Seriously....I REALLY needed a new purse.

"My name is Jackie and I have a purse fetish". Ha

I LOVE "bags" but one of my favorite designers is, "Kathy Van Zeeland".
A few months ago my wonderful husband bought me a "Tignanello" bag for our anniversary (which I might say has served me well and I also love this designer). The reason for a new purse is this, (although I really never need a reason)..... I was in JC Penny's the other day and my phone started to ring. I reached into my nice little phone pocket to grab the phone and to my surprise it wasnt there, hummmmmm, it's ringing somewhere in there. I frantically shovel through my purse attempting to locate this phone (which is ALWAYS in it's place) before I lose the call, after all it might be that rare call from Brice. Well after about 2 minutes I finally dig it out from the depths of my purse lining. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, my cell phone pocket has a hole in the lining. It's unfixable, so therefore the next day I was on the prowl for a new purse. It took me 2 days to finally find the perfect purse and here it is......I LOVE IT !!!

Kathy's purses have a tendency to have fun charms and glitsy shiny things all over it. Those of you who can appreciate purses could relate that this is a "FUN" purse :) .......

....and very funtional at the same time! (note the cozy cell phone pocket in the pic above on the left). The Pretty gold lining accents beautifully.

Here it is hanging on the banister, waiting for the next shopping excursion. I'm thinking I could use some new shoes, that's another blog....another day :)

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P.S. Here's my other Kathy VanZeeland bag. It's the one I use to carry my bible, journals and books. Can't forget the highlighters, reading glasses, lipstick and Advil.

It's a very large bag, perfect for toting around all my readings etc.

Nothing much to say

Well today was a doozie.... I worked 8 - 5:30 (1 hour OT ). It seems like it has been getting busier all the time, and the patients seem to be getting sicker. So far I have 3.5 hours of OT on this check already. Tomorrow is my last day for the week and I have Monday off too....Yah!
After work I had to wait 40 minutes for the bus so I went up to Brianna floor and visited her for a bit. Luckily she wasnt too busy so we got to chat a bit.
I got home, and went right out to trim and mow the lawn. Got that done, started a load of laundry then set out the sprinklers on the lawn. WHERE IS THE RAIN?????
Rick is golfing and Gavin is out with friends so that leaves me here (no car) to twiddle my thumbs. I'm too hot to eat so here I sit on the computer. As you can see I dont have much to say, just nonsense. Guess I should go move the sprinkler.......Later

Happy Birthday Dad :)

We're keepin "Goodman Auto" in business

So I can choose to be grumpy about this car situation....again, or I can be thankful for things that really matter...........

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LIKE THESE BEAUTIFUL KIDS OF MINE

FOR FAMILY TIME WHEN WE ARE ALL HERE AND PLAYING GAMES

WHEN THE 3 JOYS OF MY LIFELET THEIR MAMA SNAP A PIC...AGAIN

SEEING MY TWO (BIG) BOYS CELEBRATING A WIN

HAVING THE BEST SON-IN-LAW, EVER !!!
BEING THE LUCKIEST WIFE IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD

HAVING THESE TWO GREAT BOYS

WHO ARE TURNING OUT TO BE FINE YOUNG MEN

HAVING ONE SWEET DAUGHTER THAT LOVES HER FAMILY SO MUCH THAT WE GET TO SEE HER AND CHRIS SEVERAL TIMES A WEEK....

(thanks for taking me to lunch today sweetie)

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Who cares if the stupid car wont start....... I got so much to be thankful for, and no reason to complain. Thank you Lord for throwing in that big inconvenience so that I could come to my senses, see past my selfish "whoa is me's" and remember what's important.

Out watering(and fertilizing) the "Money tree"

I'm actually quite bored right now. Waiting for 11:00 to roll around so we can head to Champlin for a couple of B-day parties for my niece and nephew. Just got Gavin's carcass out of bed so he can get ready.

