The doggies gettin down!

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Fudge, Caramel, and Vet Bill!!!

Well Stewie did it again. He got into something he shouldn't have and this time he is paying for it dearly (and so are we).

This time of year is when we do lots of baking and make yummy little goodies for all to eat! This year when I made the fudge and caramel I was not thinking of Stewie. I was thinking of my cell sisters and friends. John cut the pieces so carefully and then we wrapped them all nice in plastic wrap and tied them off with ribbon. I wanted to deliver the goodie bags a while ago but I due to surgery and weather I was unable to. So we were going to go this evening to make the deliveries. So yesterday afternoon I got them out of the fridge to soften up.

So lets break down the course of events. My Dad came into town so we hit up the mall to do some last minute shopping. We get home and the goodie bags were all over the floor torn up. I was upset but no big deal because I can just grab more bags. Later that night I had late night rendezvous with Tiff. We ended up getting stuck in the snow outside the house so my Dad and John came and pushed us out. While they were outside (for all of five minutes) Stewie thought it would be a good idea to get up on the counter and knock down the whole bowl of the fudge and caramel. Dad and John walked in to find only three pieces left. Other than that there was nothing left. Brian had him a few bites to but he is a bit finicky and he tore the plastic off rather than eating it. Unfortunately Stewie didn't care he ate the whole thing, plastic wrap, ribbon, and all. So I get home to two hyper dogs and John asleep. My Dad told me what happened. They seemed fine. Until I fell asleep. Stewie whined for a second and then laying down he just yacked it all up!!! So from 1 am to 7 am I was up with a very very very sick dog. The poor guy was so miserable and there was nothing I could do. The on-call vet people said to keep an eye on him. Luckily at 7am our vet opens (yes on Christmas Eve, amazing!). So John made the phone call and they told him to bring him in. Stewie who just loves the vet just walked in and moped. No greetings or kisses from him. That alerted the Town and Country (our vet's name) people something was wrong with poor Stewie! They took him to a room the vet came out and Stewie didn't even move. Seriously he loves the vet and can't contain his excitement. So this was very un-Stewie like actions. The vet pushed on his stomach and made him puke some more. They decided it was necessary to do some x-rays and then after that they realized they needed to do surgery. A few hours, a lot of cellophane, ribbon, and yellow plastic later Stewie is going to make a full recovery. In the meantime he needs to stay there until the 26th. This of course makes us sad because if you know us, Stewie and Brian are our kiddos!!

As you can see our Christmas is wrapping up nicely! Stewie tried to smuggle away fudge and caramel and it ended up backfiring on him! LOL! (And yes Brian is perfectly okay, he just misses Stewie a lot right now)

Grass floors and Christmastime!!

As you all know a couple of months ago I was keeping everyone updated with our new house project-installation of hardwood floors. Well as I mentioned back in November we got really busy with some other events. Well I am proud to announce that a few weeks ago we got the living room completely done!!! Floors, basboards and all! So a couple of weeks after that we decorated for Christmas!!! So below are pics of the new living room and Christmas decorations!!! (psst. . .we decorated the outside too but I totally forgot to take pics and I really don't want to)



Putting in the basboards




Painting over the nail holes







Just a little 360 view of the living room, as you noticed John was very intently playing the Wii, we're happy to have the living room back so we can enjoy in such adventures again!




Now that the floor is done, time to decorate for Christmas. I thought it would be fun to be decorated too!



As did Stewie!




My nutcracker and Christmas Village collection, I hope to keep growing these two collections over the years!



John got busy decorating the tree!



And I had fun taking pics of the tree, I just put the aperture on 30 sec and moved the camera around a bit!



Here is the complete work, our tree is so beautiful, good job babe!!



Our nativity scene that we recieved as a wedding gift!



Our stockings plus one for my Dad, I am so excited to spend Christmas with him this year!




And that is it, like I said I didn't take any pics of the outside. Maybe I will later

Happy Birthday Grandma!!!

Today marked the 67th anniversary of when our country was attacked by Japan at Pearl Harbor. This day is clouded by sadness but there is also rays of sunshine on this day because it is my Grandma's birthday! She celebrated her 69th birthday today!!! When I was growing up she always told me the reason Pearl Harbor happened was because of her. The Emperor of Japan just thought she was so gorgeous he wanted her to come live over there and be an Emperess! You can just imagine my shock when I went to school and learned the truth!

Let me tell you a bit more about my Grandma. Her name is Judy Mae Virginia Sue Madsen Pyles Giles. Madsen is her maiden name and Pyles was her first married name, after my grandfather died back in 1963, she remarried and her name then became Giles. My Grandma decided to keep all her names, she doesn't really know why. I just think it is because she likes to be unique. My Grandma has always liked to stand out in the crowd and embrace life at its fullest. During my growing up day my Grandma always encouraged me in weirdness and humor. Her and I are kindred spirits and I love her to death.

