2010 Resolutions...

WoW!!! 2010!!! Can you believe it? It just seems like yesterday we were all freaking out about Y2K. I have many resolutions and thought I am not going to post those, I hate it because I never stick to them. But, when I thought about it, I can be held accountable by anyone who reads this blog (not sure who you all are).

10 Resolutions of 2010

1. Count my blessings (Pray and Praise more).
2. Get back on the Dave Ramsey Budget.
3. Eat better, more veggies and fruit (No I am not going to say lose weight)
4. Make dinner for my family more.
5. Get pregnant (keep your fingers crossed) :)
6. Argue less with Evan and be more understanding of a 16 year old
7. Go on more dates with my husband.
8. Volunteer and give to the needy.
9. Spend more time with extended family.
10. Blog atleast once a week.

Hope you guys have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! We are going to the Dooleys and eat lots of food and fun with friends.

2009... Year in Review

January: I was still working in Evansville and so was Mike. Still living in Princeton and trying to get out, hahahaha.



February: Nothing much this month other than me totaling our trailblazer in the horrible ice storm :( But God was watching over me and protected me, didn't come out with a scratch.



March: Mike turned 35 and I had a surprise party at our house for him. And Cooper turned 1!!!



April: I started working at BHER again. Loved everything but the drive and being away from home.



May: I married the man of my dreams!! We went to Pigeon Forge with some friends and family and had a great time.



June: Had a big reception celebrating our wedding, tons of family and friends came and we were so blessed to spend time with all of them and celebrate our new life.



July: We were able to get full and complete custody of Evan (yay!!) and we moved to Jasper.



August: Evan started school at Jasper High school and Band season started, our life began as very busy band parents.



September: Nothing much here but working and enjoying the Fall.



October: I turned the big 2-5!!! It was the first year that it just felt like another day :(



November: I started working at a local ER and love it. Working 6a-4p and actually have a normal life.



December: Lots of Holiday planning, baking, and parties.

Woooaaahhhh (in a Joey Lawrence voice)

I am totally a blonde!!! I have been using paper planners for years and cant stand not having everything organized but man it has become a hastle and I only carry a clutch purse most of the time (so not much fits). I have had my IPhone for a few months now and just now found the planner on it!!!! Let me tell ya it rocks!!!!! I will never go back to paper again! It keeps everything even to do lists in one spot and I dont have 50 million papers lurking around. I am so silly to never have used it. Ok anyways just thought I would throw that out there. Have a good rest of the Monday. One more day then I am off Wednesday and Thursday woohoooo!!

Merry Christmas to me!!

Woohoo I got so much awesome stuff for my camera!!!! I just bought myself this awesome camera strap cover @ etsy.com (llloooooovvvveee that website). It is soooo cute they are camera straps made by *Shey*(B). http://www.etsy.com/shop/Shealynn , check it out, she has great stuff! Mike got me a great 50 mm lens and I am getting ready to get a new camera bag. I found the most awesome website!!! http://www.momtog.com/ This beautiful lady is the bomb!! I am just amazed with all that she does and has the best photos I have seen yet while studying photography. I only hope to be half as good as her. Just check it out she rocks! She also had this really cool blog that was a year in review, hmmmm I think I will. Hahaha. I am telling you I am just in awe how cool she is.

Speaking of a new year, I am getting excited. I love every year at this time when you can make resolutions (that I never can keep :) haha) , have a clean slate and reorganize and majorly clean your home.

We are going shopping wednesday (talk about last minute :)) Then thursday morning I have a shoot with the lovely Bullock family and then ITS CHRISTMAS EVE TIME BABY!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR if I dont make it back on the tell you before thursday!!!!!

Nothing really new...

Ladonna says its going to be an awesome day! HAHA Ladonna is a really sweet nurse I work with and she used to work with Mike. Work has been great, I know I know I have said it so many times, but dayshift is AMAZING. We joined B and B fitness and have been working out everynight for a week. I feel so good when I work out (amazing isnt it, haha all those work out goo roos were right).

Loren was really sick last night and Kari had a program so when we finished working out we stopped by and picked up Cooper. He was so cute! He had on his green frog boots with his jeans tucked in them and a camoflauge shirt on. He loves uncle Mike so of course he kept saying Mike Mike Mike, and sometimes EE (me). We ate pot roast, watched Charlie Brown Christmas, Disney Prep and Landing, Winnie The Pooh Christmas, and had bath time with Sesame Street bath toys, it was sooooooooooo fun. It made me really want babies!

