Pretty much a total loss!!!

Friday night we got hit by a storm that threw down golf ball sized hail...

as you can imagine.... our garden was destroyed!!!

I am trying to look at the bright side, like...

we only have a few hail holes in our siding...

our home is still standing....

the car that got nailed with hail is our beater car....

(sad thing is, my brother in-laws car was here too... UGH!)

No one got hurt...

After 6" of rain fall, we still had a yard left....

( The flooding after the rain!)

(our shrubs were hit hard, and all of my flower pots were broken!)

But it is so hard to not think of the loss in the garden!

Our garden is our food supply for the next year! Most of the veggies we eat all year come from the garden! It is also the place my husband and I get to spend much needed time together in... each summer it brings us closer to each other and closer to our children....

I will leave you with some photos of the sad plants!!

(not pictured is our corn... stripped of most of its leaves... so sad!)

SAD SAD TOMATOES!

PEAS STRIPPED RIGHT OFF THE FENCE!

ONIONS FLATTENED AND BURIED

RIPPED APART BROCCOLI

FLATTENED GREEN BEAN PLANTS

Where have I been???

WOW, long time, NO POST.... UGH!

Here are some updates....

***I ran my 1/2 marathon on May 30th! It was HOT HOT HOT... people passed out from the heat! I did OK. Some say it is one of the hardest runs around here, because STILLWATER, MN is a bunch of hills... YES, but I did train on hills.... BUT NOT IN THE HEAT HEAT HEAT! So, my goal was 2 hrs 24 min.... and I ran it in

2 hrs 30 min, 17 sec.

NOT toooo bad for my first, on a hard course, in the heat!

***My oldest baby turned 10! YES, double digits! UGH! He had friends over and went to see the last SHREK! WOW, he is getting so tall, just inches from being as tall as me..... And so kind, and so handsome!

***I figured out what was wrong with my stomach! The extra acid was being caused by the YAZ I was taking! YES, the birthcontrol I started taking right before the stomach issues, caused the stomach pain! GO FIGURE.... I asked the doctor and the pharmasist about this, and they both told me NO, that couldn't cause it!!!! BUT I tested the theory out when I ended my pills last month, and YES, I could eat without meds! SO I never started back up and have been FINE ever since.... HMMMM????

***My Baby Girl Graduated From Kindergarten!!!! Thanks Mrs. Haasis for doing such a great job this year! I AM SO PROUD OF YOU SHAYLA!!!!

***My kids are out of school for the summer! We have lots of plans! The MN Zoo, Como Zoo, Crystal Cave, Water Park, Beach, Camping 2 times, Science Museum, Movie Theater, Parks/picnics, etc..... YEAH for good times! My middle 2 are in Summer school classes for 3 weeks, and my youngest has gymnastics for 5 sessions!

***Our Garden is looking great, except for the fact that we have been getting RAIN RAIN RAIN for over a week, and NO SUN!!!! The temps for the last 2 weeks have been very COOL! Things are growing, but not like they should.... SO, we shall see! I am sure when the rain stops, we will then go into a dry spell! Just our luck! I also picked a few pounds of strawberries yesterday and will be making Jam today!!!! YUM!!!!!!!!!

***I got a new job! YEAH!!!! My brothers girlfriend has a little special needs boy. He is great and we have baby sat him a lot in the past! BUT just a few weeks ago, she asked me to be his WEEKEND PCA! I will now get paid to do what we were doing for free! Taking care of him on the weekends (every other) and playing with him!!!! This is a answered prayer!!!!
***My Oldest and I will be doing a run in 2 weeks, just after I turn 34! I will be doing a 10K and he will be doing a mile! We are both very excited for our first run together!! I will also be running another 1/2 marathon in OCT!!!! I am excited about this one, since I know it will FOR SURE NOT be hot...... and the route is NOT hilly at all!!!!!!!

OK, that is it for now..... I am sure there is plenty more to write about... BUT I will stick to that for now!!!!!!

9 more days...

UGH, only 9 more days until I run my VERY FIRST 1/2 marathon!

Last sunday I went out for a 12 mile run and it was horrible! I was VERY tired because of a girlfriends weekend away, and it was VERY hot outside! I walked which isn't normal for me.... and I sweat a ton, and I even threw up at mile 9! What I didn't do is have shin splits which also isn't normal for me... so that part of the run was good!

I have one more longish run, just 5 miles tomorrow morning, then a 4 mile on monday and a 4 mile on wed. and then that is it! ALL bringing me closer to 13.1 miles!

I will of course post any photos and my results!

