... picture posts ...

i'm sure pictures can say it better than i can...

     

this is Pepper Raymond. newest member of our family... lilly loves her... :) really she does.

 

Wow...

ok. i'm probably the most lame blogger in the history of blogging....

here's my list of things to blog about:

• more crafting dos and dones!
• wedding of the summa
• new kitchen, dining room and hallway....
• pepper roo :)
• iwhat?
• escuela...
• promo and rio tinto
• and anything else i can't think of...

geez... i didn't realize my list was so long till i actually wrote it... i'm lame sauce.

check one off my list...

well here they are... all done... not the greatest of pictures but i do what i can.  this is the beginning of re-decorating my front living room. (not that i really decorated in the first place). these pillow covers were easy shmeasy! i love the green! that room need a bit of color and so far the green is looking good. i've added some candles since these pics and i've got some super great ideas of some more crafty dos for this room.

which leads me to my question of the day... i'm looking for big styrofoam balls.  big as in 6 inch, 5 inch and a 4 inch styrofoam ball.  i've seen them run from $10 down, but there's got to be a cheaper way to get some styrofoam balls. what do parents do who have to put together a model of the solar system? shell out the cash for a decent school project? geez!! anywho, if you know of any place to get these cheaper please share your knowledge.  i'm also looking for 3 5x5 styrofoam cubes but i heard the dollar store might be the place for those.

oh sorry i haven't posted these sooner... another crazy few weeks just went by. i'll have to tell you about it later... i'm off to the dollar store. :)

Can I get your number?

it's been a crazy and interesting week at home.  i'm not used to the whole staying in bed, all day, every day thing.  i found myself craving to do something. get out. start a project. do something crafty. i know i'm wild. i see now why my home isn't the most decorated or done up house on the block. it's because i'm not home enough to worry about it. but this week changed me.

therefore, we will be revamping a lot of things this summer.  i'm "redecorating" our front room (not too much just adding some color and a few decorative pieces here and there). we're also doing a complete rehall on the kitchen/dining room and hopefully, the garage.  it's frustrating because our home is 99% finished. that 1% is one wall in the garage needs sheet rock... i think.  it seems like that one wall is holding us back from doing a lot of things.  it's always "once we get that wall done, we can put up shelves, than store things in the garage that needs to go there, then we'll have more room for storage inside the house, then it'll be easier for this and that..." seriously. that wall is killing us.  so we're gonna do it. just finish it up. that's my goal.

also, because decorating is so expensive, i think, and i have a hard time justifying spending so much money on something just for looks i'm going to be making some new things.  the things i'm having a hard time with are curtains for my kitchen and pillows for the living room.  i just can't find anyting i like and is within my price range... so i've decided to just buckle down and make what I want. 

i have a bunch of mismatched pillows that i'm going to make pillow covers for. with fabric that i like. imagine that. i seriously hate pillow shoppin.  i have yet to find couch pillows that go with our black leather couches. so i'm going to make my own. i'm wild remember. so if anyone knows of some good fabric stores, and some good ideas let me know.  i've done the basics.... googled "how to make pillow covers" and fabric stores and pretty much everything else from recovery spot. now i just have to go look. :) here is my inspiration:

i can do it, now the curtains are a completely different story...

medical difficulties

ok people
ya i know i said i'd post but man, life gets crazy fast... here's a recap of basically the last 3 months of our lives (since my last post).

so in january we "found out" that patrick had a kidney stone. yeah found out is an understament. he was in massive pain pretty quickly. and 9 weeks later, his body has decided it doesn't want to get rid of it.  yup he still has it. poor guy. can you imagine having a painful kidney stone for 9 weeks.  we've basically been to hell and back lugging that kidney stone with us.

