I try not to make this blog overly personal while still talking about my life. But since this is the second time this has happened, I’m gonna go ahead and talk about it.
I may or may not have mentioned this in past posts, but my grandpa died of cancer in July of 2005. It affected everyone in my family. Actually I’m sure that it affected more than just the family, I think I heard someone say that there hundreds of people at his visitation? I can’t remember a number I just know it was up there. He knew everyone and was friends with so many. I am not going to sit here and say that I was super close to him. I saw him on holidays mainly and once a year at the Pumpkin Parade. Because your fall didn’t get off to a good start without heading to grandpas for some chilli and watching the parade. But just because I didn’t see him every weekend or even every month, it doesn’t mean that I don’t miss him. Holidays are not the same and I don’t go to the pumpkin parade anymore.

Anyway, several months ago I had a dream. It was mostly randomness. Most of it didn’t make any sense at all lol. But the last part is what jerked me out of my sleep and had me sobbing for just..days. It was so emotional. I got to hug my grandpa. Something I had not done in years and something I greatly missed (even though I am not a hugger lol).

Excuse the hair lol

When I talked to D about it he said that maybe it was grandpas way of letting me know he was there. I don’t know what it meant. I do know that I started talking to my mother again after I had the dream though. Because I felt like even though she was being shitty to me, he wouldn’t have wanted us to not talk.

I have not had a dream with him in it since that night..until last night.

It was a wedding dream, I was in my dress, but things were going so weird lol. I just kept walking down the isle and my dad didn’t walk with me, it was just me. At the end and in 1 of the first rows was my aunt who was cracking jokes lol. I thought it was funny. I was laughing and everything. And all of the sudden, in the 2nd row I look over and there sits my grandpa. Looking much like he did when I was little, before he got sick. I stood there and talked to him. He tried to tell me that he was talking to someone about me, but I don’t know who. He commented on the picture I had displayed for him on the memory table.

This was the day I came home from the hospital.

I woke up sobbing again. Not because I missed him but because he was there. I couldn’t help but thinking that day that I wished so much that he could have been there. And I guess he was

My High School graduation

This is a real favorite in my house. And it was one of my favorites when I was growing up. It’s funny how we start making the same things our mothers/grandmothers made. Of course, my shepherds pie could never compare to my grandmothers. But whatever, D and 2 out of 4 kids like it lol.

So here is the recipe!

Ingredients:feeds family of 6
2 lb. hamburger
10 potatoes (2 per person)
Cheese Slices

Directions:
Start by preheating your oven to 350*. I like to get my potatoes in the pot and cooking before I start the meat. Usually I let them start to boil (and see bubbles) before I’ll put my meat on to brown. Make your mashed potatoes like you would any other time. Brown your meat like you would any other time. Once both of those are done, take a 9×13 pan (or whatever size you like..I prefer bigger for obvious reasons) and spread the mashed potatoes into it. Before you pour your meat into the pan, drain any grease that might be in it. Now pour the meat in and spread it out so that it covers the potatoes. Put your cheese slices on. Pop in the oven. And your done! I usually leave it in for about 15min. or however long it takes for the cheese to melt. Since the other ingredients are already cooked, the cheese is the only important part when it comes to the oven .

I usually let it cool a little bit before serving. Enjoy!

And happy birthday to me!! I am 29 years old today. And I plan on staying 29 from here on out lol

I actually had a pretty good birthday. Which is kind of surprising because normally my birthday kind of sucks. There is almost always something that causes some kind of drama so that I can’t celebrate the way I want to. This year was pretty enjoyable though. We celebrated on Saturday by going out to dinner at my favorite restaurant (Schooner’s I heart me some wings!). As far as gifts go I got a new phone!! I have been wanting one for a while and figured that since we’d had our plan for a year on the 5th that we could upgrade. And we could. My FIL ended up buying my phone and D got me a pink rubber case to go on it. I love it!

D also bought me a deep freezer. Which doesn’t sound exciting but it’s AWESOME. I love knowing there is somewhere for the food I buy. Our freezer is just not big enough and it never has been. Not for the amount of people that we end up feeding.

I also got my new camera 2 weeks ago but I didn’t get that as a gift. I bought it myself. I heart it anyway though.

So what did you guys do for mothers day today? Anything fun?

It used to be wedding Wednesday but since the wedding is over (thank the Goddess) we are moving today to Recipe Wed. starting today.

Tuna Pillows (makes 4 pillows)
1 box of cream cheese
Chopped celery (or celery seed)
Chopped onion (or onion powder)
1 can of tuna
1 can of Cream of Chicken soup
1 container of crescent rolls

Mix softened cream cheese (helps when stirring), celery, onions, and tuna in a bowl. Set aside. Spray baking sheet with Pam and arrange crescent rolls. Lay down 2 pieces of the rolls in a triangle shape. Drop a spoon full of cream cheese mixture into the middle of the rolls. Fold the 3 corners up to meet in the middle. Pop in the oven & bake at 350 until pillows are golden and crispy. While the pillows are baking I usually start the soup. Pour (cooked) soup over pillows and you’re ready for a delicious meal!

Renovating a house is a bitch.