Tonight Mom is coming over and we are all going to dinner then looking at christmas lights, then back home to start making cookie dough that need refrig. overnight and Saturday Mom and I are going to have a baking, shopping, movie watching day!! I just love this time of the year! Everyone is just so much happier :)

Anyways have a great weekend and rest of the work day.

Speed up or Slow down????

Well, I am not sure if we need to slow down or speed up with our life? I hear alot of fellow bloggers talk about life slowing down. I think that our life does need to slow down but we need to speed up. I feel like christmas is almost here and I havent done enough, I need to shop more, I want to watch more movies, go to more christmas parties, spend more time with family and friends. Mike and I have been talking about things we need to do this year, we just don't feel like we are doing enough. We feel like we need to do more to make our life complete. So some of my resolutions are going to be, volunteering, visit friends and family more, find a church, join a small group bible study, read the bible and read for fun, start school again, get my photography business rolling, I am going to start cleaning and organizing friends and family homes, making freezable dinners for friends that are having babies and just don't have time to make dinner. Hope you all are having a good holiday season and are enjoying the times. Tomorrow I plan on cleaning a friends home, relaxing and watching movies, then going to washington to the Journey to Bethlehem. Havent been for years and can't wait to see it again.

EvAn!!

I know that he is not MY son but anymore it feels like it. He is such an awesome kid. We went for a 3 mile walk yesterday and talked the whole time. I actually got to really know how he has been feeling and what all he is thinking. Life is hard as a 16 year old and especially what all he has been through. He is adjusting to life at Jasper High School. Doing well in all his classes but Algebra but we are working on it.

I am so proud of him for being strong willed. He uprooted everything he knows and came to live with us at 16, that takes alot of guts. He rarely ever talked and his Dad and I have explained to him that he needs to open up, sometimes he opens up to much haha. He is just becoming an awesome young man. He is going to start helping me with my photography business and his dad and Chris's lawncare business plus do some odds and ends. We are going to work on budgeting money and keeping a checkbook. We are working on responsibilites and finishing things that you start and giving your all.

I came home from work sunday evening and he had done his chores, all the laundry, and cleaned our bathroom (that is a job!!!)

God has blessed me in so many ways and I am grateful. Just enjoying every minute of life :)

Good Times

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!! We had a wonderful day, well Evan and I did, poor Mike was sick. He was home in bed all day. I still feel bad he wasn't able to enjoy all that wonderful food and fellowship. We went to my great aunt and uncle Ruth and Warrens house for lunch and to Loren and Kari's for Dinner and poker. Evan came in second in the poker tournament so that was fun for him. I put up the tree yesterday although I already pretty much had the other decorations up.

I ABSOLUTELY love my job, all the people I work with, and most of all the schedule. It is amazing how things work out.

Well that is about it for now. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Today is the day...

I start my new job!!! I will be working 6a-4p but today and tomorrow I am filling in for help 12p-10p. To sleep in my bed at night and do normal things all day is soooo awesome. Only my nightshifters can understand that. Hope this time of year is finding you all well. I spent the last week putting up most of our christmas decorations. Had my girls from Bloomington down for scrapbook night, it was soo fun. I got all of Evan's book caught up and working on catching Mike and mine's up. To be caught up with all things in life is a wonderful feeling right?? I know I know I am not going to ever be caught up.

I am starting a new workout. I have lost 15 lbs (yay!!!) on Nurtisystem and feel like I have a great jumpstart. Anyone know any great workout routines, I think I am going to start running again.

Looking forward to Thanksgiving, Hope you all have a great one and enjoy time for food, family, and thankfullness.

Family Pictures

My handsome boys...

Present for the grandparents :)

Its getting to be that time of year again to send out our christmas cards. We had my sister in law Kari take our pics tonight. Hope everyone is doing great. Not much going on here just enjoying life and getting ready to start my new job. Enjoy the pics. I just love my family :)

Christmas and weight loss

I am determined to enjoy every last minute of this holiday season :) I love love love the holidays, it actually gives me butterflies, I know I know I'm weird. I have most of my christmas shopping figured out. I ordered new decorations thru LTD and can't wait to get them, will post pictures when they arrive. This weekend is going to be soooo fun, Mike actually has the whole weekend off :) Tomorrow we are going to Dinner and a birthday party. Saturday we are going to French Lick to see Ron White, then Sunday is a lazy family day.

I haven't really talked about it but I started NutriSystem. I would like to lose 50 lbs and then start dieting on my own. Well I guess I shouldnt say diet, lifestyle change. Well.... I have lost 10 lbs so far. It feels great but have alot more work to do and it is extremely hard. Only time will tell.

