a bout of bad luck

We've been sort of looking, but not too seriously, for a new vehicle. Aaron thinks it's time to upgrade my car while it's still running well so we can get the most for it. I leave the car/automotive decisions mainly up to Aaron, but, how can I argue with getting a newer ride?! :) We found a vehicle, for a good price with low miles, on Thursday that we really liked. Excitedly, we were going to drive down today (since we were already going to be in Bismarck) and look at it and then probably go back down on Monday to seriously talk to the dealer about it. When we got to Bismarck we drove around the lot, looking for it but disappointingly we couldn't find it. "It's probably just inside," I told Aaron. Right as we were driving out, I spotted it across the lot sitting with some vehicles that looked to be...not for sale. We vigorously drove over to it, hopped out, and saw on the front of the vehicle that it had been sold...on Saturday. Rats.

We then decided to head to Lowes because Aaron had seen that there was a good sale on a grill that he wanted to get. Of course there were no parking spots up close so Aaron squeezed (and I literally mean squeezed) between two cart corrals. Once inside Lowes, and after walking about half a block, we realized that the grill Aaron had wanted was sold out. Double rats! 

So, we headed back out to the car. We had just walked across the driving lane by Lowes when all of a sudden there was a torrential downpour..with hail included. I ran as best I could to our car, with my Sunday heels on through an uneven parking lot, and then had to squeeze between our wet dusty car and the cart corral to get back in.

Once we got back into our car and slammed the doors shut, I looked over at Aaron. The front of his khaki pants were a considerable shade darker thanks to the rain, his hair was dripping, and he had this quirky smile on his face that made us both start laughing. And it was a true, all out, belly-hurting-laughing episode. You know, I don't really think what happened was all that funny, but it sure made us crack up!

As I sat in the car next my husband, I thought about how happy I am to be walking through this life with him by my side; through the good, the bad, and the ordinary days of life.

Last night my sisters and I were chatting before bed and the conversation of Laura Ingalls Wilder came up.
"I was just reading that her life wasn't all that it was said to be in the books," my eldest sister said. She then rattled off some surprising facts about the family. My mind was in and out of the conversation, as I was looking up things to do in town that would be fun for a two year old boy. All of a sudden Kristin said something about Almanzo and my mind came to a screeching halt.
"He...kidnapped children when he got older?!" I asked, my mind reeling. That was definitely something not in the books! I was relieved to find out that she had actually said that he had gotten a disease and he couldn't have children after it.
You know, that is probably how rumors start! We had a good laugh about it, anyways.
p.s. - I am lovin' spring break at the lake this year. I wouldn't mind if the weather cleared a bit but ah, sister and nephew time is the best.

Since I've started teaching I've found it hard to say no when a student of mine is selling something! So we've gotten girl scout cookies, a Christmas wreath, magazines, and most recently Texas Roadhouse buns. I was proud of myself, though, I did say no to Butter Braids!

But anyways, today I was flipping through the Horse & Rider magazine that just arrived and I found a section that made me grin. Mostly because it is so relatable considering one of the horses we have - Rio. The title of the page was "Yup, My Horse Spooked at..." and here were some of the replies...

- "An Insect. Sam jumped sideways at a barrel with a "what the heck was that?" look. Peering closer, I saw a ladybug walking across the barrel's top."

- "Urine. It was a puddle of my mare's own pee, which she'd put there a minute earlier."

- "A Tiny Flag. My mare spooked at an American flag in a flowerpot."

- "A 'Pop'. After a relaxing ride, Dusty abruptly passed gas, scaring himself silly and almost jumping out from under me."

- "His Own Face. Mickey, my laid-back Appaloosa gelding, spooked at his own reflection in the water tank."

Horses and their personalities can be so funny. Makes me miss my boy, Tobey, and his side kick Rio. Looking forward to summer and horseback riding!