Especially when the house was first “renovated” by a couple of corner cutters. About a month before the wedding D and I removed the strip of carpet right outside the bathroom because the dogs kept peeing on it. Turns out the people we bought the house from had a dog at one point. *sigh* Then they moved to the carpet right in front of the stairs. Grr!! So I ripped that up too. Then I recruited my 15yr old daughter to help me remove the carpet from the rest of the room. Turns out, there’s hardwood under it!! It needs some work, but for being so old it’s in pretty good shape.

Apparently someone spilled paint too. Nice. Anyway- so with the carpet up in there, D decided we should see what’s under the carpet in the living room and bed room. I kinda wish we wouldn’t have lol.

When we pulled it up we saw what I thought was mold, but it wasn’t, it was dirt. I was so grossed out. But I was really glad it wasn’t mold because that would have been awful, but it also would have explained why D’s allergies are so bad. Blah. So we pull up just the carpet that meets the dining room and bedroom (a small square basically). It took us 2 hours to do that much. *sigh* It wouldn’t have taken that long if the idiot that laid the carpet wouldn’t have stapled (crooked at that) everywhere. Everyone knows that you don’t put staples everywhere when laying the carpet (and this was on the friggin’ padding..not even the carpet). You go around the edges. *sigh* Idiots. Because it took so long to do that and there was so much nasty shit coming up with it, we stopped right there. Now, with the dining room, D got me started in one area and I finished the room. But with all the staples I don’t want to start and have to start and stop to spend 2hrs pulling them up or hammering them down.

After seeing what is in the living room though we decided that we’re going to refinish the dining room floors but we’re going to put laminate down on the living room floor because it is just ridiculous.

And after talking to the neighbor yesterday, we found out he does floors! So he’s going to help us . Yay! Lets hope we can get this all done in a weekend or so. I’ll be sure to post pics when we get done!

My wedding post that is. I’ve been trying to post it forever but just never seem to finish it. I’ve also been bouncing back and forth between vlogging it or blogging it. And since every time I start to film a video a kid pops up I decided to go ahead and just blog about it. I’m sorry if it’s long. It’s not my fault!

Lets start with the awesome cake my mom made. Or should I say cupcakes?

Cute right?!

The top of the middle cake says “K & D” then our wedding date. The 3 cupcakes on the bottom of the middle tier say “It’s About Time” lol. I thought it was funny..ya know..since we’ve been together almost 8yrs .

Next up are the flowers & center pieces. All we used was (what I showed you all in a previous post) a mason jar, sand, and a tea light. I took something that looked like a grass skirt and tied it in a bow at the mouth of the jar. I think they looked really pretty! And then for the flowers I just went to Hobby Lobby and got Peonies, I can’t remember what the white flower is lol, and 2 different kinds of roses. I think they turned out really well. And it probably cost me $40 for all the bouquets.

And then here we have all the girls! I absolutely LOVE this picture!!

And then here’s the groomsmen. D looks super nervous…or maybe he was a little drunk already…I don’t know lol.

The Memory Table. I thought this was an amazing idea. We both have had family members pass through the years that we would have really liked to be there with us on our day. But this was a great way to honor them. We had D’s mom, His grandpa (moms dad), and his aunt & uncle. Then for me we had my great-grandmother & my grandpa. I included the lyrics (just the first verse and the chorus) to If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away- by Justin Moore. I thought it fit the day.

The high light of the event. My nephew & niece coming down the aisle lol. We were going to use a wagon but the little seat we were going to have her sit in didn’t fit into it. So we had to improvise lol.

I swear I was not nervous and didn’t have a single Bridezilla moment until around noon the day of. And then I just wanted to smack someone. *sigh* As I heard people enter our space and the hall start to fill up I got more nervous. Not about getting married because I’d been waiting on this day since I met D (awww ♥). But because I did not want to stand up in front of all those people. If you know me, then you know that I am not one of those girls that wants attention on her…for any reason. I just wanted it to all be over. And I guess that showed on my face because everyone commented on the fact that they didn’t think I was going to make it down the stairs or down the aisle. Even my dad, who walked me down the aisle, asked me if I was gonna be OK. I’m good people. I got this! (<—my motto for the day) And yes, those are my toes you see. I bought REALLY cute shoes to wear but then I couldn’t get down the stairs in them at the rehearsal, so I nixed them.

While you are all focused on this amazing pictures of my dad & I, take a gander at his hand there. Do you see what it says. That’s right, it says SUCKER. LOL Apparently my grandpa wrote that on his hand when my dad married my mom. Dad thought it was only appropriate to do the same I guess lol.

As I approached the “alter” (because it was really a stage), D asked “where’s the preacher??” I said, “I don’t know! You were supposed to get him!” Our friend J stepped forward and said he’d do it lol. That was the plan all along. For him to marry us.

We are married!! 8 years later!! Woohoo! I was so excited but at the same time I was so ready to get the hell out of there that I forgot to grab my bouquet from my sister lol.

There are tons of pictures. But let me just tell you that we had an awesome time and I’m so glad it’s over and we’re married and everything went off without a hitch! I leave you with my favorite pic.

And a GREAT big THANK YOU to D’s aunt Karen who took all the pictures!! I love them all!