting a TV but Gretchen saw an ad on craigeslist.com for this TV. The guy had bought it 4 months prior w/ a 4 year warranty but had measured wrong in his house. The TV was too big for his house. So, we got it for half the price that it cost him (including the stand). It was such a good deal, we couldn't pass it up. Plus, Corey works really hard to support his family.... he deserves to buy what he wants, which he basically does. lol Besides, he has the final say anyway. He IS the leader of our home.
We're not doing much tonight. New Year's isn't a huge event for us. It's just the beginning of another year that we've been blessed to still be here for. We hope all of you have a Happy New year! BE SAFE!
Thursday, December 28, 2006
We had our first family Christmas together! Corey was scheduled to work but fortunately, his company decided to shut down for Christmas Eve AND Christmas. It was so nice to have him with us.
We had a lot of fun since this was the first year that Zach really "understands" that there is a Santa Claus. We did the usual leaving cookies and milk out for Santa Claus and of course Santa coming Christmas Eve night. We didn't want Zach to focus completely on presents. We want him to realize the most important gift that we were given.... Jesus! We sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus before we opened gifts and he really seemed to like that. He got kind of bored with the Christmas story but he's a pre-schooler.... that's to be expected.
All of us got spoiled for Christmas. Corey got Gretchen a KitchenAid electric mixer. It's VERY nice. You can add attachments to it. He also got Gretchen a new cell phone. It's a Treo Palm 700P. She got that early! :) Of course, Corey got his xbox 360 that he wanted along with the HD DVD player that goes with it. He got lots of games and movies to use on them. He also got a very nice dress watch that he wanted. Santa brought the family a Sony camcorder that has a 3 MP camera in it. Zach got some video games that he really enjoys (the V.Smile learning system and the Leapster handheld learning system). Santa also brought him some slippers, clothes and games to go with the videos. Plus, he got some videos that he wanted from other people in the family (Poppa Larry and Aunt Brandy, Uncle Russ and Kara).
We didn't really do much after opening gifts. Corey played his xbox 360 the entire day (between 7 & 8 hours). Gretchen kind of expected that so she played with Zach most of the day. She didn't feel 100% that day, so her and Zach took a nap. All in all, it was a nice relaxing day! We are so thankful that God has blessed us with the Christmas that we had. This was all possible because of God. Even if we had nothing, we are just thankful that God gave us his most precious gift.... Jesus. :)
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
We got our first pictures, as a family, taken together. It was rough. It took 1 1/2 hours to get some good pictures. The very first picture they took didn't turn out very well but that's what we had to go with for the big package. We plan on ordering other ones. It took forever to get a good smile from Zach. He just smiles too big most of the time.
Corey FINALLY has 4 days off this week. Just in time for Zach's Christmas play that he's in at school. It should be really cute. Don't worry... we're going to video tape it. He supposed to be a little shepherd. We have Corey's work Christmas party this week. It should be fun. We'll see how Zach does with a babysitter. :)
We're both REALLY excited about Christmas. Gretchen found out about the gift that Corey got her for Christmas so she already has it. She got a Palm Treo PDA cell phone. It's REALLY cool. It's palm pilot in combination with a cell phone. Plus, it has MS Word, Excel, and Powerpoint on it. It's VERY nice. Gretchen has SEVERAL gifts for Corey but we can't mention them on here until after Christmas. He doesn't know about them yet. ;)
Sunday, December 03, 2006
We had our first Thanksgiving as a family and unfortunately, Corey had to work. However, Gretchen's parents were down for the weekend. Gretchen made everything herself for Thanksgiving. She was really trying to impress her parents. ;) It turned out pretty good. She made a stuffed Turkey, Ham, homemade baked macaroni and cheese, stuffing, candied sweet potatoes, a double layer pumpkin pie, a cheesecake, and a pumpkin roll. It was really good. Gretchen's parents loved it. We think they were impressed. lol
We celebrated Christmas with Gretchen's parents early. Her mom bought her a sewing machine. Now she can really be a homemaker. Hopefully, if she makes clothes, one arm won't be longer than the other. lol ;)
Gretchen was brave enough to go out on "Black Friday" shopping. She got up WAY before everyone else to make it to the stores. She got almost everything she was looking for. She finished Christmas shopping and even finished wrapping the gifts. AAAHHH... how good it feels to be done! :) Now, it's just time to finish baking.