Rick went out to jump on his bike at about 9:40 and the tire was flat, He got in the Camery to move it out of the garage and it wont start.....so now we have 1/2 hour till departure and he's running over to Sam's club to have the battery checked.....sigh

Cars always seem to be such and issue for this family. It's getting kind of scary cuz they all have a million thousand mile on them and they're getting old. The brakes on the Van are "shifty", they sometimes sound like "metal on metal" but our mechanic (dave) says it's not metal on metal. Ok Dave well it sounds like metal on metal to me. Now there is a clunk sound sometimes when you step on the brake....I'm thinking I will just ignore it since I'm sure it will involve money if we take it in to dave. Now we have the Camery and it's starting problem. Brice has the Prizm, but he kind of needs it to get to his job, and he's a driver on Saturdays for Jimmy Johns.

I think I'm gonna have to start buying lottery tickets and hope for the big money.

Somebody get to win....right

Night shots

Tonight was such a quiet night, a bit cool, not humid.....just right. So I decided to take a walk around my yard and snap some pics. The colors are always so vibrant against the dark sky.

Up my deck steps I went, I couldnt quite get myself to go inside just yet. So I lit the candles and sat in the stillness of the night...

I Love my new deck furniture, Rick and I sat out and had dinner, then we lounged on the furniture, I took a little nap while Rick read the paper. I was lovely after a long busy day at work.

Fun with the kids

My sister and her husband are in Vegas so we get to spoil our niece, Jensen and Nephew Sam for a few days. Yesterday morning Rick showed Jensen what he used to do with our kids for breakfast in the morning. I provided them hours of reading time, Jensen got a big smile on her face but wasnt sure what to think at first of Uncle Rick's craziness.

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After a few errands at Target and then lunch, we went to Cheri's house for an afternoon of swimming in Cheri and Kirks very cool pool. The kids always love to go to "Cheri's", they get to swim, see the chickens, jump on the trampoline and well.....Jensen gets to see Nate !!! (wink wink) Thanks for fulfilling her dreams by just being there Nate :)

Brianna and Cara were so nice to swim with the kids.

Rick and I had a birthday party to attend in the evening so Chris and Brie came over to hang out with the kids (of course the kids were thrilled). "Rock Band" was on the agenda so that's what they did. We came home to a rockin' house.

Today we went to church then the mall for lunch. Then Brie, Jensen and I went to do a little B-day shopping. They brought me home, the guys were already here. Brianna, Jensen, Jill, kellie and Katie all went to the beach to swim and the guys went to the range to hit golf balls. So I mowed the lawn and now I'm catching up on the blog. We'll be grilling tonight for supper and them maybe a movie....we'll see? Gavin will return later tonight after a full weekend with Brice in the cities, It'll be good to have him back home.

Hollyhock Dolls

When I was a little girl we used to go to my grandma's farm. One of my favorite flowers at Grandmas were Hollyhocks. (Like in the picture below).

At Grandma's farm my mom used to make us kids Dolls made from the hollyhock flower (like in the picture below).

Last night while at Mom's house we were admiring her beautiful hollyhocks and I asked her if she could show me how to make "those hollyhock dolls" So here you have it.....

My cute little mom and her "hollyhock Doll"

I like how the shirt mom is wearing kind of matches the doll.

A bug that lights up

I wish I could claim this pic...but I can't. I sat out in the backyard for about 20 minutes with fireflies lighting up all around me but they were to quick for me and I couldnt catch the little buggers. They are pretty amazing little creatures....A bug that "lights up", wow. When I was a young girl we used to go out at night and catch the little bugs in a jar. We'd have a whole jar full. They are actually a very ugly bug, not cute at all. While I was sitting out there the mosquito's enjoyed a feast on my ankles....Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Marshmallows in the sky

I know if you live in Rochester you had to have seen these amazing clouds last night. They were beautiful. You could actually watch the cloud billowing out..getting bigger and bigger right before you very eyes. It was quite a sight !!!

Relaxing weekend

My "Lambs ear" flower has matured quite nicely this year and I'm well pleased with how pretty it is.

Its was a wonderfully cool weekend, No need for an air-conditioner, so that worked out well....so far.