Well, back to cleaning the house and doing laundry. I know I have said it before but being a FLY lady is awesome. Check it out www.flylady.net .

Blessed

I have recently been told by many people how happy I sound.... I AM because I have so much to be thankful for. God has blessed me in so many ways. There have been so many years that I have wished away, always saying I wish I was doing this or that. I am just trying to slow down and enjoy my life. I don't have alot to say but just trying to get back in the habit of blogging everyday. Hope everyone had a great Halloween. I sat around the house scrapbooking, watching halloween movies, and gave candy to all the trick or treaters. It was sooooo fun :)

The holidays are right around the corner :) I am getting excited just thinking about it.

Have a great sunday, GO COLTS!!

Life changing...

No, not pregnant yet :( But I have accepted a new position at a local ER that is days and I will have a set schedule working 6am-4pm!!!! I am still going to be working at Bloomington as a very active PRN. This is going to be soooo wonderful for our family. I am really excited! As Mike says, "You can be a real mommy now".

Jasper has made it to state in band, they came in 2nd overall at semi state so they have a great chance of winning state!!! Evan is super excited.

Not a whole lot of other things so I am just going to update some photos of this fall :)

FALL!!!!!

So, I havent posted for 19 days!!! That is crazy, I really need to update more. Everything is about the same in the Snell household. Evan is doing fairly well in school, band has made it to semi-state, and he turned 16 (with an attitude to prove it hahaha)!!!!!! Mike is still working weekend option and picking up extra shifts, he is such a great provider. I work mostly sun, mon, tues and am almost done with my SANE classes but have tons of clinical hours that I have to complete. After lots and lots of trying still no baby, sorry TMI :) . God has a plan I just need to chill out and let him lead the way. When it is our time he will let us know. We are enjoying this wonderful cool fall weather and trying to do as much as we can but when Mike and I are off only one day a week together it makes it hard to get alot of things in. I have been praying and working on a new chapter in my career and am hoping it will work out and it will be soooo much better for my family. I am trying not to talk about it till I find out about it, wow that was an awful sentence. haha I really need to brush up on my english. We are carving pumpkins this friday and watching halloween movies! My DVR is full of them and will be full of holiday shows all the way till new years!!! I am kind of- well no I am a holiday freak!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah and I also realized I use alot of !!!!!!!!. Sorry I just get so excited about things. Hope everyone is having a great fall season and are enjoying the weather. I promise I will update some fall pictures when I get the chance. :)

Ideas Ideas Ideas...

He Loves his boots!!

LuLu (Lucy) Loren and Kari's new puggle

Do you all ever think of these great ideas of things you would like to do? I love being a RN especially an Emergency RN but I dislike12 hours shifts and dislike driving even more than that. I am always thinking of ideas that I could be a stay-at-home or self employed mom. I would LOVE to be a professional house cleaner, organizer, and list maker (hahaha) I know I am crazy but when I do all those things it makes me happy. I have also always been into photography. My sister in law is also. So we have been throwing around some cool ideas onto how to get into the business. I know I know these are all just silly ideas but man it would be so fun!! I went over to Loren and Kari's the other night to take some pictures of Cooper down by the riverwalk but it was rainy so we just stayed in. So I wanted to show off a few pictures. I am sure they are at the top of my blog but I don't know how to get them where I want them. Anyways Loving the awesome fall weather and looking forward to all the fall festivities. I hope you all (I think like 2 people read :) )are having a great week and have a great weekend!

Soup-er Friday..... Tuesday

Taco Soup

1 Can of black beans
1 Can of corn
1 Big can of Chicken broth
1 Can of tomatoes with green chiles
1 pound of ground beef cooked
1 packets of taco seasoning
1 packet of ranch dressing mix
1 chopped onion

Mix all ingredients from cans undrained in crock pot with seasoning packets and ground beef, cook in crock pot for a few hours ( I cook mine overnight or all day on a sunday), serve with cheese, sour cream, and fritos or tortilla chips. This soup is sooo yummy and feeds lots of people!

Thanks for the idea Courtney, I love getting new recipes!

Snell happenings...

Evan marching at the game.

The band waiting for the football team to come out.

Cooper went to the game with us and was soooooo good.

Hello Everyone,

Hope all is well in everyones world. Alot going on at the Snell household. Mike and I have both been working, Evan is enjoying school and doing awesome, band season is underway and I am getting ready to start classes to get SANE certified. SANE stands for Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner. I am working on all kinds of certifications and plan on getting my batchelor's degree in a year or so. I plan on flying within the next two years also.