My Grandma lights up a room when she "rolls" in. She always has; her zeal for life and her self-confidence has always spoke volumes! As I was talking to her on the phone today I became so overwhelmed by thankfulness. I am so thankful I have her in my life and I am so thankful for all that she has taught me. She taught me to love myself no matter what.

My Grandma has a beauty and elegance about her! It's very enchanting. Each day she would do her hair all nice, give herself a manicure, and put on a touch of makeup. There never had to be a reason. We could have been going out to Wal-Mart, dinner, or across the street. My Grandma told me today on the phone she doesn't do that much anymore. But you know what? It doesn't matter. My Grandma has a beauty and elegance that is undeniable!

I love her so very much and I just want to wish such a special lady HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!


Only pic of me and Grandma that is somewhat current. Excited to get a new one in January!


Grandma and my niece Codi

Circus Time!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRITNEY!!!! Britney is so back!!!! Yes I have been a fan since 1993! So I was super excited today for two reasons; 1) Her birthday!! 2)And her new album Circus!!!

Every song is on this album is so amazing!!! To think about the lyrics to most of the songs it makes you sad to think what has been happening to her. I pray that some of these songs were not autobiographical.
Yes I know some of you might think Britney is crazy or you don't care but that is ok. The truth is did flip her lid for a bit. But while everyone was making accusations and talking crap they kept buying up the tabloids and didn't think twice that because of those sales the paparazzi kept hounding her!!! I am so happy that finally someone intervened and kicked Sam to the curb. He was such a scumbag. We were getting ready to have another Anna Nicole tragedy.
But here is the new chapter in Britney's life! I am so excited for it and I am ready for her tour.

Many thanks on a thankful Thanksgiving!

Well tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I just wanted to take this time to pause and give thanks. There are moments when it feels like Thanksgiving is just going to be another day. And there are moments when I am caught up with the thoughts of the day after and all the planning I have to do for next month. But to pause and think about the present and remember what tomorrow is all about brings a smile to my face and a joy in my heart.


1. John. He compliments my life so well, I truly know that God made him for me. He always makes me laugh and I always find myself in awe of him. The love he has for me is great and unconditional. He is always trying to better himself and our life. When he looks at me he looks into my heart and soul. He is so supportive and he helps me discover what I want and achieve. His humility and grace he as for life is such an amazing example to me. I love him so so so very much.


2. Tiffany. My secret lover, lol (inside joke). She is always there for me and without even saying it she knows what I am thinking. I know we can argue and butt heads but she will still be there at the end of the argument. She really is my best friend and God placed us in each other's lives for a reason.


3. My home. I will be honest and say that for the past couple of years I have always complained about my house and was always talking about the days when I am out of here. But as we all know this year the economy has not been good and I am constantly hearing about foreclosures and how hard it is for anyone to buy a home right now. It made me realize that I am so incredibly blessed to have my mortgage paid every month and I have this house. This house is truly my home. It is not the walls or the roof that make it that way but it is the memories and the love that feel this place that make it so special.


4. Cell sisters. I love all of these women. (They are not all in the photo obviously) They are amazing examples for me and they truly do help me grow each and every day. They might hate me for saying this but I love having the feeling that I have a bunch of moms. The love and help they show me is so amazing and I couldn't imagine not being able to seem them every week. They are so important that I am going to shout out all there names; Adrienne, Joyce, Wendie, Selena, Ameritia, Reyna, Shelly, Jackie, Nadine, Carolyn, and Lesley!


5. Me. Yes I am thankful for me. God has given me health and strength. I remember a day when I didn't like myself or who I was. But my relationship with Jesus has given me a new perspective. I know there is a plan for my life and the plan is good because all things work for the good and glory of God. I have purpose and I am so thankful that God has trusted me to carry it out!

"I know the plans I have for you. . ."

I don’t know who reads our blog. Sometimes I care and sometimes I don’t. At the heart of everything it really doesn’t matter. It’s nice to just blog and talk about things going on in life. They might be important or completely trivial and will be long forgotten. I know I just enjoy writing and expressing opinions or moments in my life. Yes, it is John’s blog too, but I am sure you will see that I will be the only one writing. He says it is my job as the “wifey” to keep everyone updated. I am starting to ramble so I am going to get started with the purpose of this evening’s blog.

What I am about to talk about isn’t necessarily easy. I never thought I was going to share or discuss the issue. I felt like I should write about it but every time that thought entered my mind I would be instantly bombarded with all the different things people might say and I wasn’t ready until now. I realized that it is okay to let those close to me know what is going and understand where I am coming from. And yes there is a selfish reason, I need some prayer. I didn’t want to have personal conversations with everyone that might be just a bit too painful. Okay enough of the drama and suspense, I will start from the beginning.