Corey has been working so much lately. He's had to work so much overtime. We're hoping that will end soon, maybe even in a couple of weeks.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Well, Corey just got done working 12 days in a row. He was suppose to get off 2 days but his work called him into work. He had gotten off last Sunday night from work and wasn't suppose to go back until last Wednesday night. His boss called him around 11 A.M. on Monday to call him into work that night for night shift. So, he didn't get 2 days off. He worked straight through. On his last day he went to the gym right after work and pulled a muscle in his shoulder/ back area. He has been in a LOT of pain since he got off work yesterday morning.
Today, we surprised Zach and took him to Chuck E. Cheese. He had so much fun. Of course, Corey had a lot of fun too. We thought it might be fun for all of us have a "family day" and have fun since Corey has been working so much. Then, we came home and relaxed the rest of the day. We ordered pizza for dinner so we didn't have to go anywhere.
Gretchen, in the mean time, has been getting ready for Thanksgiving AND going Christmas shopping. She's ALMOST done. :)
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Gretchen was so tired from cleaning so much before everyone came over to the house and from cooking that she didn't feel like doing much this week. Zach didn't have school on Tuesday, so him and her slept in while Corey had to go to work. Poor thing.... he's been working so much lately. Gretchen went to the gym, went to her bible study and has cooked for Corey. She hasn't really cleaned anything until yesterday and today. She did laundry and made sure the house was nice and clean for Corey when he gets off of work tonight.
Zach has been a little sick lately. He's just had a little cold but it's annoying him, you can tell. He doesn't like it very much. We really don't want to give him any medicine. We try not to so his little body isn't getting loaded with medicines. The allergist we were seeing put him on 3 or 4 different medications. Corey asked her if he was ever going to get off these medicines and she said probably not. We stopped going to her b/c she would put him on medicines that he didn't really need. We just stopped going and stopped giving him the medicines. He's been fine.
Gretchen has been trying to finish her Christmas shopping. She's trying to wait until "Black Friday" to get some really good deals. Hopefully by then, she'll be completely done. She is going to make some things for some people but we can't say what it is so it will be a surprise for those receiving it. :)
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Gretchen's parents flew in last night. We picked them up at the airport and then stayed up until midnight. Then, we had to get up early so we could show Gretchen's parents this house that is for sale. They are looking at possibly moving down here in the future. So, we were all tired today.
We took Gretchen's parents out to McAlister's for lunch. While we were out we went to "Ross" and Gretchen did some more Christmas shopping. She's almost done all our Christmas shopping! Then, we had to pick up Zach's birthday cake and balloons. We came home and Gretchen had to finish making the crab dip for the party. Corey had to marinate the baby back ribs and get those ready to put in the oven for the afternoon. Gretchen's mom had to do the goody bags for the kids for the party and Gretchen's Dad just kept Zach occupied. We got everything done and Zach had a good birthday party. We think he really enjoyed all the attention.
After everyone left, Gretchen cleaned everything up and finished cooking dinner for her parents and then we just relaxed the rest of the evening. It was a VERY busy day! Corey has to work tomorrow so hopefully the day will go a little slower. :)
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Well, the day is finally here when Zach is no longer a toddler but more of a little boy. He is 3 years old! Can you believe it? Time goes by so fast! Hopefully he had a fun day. We tried to make him feel EXTRA special and let him decide what he wanted to do and eat for the day. We figured he'd probably want to eat a lot of junk food. Since he's not allowed to eat that much junk food any other time, we figured he should enjoy being able to eat whatever he wants.
Gretchen got to work out at the gym today and then come home to do more cleaning. She's doing very detailed cleaning. She cleaned the oven, the stove, the microwave, the dishwasher and the refrigerator. She's been very busy. The next 2 days she's going to be VERY busy! She can't wait to be able to relax. :)
Monday, October 30, 2006
Gretchen took Zach to get his pictures taken for his birthday! Then, she went grocery shopping right after that since she was already at Walmart. She had to get a lot of things for baking during the holidays. She got stopped many times for people to either talk to Zach or tell him or her how handsome he was. Everyone thought he was a adorable. Of course, he ate it up. He's SUCH a flirt!
While Gretchen was getting Zach's pictures done, Corey stayed home to pressure wash the house to clean it up. It was VERY dirty. We needed to get it done and Gretchen's parents are coming down this weekend so that just gave him an excuse to get it done. Gretchen scrubed the walls down with the "Magic Eraser". There were a lot of marks, scuffs and little fingerprints on the walls. She's got a lot to do this week!
Saturday, October 28, 2006
This week has been pretty hectic. Corey just got off working 20 days. Finally, he has 4 days off. Gretchen has been busy trying to clean the house. She's trying to do some deep cleaning in the house.
