hi

so i have been reading other blogs (especially at work when i need a break from everything else) and really enjoy the Holzman family blog - see "Elizabeth's blog" to be directed there. and in reading other blogs, i realize why my blog is not very good. i dont really much talk about what's going on with me and i dont really talk about anything deep and exciting and i dont even think i have done much "ranting" lately, as my blog title suggests that i should be. so for the sake of an insight into my current life, i will now attempt to do all:

so my dad was up for the weekend for Father's Day. we had a really good time, even though we didnt do a whole lot. Friday evening Charles had a work function/going away part for a friend of ours at a mexican restaraunt in downtown leavenworth so we went. food was good, margaritas were good. we then made a run to dillons and back home. as i will explain more fully later, my home is crowded right now, so we mainly spent the weekend trying not to be here.

Saturday we took our time getting around and then went out to the British Car parts place to buy windshield wipers for mom's car and then took the afternoon to sample the delights of downtown "LV". one of our stops was the Euro Pottery store. clearly, since it is a place invoking things both eurpean and pottery in nature, i love it. might i also say, as a side note, that i have been in the market for some new dishes as we only recieved 4 place settings of the incredibly expensive Mikasa dishes that i wanted for our wedding (thanks mom!!!) and 3 years later, still only have 4 place settings. unfortunately, they have chipped and are too expensive for us to justify buying more of them so we were going to switch it up. weeeell ok, so we're looking around the Euro Pottery place - which was originally DAD'S IDEA because he knew that mom was in the market for new dishes also - and i found a pattern that i enjoy. next thing i know, Carlitos is following me around the store trying to decipher my gruntings and figure out which pattern was my favorite. when i indicated the one titled "Peacock", he immediatly turned to the lady and said "we'll take two place settings of these". .............what?! ok, so i have new dishes. i am quite in love with both my husband (how sweet is that!?) and my dishes, but admittedly more so my husband, he's pretty cool.

this is my old pattern - "Arabella" by Mikasa

and here's my new pattern - "Peacock" www.europottery.com

right, so my mission now is to hopefully get another JCPenney's gift card from my in-laws for my birthday (if not, i'll just buy them anyway myself) and order some Cobalt Blue Fiestaware to match what i have. the Euro Pottery was $88 for 2 plates, 2 salad plates and 2 bowls. so probably i will order 4 each of the fiesta ware and go buy 2 more of the pottery stuff. this pattern is one of their most popular so i will most likely end up also buying a lot of the cool accessories to go along with it, i.e. vases, baking things, serving bowls, etc. it's SUPER sturdy and all hand-painted. quite the quality invenstment. i still absolutely love my old dishes, but i am to the point where more pieces are chipped than not so i will probably just keep them to use as serving things and roll with the others for every day use. my kitchen decor is quite "euro" anyway, and i'm sure i will develop more into that when we move and i have more space (Lord help us).

so yes, crowded house: friends of ours moved in with us at the beginning of April, yes, about 3 weeks after Charles got home. they were supposed to leave at the end of May but the situation changed and they are now leaving mid-July. consequently, Charles is leaving mid-July for a 6-8 week school in Leonardwood, Missouri (4-5 hours away). Eric had back surgery at the end of May and now lives on our living room couch. his wife, Carolina, is due August 1st and works at Old Navy. dont get me wrong, we are more than happy to be able to help our friends and they are wonderful house guests, clean up after themselves, and are fun to be around. but admittedly it can be a bit trying. i just look forward to when we can have the house to ourselves again. hard to make a baby when you're living in the super-secret stealth mode. many evenings find me in bed after a quick dinner, reading a book just to find some place relatively quiet.

another new adventure: de-flab. There are a lot of housewives in the Army and i know i am quite stressed from work activities, and that isnt helping either the weight or the baby-making, but after a particularly stressful day (during which i frantically went to the commissary to buy $20 worth of cake "to share with my coworkers") i began to realize that the majority of the women i see are extremely over weight. I mean, women who have boob-like fat deposits above their knees and whose arms are twice as wide as they should be. i know i need to loose weight for health reasons if for no other, but i flat out refuse to end up looking like one of those women just because i let myself get flustered or complacent about my life. life is way to precious and i have way to much of it left to live to sit around being fat and lazy. and so it began. it is going well and my main hang up now is cardiovascular fitness, but luckily carlitos bought me a heart rate monitor last year and i have been using it to keep that in check and regulate my activity. whether i get pregnant tomorrow or in 6 months, i just want to be healthy. that was a reflection of mine last week in Mass, i need to be healthy all around. spiritually, physically, mentally, and in my relationships - especially my marriage. so my focus is on being healthy and i just pray that God will decide that we are ready soon and bless us with a little one. dont know what else i can do! :)

so to whoever reads this - thank you. thank you for being my friend and supporting me. life is really pretty great for me and you have more to do with that than you realize. my rock.