Mike has been sick and we even made an ER visit. He is doing alot better and will hopefully be back to his happy healthy self soon.

Evan has been doing great in school. 100 % on everything thus far except for forgetting his name on a german test, silly boy! He had his first football game and dance this weekend, he had a fun and wonderful time. He is adjusting really well to a new town, household, school.

We love this fall weather and having our windows open. I even have fall decorations out!! This is my most favorite time of year!! Hope you all have a great week :)

First Day of School and Burger Bash

Evan started school last week and really enjoyed it. He is taking all honor classes and is taking german 1 which i think will be neat for him to learn. He is such a smart kid. Tonight he had the band's burger bash, which is where families go and meet with other parents and have a big meeting and cookout then watch the kids perform some of their show. Evan did a great job and was pretty much in the front the whole time. I know I have said this before but I love band and never ever thought I would. I am excited to start helping with the band and their first football game performance is this friday and I am taking mom and Cooper, Evan is so excited for us to be there. I will be working the concessions at the next home game. It is so funny how fast I have went to the other side of things, not to long ago I was the one playing sports and mom being the one in the concession stand. We have all kinds of events coming up for band. Magazine sales, fruit sales, band cards, auctions, all kinds of things!!! I can't wait to start baking and doing crafty stuff. Well it is definately time for bed I am so wore out from a fun weekend. Hope everyone's was as enjoyable as mine, now its back to the work week.

Picture pages pictures pages!!

So I finally uploaded pics I have been talking about, had an awesome weekend!! Hope you all did too. :)






Serenity loved Jess!!! Evan and his girls!

Beautiful Erica, my name twin, Erica Seale, that's right mike's friend Beth married Eric whose last name is Seale!! How weird right???

My awesome step-son Evan

The girls again.

We always have a packed house but I love it!!

Beth and Eric Seale!!! We love them!!!

Strassenfest parade Evan is in the red sunglasses almost to the end of the picture.

Go Jasper Band!!!

A little about Evan

So Evan starts school next friday!! He is really excited and I am excited for him too. We have been letting him have friends over and it is soooo fun. I like knowing where he is and know who his friends are. He has the CUTEST girlfriend and she is so sweet so it is nice that he has someone when he starts school. He loved band camp and had a great time and went on and on about it. We have alot of fun when Mike is at work, we are always doing something. Don't get me wrong we love when Mike is home. Mike is still weekend option and I work during the week so almost all times someone is with Evan. He loves staying with Uncle Loren though.(They are two peas in a pod). I just love having Evan around, I was really nervous about becoming a step mom but he has made it easy for me. I can't wait to start going to band competitions again. He was in the parade last sunday for Strassenfest. I have tons of pictures I need to upload of the parade and all the fun times at our house with his friends.

Beth and Eric our friends from Colorado came for a visit on Monday. They brought their daughters Erica and Jessie. We had such a great time!! As we always do with them. We can't wait till winter break to go out and visit them and have a winter vacation!! I have never been on one and have always dreamed about snowboarding, sleigh rides, sweaters, hot chocolate, and sitting around the fireplace. We took them to Schnitzlebach Restaurant and then hung out playing rockband and other games. I have pictures of that too that I need to get uploaded.

Well I am at work and in 20 minutes I will get to go home wooohooo!! Today I am going to pick up Evan, get a little sleep, clean, bake potatoes, then load up the car and Evan and I are headed to Dad's for a family cookout. Hope you all have a great weekend!!

I almost forgot, could you all please say a prayer for Loren, Kari, and Cooper, their beloved dog Lola just passed away. Coopers word for everything is Lola. Also, my Aunt Tammy's grandmother in law just passed away so please say a prayer for Jason Tammy Abbie and Jasons family.

Update in pictures....

The living room... Kitchen, which I love!!!!

More Kitchen...

Living room...

Entry Way...

Evan's room...

Evan playing rock band...

Our bedroom (it was hard to take pics because of the doors)

Our pic and wall art...

We are finally moved and settle in, YAY!!!!!! I didnt put pics of the office and spare bedroom because it is blah right now. Can't wait to have guests over. I LOVE to cook!!

Moving Day...

Is fast approaching!!! I am super pumped! We pick up the keys friday morning at 8 am, but thursday night we are loading up the UHaul and probably head over to Jasper and stay at Loren and Kari's not for sure though. I can't wait to get settled in our new place. This time is bittersweet though, I will miss our little house. I know I gripe because it is a "money pit" but it is our house, where we began our life together. I remember first moving in, the remodeling we completed, just lots of memories. I think this is how it is with alot of people.

