Bye Bye Burbo

Last night I bid farewell (and good riddance) to my old Suburban and said hello to my sexy new Durango. I have wanted a Durango for years but could not rationalize the money for a new car... until the money being spent on the old car started looking like throwing good money after bad. So Jeff and I have been looking for a while. Yesterday we found it.

I had two main things... 1) It had to have enough power to tow my camper 2) It had to be under $16k and less than 60k miles. This baby had both.

So, without further adieu, friends and family, may I introduce you to Red...

She's got a lot of gizmos and gadgets but I'll learn them all eventually :-)

Navigation system... YAY! :-) now I can find my way to YOUR house. LOL

Star gazing anyone? :-)

And last but not least... no more lugging out a big ol' heavy seat when I need more room in the back. All I have to do is lay down the seats. :-) Love it!


So there you have it. My new car. :-) Room for kids, power for pulling, and best of all... it's got a bumper to bumper warranty for 3 years. Good thing too! LOL :-)

Ready to come for a drive with me???

Weekend Fun

It's been a busy weekend here at the ol' Ritter Ranch. Keep reading and see all of the fun and the work we did.

Saturday mornings mean yard work... well maybe for most people... for us it's a rather rare thing but we all buckled down and got busy. The fun part was that when we all pitched in and got it done it didn't seem all that bad.

First we took care of the chicken coop and added the trampoline top for some extra shade (yeah we should have done this at the BEGINNING of summer instead of the end. Oh well.

Madi is holding the chicken that broke its leg when it was young. We just about ended her sweet little life but I kept her right next to me all day on my desk until it healed. Now she does not even have a limp.

Jack is holding one of our Turkins. They are not really part turkey but they sure do look weird. I love their naked necks!

We all worked on the garden and got quite a lot planted. We're a little late so I hope it all comes up in time.

Onions, scallions, green beans, sugar snap peas, cabbage, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, and broccoli. YUM!!

Last night was our ward's trunk or treat. We didn't spend any money on costumes this year (which I'm thrilled with). I always like the costumes you create from what you have. :-)

I had a lot of white fabric that I was going to make a nightgown with. Instead it was used to make a mummy. Madi went with the traditional "baby going to bed". They both looked great!




Tonight we had poppy over for dinner. Lemon garlic chicken has been cooking up all day long in the crock pot. I served it up with green beans, carrots, and rice a roni. YUM :) Good food, good conversation, and excellent giggles make for the perfect Sunday dinner.

And then once supper was over we had THE CONTEST... who has longer hair... poppy or Jack? LOL~~ :) I'll let you be the judge. All I can say is I think with dad's retirement getting closer and closer he's reverting back to his hippie days.




















Either way I think they both could benefit quite nicely by spending some quality time with nanna and her scissors. :-)

Living the dream....

Tonight I read the blogs of some "kids" I really love and miss. They aren't really kids anymore. They've grown up and moved on/out. A few are at BYU-Idaho, one is at BYU-Provo, and I LOVE reading their blogs. It brings back memories... and a few regrets... of the time I spent at college. Oh what i wouldn't give to go back!! If i had it all to do again here's a few things I'd do differently:

1. Boys... I'd date. And I'd date like CRAZY!!! But not just any boys... I'd date boys who have ambition, a strong testimony, and a love for the wilderness. Looks fade, bills pile up. housework and yard work can be a drag so find the boys you don't mind looking at on the inside, the ones who will always be good providers for your family, and who know how to clean a toilet. The rest is easy. LOL

2. Grades... They matter. I would have studied harder, attended my classes more, and actually TRIED to make it to the next semester instead of just looking for the easy road (their ain't no easy road).

3. School... I would have stayed on campus more. Joined clubs... been INVOLVED. Yeah. Big missed opportunity there.

4. Friends... I don't remember the full names of anyone I went to college with... not even my roommates. How sad is that? Seriously. I should have made better friends. I should have been a better friend.

You get out of life what you put into it. I didn't put much of myself into college and I didn't get much out of it. Fail. In more ways than one.

Caramel Apples

One of my favorite childhood fall memories is sitting up on the kitchen counter unwrapping about a gazillion Kraft caramels. Then as they were unwrapped one by one we'd plop them into the pot as mom stirred them until they were all gooey and melty.

Next come the fresh, crisp, cold apples. You can hear the crunch as you slide the stick into the core. Finally it's time to dip... and dip...

and dip...
watch the master at work...

Now comes the hardest part, the waiting for them to cool.


Tonight Jeff thought he'd be funny and issue a challenge to the kids while we were waiting... stick your finger all the way in the melted caramel. He did it first and only let out a mild whoop. Needless to say the kids are both standing at the kitchen sink letting cold water run over their fingers and Poppy is standing there laughing. Not the smartest kids on the block but they sure are fun. :-)

Learning Curve...

I'm a sucker for a good webinar. I love learning new things about the internet and I've been watching the grand daddy of all webinars IMHO (in my humble opinion). well ok it's the grandaddy for this week LOL anyway... Facebook Success Summit 2010

My mind is filled up with ideas for so many websites that I work on. I have lots. I have my "day job" at www.savingdinner.com I have my personal websites like this blog, www.desertgardenpath.com, www.seemediet.com, www.inyourwritemind.com (a work in progress), www.matrixsportsclub.com, www.charlesgreggo.com and a few others. they keep me VERY busy. but i love them. all of them. each one is a piece of who i am.