John and I decided – what seems like a long time ago – to have children. It was nothing we really shared because we would just share it when we were pregnant. Well I have learned over the past 11 months getting pregnant is not necessarily easy. I was okay the first few months then by May I was utterly consumed. I was reading every article possible on the hows and ways to become pregnant. I truly believe I was driving John crazy. I kept up this whole process until October. In October I started a class at my church, No Other Gods, I was like hey why not I am sure I have idols in my life. So class started and it was just within a few days that God revealed to me that I was putting fertility/pregnancy before Him and everything else. I had been trying to take control from God. John had been praying and has told me since May that pregnancy would happen in God’s timing, He has the perfect plan. I would always say I know but in my head I thought I knew better.

As I dove deeper and deeper into the class I was realizing the effect this was taking on my life. I was avoiding loved ones because I didn’t want to be around babies. I was happy in general but I didn’t have the joy of the Lord. I was letting my craving for motherhood drown me. It was slowly destroying me and the love I am to offer to everyone. I would get words of encouragement from some of my close friends and I would slap on a smile and say thank you I will take that into prayer. But of course I did not. I just could not bear going one more month hoping and then being utterly disappointed. The two people closest to me that knew what was going on was there to offer support and utter the two words I absolutely hate, “I’m sorry”. I know they meant well but the words just felt like they were stabbing my soul.

So over the past weeks God has been leading me and guiding me through this pain. I have learned to let go. I was starting to lose my identity I was wrapping it all up in motherhood – or lack thereof. He showed me my true identity is in Christ. I think as Christians there are many times in life we lose sight of that one simple truth. We forget what that moment felt like when we gave it all to Him and the weight was lifted from our shoulders. Over the past 11 months I, me, myself, has put weight on my own shoulders. I created emptiness within myself. What truly delivered me from this idol was one simple verse that I have taught in Sunday school many many times before. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for”, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”

The Lord knows me and He knows everything He wants for me He has my plan and He is in control. Nowhere in the Bible does my name appear, “Aimee knows, Aimee has a plan, Aimee is in control”. It is the Lord who knows, plans, and controls all things. I have hope again, something I lost for awhile, but I now have again.

Before I close this brings me to what is going on presently. As some of you might remember I was hospitalized back in June for severe pain in my right side. They thought it was appendicitis but my tests were normal. After a few days they sent me on my way and told me to follow up with OB/GYN to get everything checked through. Well since I was still so caught up with my own plan at the time I probably didn’t give it as much consideration as I should have yes I followed up I just didn't really focus on what truly was going on with me. However, at the end of October I went in and we discussed everything that is going on and the doctors believe it is possible I have endometriosis. Unfortunately if I do have this it is something I will have forever, but it is treatable and manageable and many women go on to have children. They have scheduled me to go in on December 8th to take a look and remove any endo that they can if it is there. Also while they are in there they are going check everything out and inject some dye to make sure everything is clear. I will not lie, at first I had doubts and some scary thoughts cross my mind. But God quickly whispered into my soul, For I know the plans I have for you Aimee! I truly do believe God and I know everything next month is going to be brought to light and when it is God will show His glory and more of the plan to us.

If you read all the way through this I thank you for your time and patience. I felt led to write about what I have been going through and I also want to express my apologies because I have shut people out for the last while. Please know that I love each and every one of you. I pray that if there is anything that you are dealing with similar or different and it is bringing pain into your life know that God has a plan and He is in control.

SO Much SOOO Much has been going on!!!

*long deep sigh* Heylo everyone!!! How are y'all doing? We are good, good and tired actually. If you noticed previously I was blogging about our floor project, well, it's not quite done. Almost, really close, but not done. We had to put the house at the bottom of the priority list for awhile. But that is okay because we were doing something that was special.

Last weekend our Pastor celebrated 21 years!!!! Every year at our church we do a Pastor Appreciate dinner. This year the Daily Bread Ministry (it's our Catering Ministry) took on the task to prepare the food for our Pastor and 300 church members. John and I are a part of this ministry and we were really excited that we could do something like this for our Pastor. We always go outside of the church to cater, so this in a way was our coming out party. We went big and we came big. God really blessed the team and even when we thought certain things were going to fall through God showed up. As it is says in His Word God's time is always on time. So that is what we have been doing for the past month is preparing for the dinner. We prepared so much food and it was so good. Our team was small but we put our heart in it and I personally thought it tasted so much better than catered meals. Probably because of where the effort was coming from. Below are just a few pictures that I was able to take real quick.



Lighting the sterns so the food will stay warm



Shannen checkin up on things



It's getting there



Almost there



We're ready to go



Our Pastor's table, its absolutely beautiful



The team, we look pretty awesome!!!




So that is what we've been doing the past while. Tonight is a surprise birthday party, tomorrow is Tiffany's wedding reception, and then . . . well hopefully nothing!!! I AM NOT cooking Thanksgiving dinner!!!!