I decided that I was going to have a party that night in honor of ME! Drinking and Pizza and a Fire, and Smores.... and FRIENDS!!!

After next sundays run, I will decide if there will be more LONG runs in my future! Keep tuned in to find out!

RUNNING RUNNING RUNNING....

So, I have been running! Running most days, Training for a 1/2 marathon on MAY 30th!

I am up to 10 miles this coming sunday for my long run... IF I feel good about it, I will try and do 11 miles!

I have set a goal of doing a 1/2 marathon in 2 1/2 hours...

At first I thought that was very slow... I mean really, I only run at about 5 1/2 MPH on average (sometimes faster, and for sure slower while climbing the hills!)

BUT then I started to remember...

I am NOT a small runner like most... IN FACT,

I am considered an ATHENA! YES, someone that weighs over 150 lbs (no height restrictions) is considered a BIGGER runner! HUH??

Oh well, atleast I have a chance in HELL of winning in something... OK, kidding....

Anyways, a friend of mine quoted a quote to me the other day... it says....

"It's not how fast you finish, but that you had the courage to start!"

Amen sister!!!

SO, I have the courage... now to get to that starting line on the 30th and give it my all!

So far so good....

Remember this way back at the beginning of the year???

THE YEAR OF SIMPLICITY!!!!!
Keep things simply;

use what we have,

borrow what we need,

lend what others can use,

sell what is of value that we no longer want,

and give away all that we can that is just sitting around!

Well, this past weekend I did a garage sale with a friend of mine.... Selling off some things that we NO LONGER needed!
I Made $299.25

The kids all together made $23!

We SOLD some things that were just laying around.... Some bigger toys, but mostly kids books, some clothes, kitchen stuff, JUST STUFF!!!!

The last 2 hours of the sale on Saturday, we decided to give most things away for FREE! It was so fun to see the looks on peoples faces when we told them most stuff was just FREE!!!

NOW, I am not sure I will ever do a garage sale again... I mean the money is great, we plan on adding sides to a small trailer and a crazy looking bike rack to it also, for camping... with the money we made.... BUT I LOVE to give things away!!

AS FOR THE NOT BUYING NEW CLOTHES...

(except for underwear, socks, shoes, and my tank tops)

WE ARE ROCKING IT!!!

No clothes shopping for us! I do have a thrift store list that I plan on getting to in the next couple weeks... the boys need tank tops, and some more shorts... NOT sure what the girls need... and hubby needs more work jeans!

AND THE BEST NEWS...

We have stuck to our budget for almost 4 months now! YEAH!

We have paid off $3440 in debt ($1000 of that to a car we owe my hubby's brother for.) We have put over $2000 into an emergency fund (tax return made this possible!), and we are putting aside EXTRA MONEY from my husbands paychecks (he works commission....)

SO LETS SAY WE NEED $1000 each week to make budget.... and he makes $1123 for the week, we put $123 in savings.... then the following week he makes $925, then we PULL $75 from savings.... So far we are AHEAD... but slow times are coming... but by then hopefully that will be a bigger cushion!

We have even REFINANCED our house to a 15 yr loan... at a lower interest... and the payments only went up $250 a month... NOW TO SCRAP THAT TOGETHER EACH MONTH....LOL!

SO, like the title says....

SO FAR SO GOOD!!!! ALMOST 4 months into the year, and I don't even have a wanting to go shopping!!!! THIS FEELS SO GOOD!!!

EASTER FUN!

Here they are..... all the cousins on my husbands side!!!

Matt: 15

Eric: 12

Trevor: 9 1/2

Lucas: 8

Ahren: 8 1/2

Shayla: 6 1/2

Kaylin: 4

Megan: 5

Alissa: 7

YUCK... guess what the doctor thinks I have....??

OK, so for about 6 weeks or so I have been having stomach pains... which have been getting worse for the past 2 weeks or so!

Anyways, these pains come when I eat... and after I eat just a small serving of something, they get bad and I feel super full and yucky! I am sometimes to sick to my stomach to even get anything done... UGH!

SO, yesterday I went to the doctor, and he thinks I have

FUNCTIONAL DYSPEPSIA!

AKA: TOOOOO much stomach acid working in there.... causing pains!

If you wanna know more.... I read lots online of course and found this site very helpful!

http://www.ayushveda.com/health/dyspepsia.htm

I am not sure if that is it for now... but I will take the meds he gave me and see if it helps...

UPDATE COMING IN THE FUTURE!!! But for now, I will keep eating little meals and hope that the meds help!