Some people clean house. I create websites. :)

But today I'm going to give my poor eyes a rest from the computer screen and do some old fashioned reading from a book. The weather is finally cooling off and I'm going to go lay in my hammock and read The Referral Engine by John Jantsch. :-)

...til we meet again

I have learned two very valuable lessons this week.

1. it is much easier to move away from your parents than it is to have them move away from you.
2. strength is not something you have. it is something you're blessed with from God.

I do not remember the last time I have shed so many tears. Yesterday was a very long and emotional day. My heart has been cracking and splintering every hour.

There have been many thing in my life that have been difficult to bear. Being barren has certainly been at the top of that list. But the Lord heard my cries and bore the sorrow of my heart with me. He sent me a balm of Gilead in the form of Madi and jack. I have fallen short of being a good mother to them in many ways. But I do love them. If I didn't I could never have made it through yesterday. They, and Jeff, are the only anchors I have left here.

Yesterday we packed up everything my parents own and loaded them into a Uhaul and they drove away with my heart. Many have born harder burdens than mine. I know this. And yet, the Lord still has blessed me with comfort and strength time and time again including this weekend so that I can make it through.

And although I cried yesterday, and I'm still crying today and will miss my parents with the very core of who I am I know that we are an eternal family. I know the Lord loves me and will never leave me. I know this and because I know this my faith in Christ will see me through this heartache.

Today is another day. Tomorrow will come. So i will wipe my eyes... again... take a deep breath, and endure this new challenge the best I can.

I love you mom and dad. I love you so much! Thank you for leaving me with such a strong testimony of the love of my Savior so I am not ever really alone. This is the greatest gift you have ever given me. It is the perfect heirloom. And I will keep it dusted, polished, and the centerpiece of my home.... until we meet again...

Dreams

Today some things changed and I think a new window opened.

I'm prompted to ask myself "What do I want to be when I grow up?"

I don't have to search hard to find the answer. There are two things that I love to do. The first is to program blogs and webpages the second is to teach. However, I do not necessarily like teaching how to program a blog LOL

I have a dream... that someday my sore little tootsies will be able to rest comfortably in some nice moccasins under my desk in my cabin on a lake.

This will do...



See the little fishing pond in the back? There is also a little garden back behind the cabin too. :-)

So now I need to make a plan so I can have my dream. Want to join me?

Weekends

I've had a lot of great weekends in my life. Most of my favorite weekends are spent up in the mountains. This weekend i have to work and so does Jeff. I keep telling myself that "at least we both have good jobs". But I wonder... sometimes it seems like employers forget that you have to recharge your batteries. If deadlines are so tight that you cannot even take a Saturday to recharge maybe it's time to reconsider the deadline. Then again... I have many friends that are either out of work or living on much smaller salaries so I do recognize that we are blessed.

Last night I watched Date Night. Awesome movie by the way... I heart Steve Carrol. Anyway... they lived in the coolest house. Now, I'm not a stalker but with some Google skills I was able to find the house. Phil and Claire Foster’s house from Date Night is located at 620 Vallombrosa Drive in Pasadena. Now i would NOT like to live in Pasadena but I WOULD like to have a house that looked like this. :) I wonder how difficult it would be to add some black shutters and a lot of landscaping to my house to make it look similar... other than money and hard work what's stopping me? LOL

Well, since I do have to work today I better go but I'll leave you with this final thought...

Typical Ritter Date Night:
Movie - $20 tickets
popcorn & soda - $25
Dinner - $60
TOTAL - $105

Last night's date:
Goodwill - free :)
Dollar Store - $2.50 (two bags of Red Vines to eat while we watched a DVD)
Blockbuster - $4.00 (rented Date Night)
Subway - $15
TOTAL - $21.50

Guess which date was more fun? :-) Oh... and the bonus... I was asleep and snoring in my bed by 9:30~!~!!~ Can't beat that! :)

Stuck

Tonight there are news choppers, police choppers, news crews, rescue teams, and neighbors all milling about. A horse has fallen into a hole. I am amazed at the number of people who care and at the number of people it will take to rescue this horse.

Tonight M is at an away volleyball game. I hope she's playing well. I hope she wins.

Tonight I made Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo for dinner. It was amazing.

Tonight I'm not tired yet. I should be but I'm not.

Tonight is my mom's birthday. 60 years of wonderful. 60 years of making the world a better place. I only got to enjoy about 38 of those years but they have been the best years of my life. Actually they have been all of the years of my life. I'm so blessed to have such a kind, loving, helpful, strong, charitable mom.

Sometimes you get stuck with family. I like to think of it as being blessed to have the family I have. A horse is stuck and lots of people are coming to his rescue tonight.

I was stuck in this family and my mom has spent her whole life rescuing me so that I can be the best possible person I can be. Thanks mom! Happy birthday!

beginnings...

My mommy has a blog. It's a great blog. I love reading it. When I read it I feel like I am with her. I miss her. She moved north this summer. I'm starting this blog so she and I can check in with each other often. I hope the rest of my friends and family will join in on the fun too. Now... I just need to find my camera so I can add pics of my life. :-)

Smiles,
~Nickels