We both got to go to Zach's school this week. They had the firemen there and we got to jump in there with Zach and be apart of it. We had fun and were glad that we could both attend with Zach. Corey even got to help one of the firemen.... WAY FOR HIM TO GET INVOLVED!! lol
We've been trying to get some Christmas shopping done. Gretchen wants to do a lot of baking this holiday season!
Gretchen has been going to the gym and has been on the "Fat Smash Diet" that Celebrity Fit Club uses. It works! She's lost 8 lbs so far. It's helping her eat healthier. That's the whole point of the diet anyway. It's really just changing your eating habits to eat healthier but this helps you do it in different phases. She wants to lose about 5 more lbs. SHE CAN DO IT!
Gretchen made some peanut butter fudge the other day and oh... was it good!! Everyone at Corey's work LOVED it! Gretchen had to cheat and have a few pieces. She couldn't miss out on that!
Friday, October 20, 2006
Gretchen was up until 2 A.M. last night making breakfast for her Bible Study for this morning. Zach woke her up at 5:30 A.M. this morning. So, she's pretty tired today.
Corey just got off of night work this morning. He had his Bible study at our house this morning after getting off work. So, Corey kept Zach at the house while Gretchen ran the food over to her Bible Study. She figured the other women wouldn't appreciate bringing a sick child to be around their kids. (I know we wouldn't like it)
Zach didn't want to take a nap today, even though he REALLY needed one today since he went to bed last night at 10:30 p.m. (b/c of being sick) and woke up at 5:30 a.m. So, she told him to lay down in his bed while we watched the Disney Channel. She rubbed his back and he was asleep within 5 minutes. He really needs his rest.
Nothing is really going on. Corey has been working a LOT of overtime the past 2 weeks. He's back on schedule now, though. Gretchen and Zach have only seen Corey 2 days in the past 2 weeks. It's been tough but we made it. Gretchen has been going Christmas shopping trying to get that out of the way so we can all enjoy the holidays. Plus, she wants to make sure she has plenty of time to do lots of baking and crafts! :)
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Gretchen took Zach to school this morning. It's been so nice that she can have some time to herself and get things done. She went to the gym and then did some Christmas shopping and a little bit of birthday shopping. She's trying to find Diego party supplies so she doesn't have to order them online but it looks like she's going to have to.
She's been going to AC Moore almost everyday b/c she has these coupons that she can get scrapbooking supplies fairly cheap. She's doing a MARINE CORPS scrapbook for Corey. She's really gotten into scrapbooking... and cooking! Can you believe that? Plus, she wants to start sewing. Can you believe this is the same woman? lol
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
After dropping Zach off at school, we went to AC Moore. Corey was brave enough to go into the store with Gretchen. Gretchen had to get some stuff to scrapbook with. She's trying to do a scrapbook for Corey's Marine Corps Service. Also, Gretchen is still doing some more of Zach's. She just finished his whole first year.
Then, we went to Toys R Us. While we were there we got Zach's birthday gift from us, Gretchen's parents birthday gifts from them along with Christmas gifts from them. Gretchen's parents asked us to do his shopping for them so that they didn't have to haul it down here.
It was nice for us to spend some time together and to be able to do some shopping without Zach. We went out to eat together after we got done our shopping, read a couple chapters of this book that we are reading called, "Sheet Music" by Kevin Leman. Then, we picked Zach up from school.
When we get home from school, Zach always gets to eat lunch and then goes down for a nap (even though he doesn't always take one). Then, it's either scrapbooking time for Gretchen, snuggle time for Corey and Gretchen and/ or nap time for Corey as well. It's so nice to be able to spend time together as both a couple and as a family.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Today was Corey's second day off, but felt like the first day since he had to sleep yesterday from coming off of night shift. He had Bible Study this morning while Gretchen took Zach to preschool for the first day. She's been really excited about Zach going. He's so smart and he really needs the socialization. It'll be good for him. It's at a christian preschool, which is even better.
The preschool is about 20 minutes away. So, Gretchen went shopping at AC Moore to look at scrapbooking stuff. She also got to do some birthday shopping for Zach, since his birthday is coming up and also did some Christmas shopping. It was nice to be able to do that alone. Tomorrow, Corey and Gretchen will be taking Zach to preschool which will give us some time alone.
When Gretchen and Zach got home this afternoon, we all had lunch together. Then, Zach and Corey took a nap. When they got up from their naps, the two of them went to go get a drink from the gas station together. Corey loves his Arizona Green Tea w/ Ginseng & Honey. They don't sell it at the grocery store so Corey has to go to the gas station to get it.
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