• 3 clinic visits ($20 copays each) : $60
• 1 CAT scan : $1,600
• 1 huge ER visit (2 MRI's and 1 EKG) : $8,000
• 1 Eye Appointment (yes eye appointment is involved) : $120
• New Medication to get the kidney stone out (cross your fingers) : $30
• Possibly still having to go into surgery to get the darn thing out : $5,000 +
• Actual out of pocket costs because of AMAZING INSURANCE : ~$300 {not technically priceless but good enough for us!}

your welcome for that awesome run down. ending conclusion... it hasn't ended yet. he still has it.

next on our list is my stupid cyst. it's back. lame i know. i had a good long talk with my body telling it to start healing properly. we thought it was healing like it should because it wasn't really hurting anymore but the doctor has assured me that it is in fact back and this time with a vengence.

so, i go in for surgery #2 on monday... ha. i have to laugh because this thing has literally been a pain in my butt for 6 years.

there has been good though. since my last post here's the scoop:

my birthday was at the end of january and (other than being tired from the stone issue) it was great. we had dinners all over the place and patrick bought me an itouch. i seriously love it.

valentines day came next and it was sweet and short. we spent some good time together. had a much needed date night, etc.

my sister-n-law had her baby girl. she's so cute. i love her lots and she totally makes me even more baby hungry.

my other sister-n-law got engaged... crazy! i love it and am excited for her wedding.  i'm sure it'll be an awesome weekend!

patrick's been in school and rockin it out.  he's doing great and "loves" it... ha! more like he realizes how crazy school is and even though it's necessary, it sucks.

other than that... :D we try and smile everyday! i'll post some pics as soon as i get them off my phone and camera.  i'm slow i know. here's my goal: 1 post a week... yes. you heard it here. i'm seriously gonna try and do one post a week. it could happen.

Before you pull out your pitch forks...

... I know I said I'd blog more...

I will.

Tonight...

Promise...

Hmmmmmmm........

ok. so my new years resolution is to blog more. lose weight. make this year even better than the next. take lots of pictures. and get ready for what's coming next in the raymond house.

so i'm starting fresh.

sorta.

to start fresh i've got to catch you all up.

well last time i blogged was right before thanksgiving. sooo we can start there.

thanksgiving was pretty cool. patrick's dad was down from washington and it was nice having his family around for the holiday's. his sister came and visited and that was awesome! i love having her around.

also in november we went down to scottsdale to visit patrick's other set of parents (long story).  it was great! i loved it down there. arizona is awesome! it totally reminded me of what it was like having barry and taffee around (parents). i miss them so much. we had some great game nights.

next came december.

that came with a bang. on december 2 i had surgery. i HAD a pilonidal cyst (it's gone now). if you really wanna know what that is google it. anyway, it was miserable. absolutely miserable. patrick was so awesome. he waited on me hand and foot. seriously he was amazing, but it didn't stop the discomfort and pain. well, it's feeling better now. slowly but surely it's healing. it took 1 week to sit and 4 weeks to sleep on my back. yuck.

well christmas came next and it was awesome! so relaxing. so peaceful. so wonderful. we opened gifts. we ate. we hung out. we played games. we tried to get food christmas night and absolutely nothing was open. good for the employes but bad for the francos. patrick got a macbook and he loves it. he got more cool things but that was the main gift. i got my new bedding and glee! seriously. i got the glee season 1 volume 1 and watched it all by new years. even though i had already seen all them it as nicer to have a refresher. :)

new years eve was crazy! that's all i'm gonna say about that.

patrick actually started school. i know. awesome. we're really excited. he's doing really well and is doing awesome. he's not 100% sure what he wants to major in but he's seriously leaning toward marketing. a marketing degree and his cosmetology license might be a good combination. right now we're just focusing on his generals.

i got promoted. it's awesome. i have only been at my job for 5 months or so and to get promoted this quick is big. i'm not one to brag but it's nice tooting my horn every once in awhile.  i love my job and i haven't been able to say that for a long time. i move into my new office on friday and i'm so so excited.

i also got "promoted" at church. i was in the nursery for the last year and now i teach the sunbeams. i basically just moved up with my class. well half the class at least. i got the youngest 6 kids which just so happens to be all girls. crazy. i've never seen so many 3 year old girls just wanna chit chat that whole time.

if i think of anything else, i'll let you know. :)  pictures will come also.

oh yeah. GO VIKINGS!

Going on...

...What's going on...

1. My new favorite commerical is the Gap commercial where they are dancing.
2. I'm working out again. :)
   
3. I'm still in love with Glee.
4. I've been reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. Good book.
5. Patrick going back to school! Crazy. Exciting. Scary. Awesome. With a side of stress...
6. Lilly's doing good. She's cute.
7. I love milk again. It's so good.
8. Snow is cold. Seriously cold.
9. I have become an excel expert. Thank you work. I'm seeing spreadsheets in my dreams.
10. I'm bad at blogging.
    

Have a very GLEEfull day!