Today Rick and I hung out on the deck for a bit, reading and napping, or should I say I was trying to nap but my little brain couldnt stay quiet, so i jumped up after about 10 minutes and went and got groceries. We love our new deck furniture and gazebo. (and yes Kitty, it stood up well to the recent storms and crazy wind)

Here's Mr. Rick playing with the
"Zen Garden", Ha




















Reading on the comfortable Chair that I think he has claimed as "His"

Tonight we had a nice dinner with Chris and Brie at Applebees'. Gavin is off galivanting with Andrews youth group somewhere. ( something about tubing and fishing and .......)

We have legitimate cause to believe that, that child is preparing us for the "empty nest symdrome", and he's doing a real good job. Sigh....

Is it Winter yet...

So the fan on the furnace decides to poop-out during the hottest and most humid week of the summer. The air conditioner works just fine but since the fan doesn't work it won't cool the house down. Today I was nearly suicidal...most of you know that "humid" and me don't mix! I basically went shopping all day to stay in the air-conditioning of the cool stores. This afternoon Rick went golfing (crazy man) so I even took myself out to supper so I wouldn't melt.

Unfortunately I also inherited the "Erickson gene" that causes us to sweat profusely around the head and face area. I was blessed with the sweaty face....lovely !!!

So, what do I do????????.........

I go and get a "Skinny Vanilla Latte" EXTRA HOT" (that's how I like it). I sat out in the wretched humid/heat on the deck and drank my latte and let my face sweat. I guess I should be happy to have my pores flushed out. Some people pay big money for that. There... enough said for my sorry self.

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Tonight, God acknowleged my misery and sent a cold front to Rochester in the form of a storm. Not only has it cooled off, but I love a good storm..... What a blessing, yah whooooooooo!!!

P.S. We get our new Furnace (with a fan that works) next Friday. Apparently everyone else in Rochester need a new fan too.

The Dells

Yesterday.....Rick, Gavin, Jay Brown and I left for an adventure to "The Dells". We have never been there and Gavin has always wanted to go. We would, of course have loved it if our other kids could have joined us, but work committments got in the way (such is life). We loved having Jay with us, he is a riot.

The boys had to get up way to early so they were catching up on sleep in the back seat.

We got to our hotel early (before check-in) The boys didn't hesitate getting to know the leprechon , then it was a quick change into their swim suits and into the pool they went.

Showing what they got....

Rick was actually "scoring" the dives. It was an interesting competition.

We actually ended up going to "Noah's ark" which was a blast. Yes, Rick and I went on MOST of the rides!!! I felt quite daring, and it was alot of fun. Jay and Gavin kept bugging me to go on the attraction called "Point of no return". Lets just say I didnt cuz I need to be alive for few more years. Ha

Next time I think we'll try Mount Olympus. It's a very cool looking theme park!

This is apparently the "White House" after being dropped upside down by aliens... Hummmm, it looks interesting to say the least.

When we got done with our fun day at the water park, we relaxed a bit then went to the "pizza ranch" for supper. After that we did a little shopping. We went downtown Dells which was amazing. Everything stayed open till 11:00pm. I loved all the little shops and candy stores. It reminded me of "Up North" Yes I did get some salt water taffy and fudge !!

These bag pipers were putting on a little show downtown. I Love the look of a guy in a Kilt ( I think I know what I'm getting Rick for his birthday), Ha

I just liked this cool little store.

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Today we got up and decided that we would try the Jet boats on the Upper Dells. It's a boat that goes really fast and does 360 degree turns splashing water all over the occupants. We toured about an hour and got a little narrarated history lesson on the dells.

The boat and us.

The boat on the right showing the "quick stop" which can get you quite wet.

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After our boat tour we headed a little further east to Tanger Outlets. Jay and Gavin made a haul, so it was worth it. Then it was back home through a pretty violent storm, never quite seen rain come down that hard....wow, but we made it and are now home safe and sound. Our get-away was short but sweet, and full of fun memories!