I dislike living out of boxes but yet putting things (organized) in a new place and finding things you forgot you had makes me smile. We can't wait to have a little cookout/get together for all friends and family to celebrate our new place and getting Evan fulltime.

Speaking of Evan, as any family we are having growing pains but nothing that wasnt expected. We all have a blast playing games and hanging out. I love having someone there at night with me while Mike works and my family ABSOLUTELY LOVES Evan. He starts school in 4 weeks and band camp even sooner!! I know it will be hard but he will adapt quickly but please say a little prayer for him :)

Well I hope everyone is having a great week and will post pictures this weekend of the new place!!! :)

Busy and everchanging!!!

Hello All, (to whoever reads this)

Life around the Snell home has been BUSY!!! and might I add CRAZY too!!! WoW where do I start? Ok so big news first....... Evan is now going to live with us and we are so delighted in this. The only bad thing is that we needed to move up our move date to Jasper (which I don't mind at all). Mike and I have always wanted to live in Jasper and raise kids there but with our house in Princeton we have been kind of stuck. So with our butts in gear we have found a cute little townhome in Jasper, got joint custody of Evan with his mother, and Mike is working full time weekend option at Jasper Memorial. Life is really falling into place. It will be sooooo nice to have everything in one place, our home, doctors, dentists, most friends and family. It has been stressfull but with the amazing friends and family we have been able to survive.

We had our wedding reception and had a great time! We were so happy to see everyone and appreciate them coming and all the wonderful gifts (I am still working on thank yous :) ). I will have to post pictures some other time when I am not at work.

I am still working in Bloomington where I love but the drive was just starting to weigh on me and now that we are moving I feel so much better about it.

We went to Mike's family reunion last weekend in Ohio and had a great time as usual. We love seeing that side of the family we rarely get to see. I have pictures of that I need to upload later also.

Well I think that covers it, Life right now of the Snell's in a nut shell. Hope you all are having a great summer and have a safe and Happy 4th of July!!!!

Holiday World 2009

This saturday we went to Holiday World for Mike's work picnic and unfortunately Mike couldn't go so I bought a few extra tickets and Evan, Mom, Loren, Kari, and Cooper all joined me in an awesome adventure!!! I am truly blessed with this wonderful family. I was so sad that Mike had to work and couldnt attend. We started out the morning over at Loren and Kari's to get cooper ready then headed on down to Holiday World. I went and rented one of the cute little red wagons...

Cooper loved it and it held all of our stuff. It was a beautiful day and as I do every year I say I dont need sunscreen I want a good tan. And of course I got totally burnt to a crisp. What a good nurse right, hahahaha. We went to the childrens section first to see how cooper would like it and he loved it, he was actually in awe...

I took Cooper to the jungle jets park and we had a blast!!!! We were running in and out of the sprinkers. I felt like a kid again, he just kept laughing and laughing. No pictures sorry, me in a bathing suit is no good on the eyes, haha. Hope you all had a great weekend (for whoever reads this.)

Fun weekend!

This weekend we went to a wedding in KY. It was in the middle of nowhere let me tell ya!! It was one of Mike's long time friends getting married and he was a groomsman, it was a beautiful weekend for a wedding! It was so fun to go to a wedding and be introduced as Mike's wife :) I just love it!!

I picked up Evan on Wednesday on my way home from work and he is going to be staying with us for a few weeks. He was such a character doing the soulja boy dance at the wedding, my face was red as can be it was really cute.

We are preparing for our wedding reception the 20th and are so excited to see friends and family and have a fun time! Work is great, it's bloomington I mean what better place is there to work. We are working more and more everyday on getting ready to start looking at places in Jasper, I cant wait to move there!! We are just praying Mike can get a full time job there, so if you could say a prayer for us that would be awesome! Hope everyone is enjoying their summer, I sure am but would actually love to get some sun, we are just going and going all the time! God Bless and enjoy the rest of the weekend :)

A little behind...

We had a great memorial day weekend!! It was so nice to have it off together. Saturday we went to our friends home Dwight and Bonnie's and enjoyed friends, food, and good conversations. Then sunday we went to Loren and Kari's for a cookout and had a great time!! We didnt get home till 2 in the am!!!!!! Life is just amazing right now, I am so blessed. Wow what an awesome God we have! Here are some pictures of the great time we had.