Bismarck Trip

My sister-in-law, Heather, and I have almost the same taste. As we talk about getting things for our homes, we find ourselves saying, "oh that's what I was thinking!" or "I love that!" (and we actually mean it!)
So when we decided to head to Bismarck last Saturday, I was so excited. Boutique shopping was on the top of the list, with Menards not even on the list. (We go there way too often with our husbands and not to mention the "You save big money, you save big money, when you shop Menards!" jingle is starting to really irritate me...)
The morning of I moussed my hair, put on my new tunic I had just gotten in the mail, and was headed out the door when I hear Aaron from the bedroom, "Hey Laura! I'll text you when you get to Bismarck. I have a few things I need you to pick up at --" Don't say Menards, don't say Menards, I thought in my head.
"-- Menards."
Shoot. Oh well, I remember reasoning to myself, if he needs something to finish the garage,  I'll get it for him. He's been working so hard on it. Should be easy enough to just pick up quick, right?
Wrong. Turns out what he needed was 11 2x6's 10 foot long. Fortunately (or unfortunately?) we had my sister-in-law's suburban so they would be able to fit.
So, at the end of our fun shopping day, we stopped at Menards, got the ticket, headed back to the lumber yard part of Menards and drove slowly until we found the boards. Turns out they were on the second level, not near the steps, and there was not a Menards employee in sight to help. Heather and I chuckled a bit at our situation, talked about the best way to tackle the situation, and finally decided that I would try to hand the boards down to her through the railing. I took off at a jog towards the steps that would bring me up to the second level while Heather waited below.
I grabbed the first board, careful not to touch the board to my new tunic. After all, I didn't want it to snag the thin material and rip a hole! Well, after the 7th board I decided to give up keeping my tunic safe from snags or dirt. These boards were heavy and not only that but they were cold! We were about to find out just how cold when we got the the 10th board and found out that the rest were frozen together.
I heeved, pushed, struggled, pounded, and tried to lift but nope, they wouldn't budge. They were firmly frozen together. I thought I had tried everything until Heather decided to come up and try her hand in getting them apart. Now these boards were about waist high so I was impressed when Heather, skirt and all, decided to give a mighty kick.
"Kicking sometimes does the trick!" She told me and sure enough, after two big kicks the boards were loose and we were able to proceed in picking up the last two boards.
I must say, I have been to Menards a lot in the past two years, but the trip with my sister-in-law has probably been the most memorable.

The picture above is of me and my sister-in-law. I think it's the only one I have! Shortly after it was taken I posted it on facebook...and these were a few of the comments:
"There's trouble in them thar hills!"
"Oh boy - look out world! Two women with a gun! Lock your doors NOW!!"
"First time a thought of a gun ban being a good thing crossed my mind."
People think they're so funny. :) I'm thankful to have this lady living 20 miles from us!

Happy Halloween

This made me laugh. Here are a few of my hubby's co-workers that dressed up for Halloween.

pinterest funnies

This week has been a long week. 

Maybe it's because last week was so short. Or maybe it's because parent teacher conferences are coming up this coming Monday/Tuesday so I've been trying to get everything together for that. Probably a mix of both, but once again I am so excited it's Friday tomorrow. 

Here are a few things that made me smile - made my day - today.

1. There was a picture posted on instagram of a little boy I'm proud to call my nephew that was busy bowling. He's starting to look so grown up!

2. I also received a text picture message from my stepsister of her baby bump! Baby Q is due in February.

3. Lastly, I found myself browsing through my "haha" pinterest board and I couldn't help but chuckle at the things I had pinned. I thought I'd share one. 

that in between temp

The weather is getting cooler, which I am enjoying. I like sweater/sweatshirt weather. Although this week it's supposed to be in the 70's...which is wonderful, too!

Last night I noticed we are kind of at that in between temperature in our house. Not cold...but not hot - but I wouldn't say it's the perfect temp either...as described below.

My in-laws stayed at our place last night and we had a bonfire in our backyard. It was a bit chilly out so when we came inside to go to bed, I turned the heater on, made sure it was facing our bed, and tucked myself under the covers.

It wasn't long until Aaron started snoring, so then I decided to get up and turn the fan on with the heater.

A few hours later I woke up sweating, so I got up and turned the heater off.

I then woke up another hour later, still warm, so I turned the AC unit in our room on and the fan off.

Aaron woke up next, cold as could be, so he turned the AC off and went to back to bed.

I woke up to his snoring, and got up and turned the fan back on.

I was thankful when morning rolled around and it was time to get out of bed. Ugh! I think I got my exercise last night.

On an unrelated note, after meeting today Aaron and I came home and began tearing shingles off our roof. Our steel for the roof is in at the lumber yard so on Wednesday Aaron and Myron will begin steeling our roof! Another step closer to finishing up our house!

throwback saturday

Today I was looking through some picture folders I have on my computer and came across this photo. It cracks me up. Especially the little boy on the left just waitin' in his dads arms. Aside from that, I wonder what us three sisters are telling my then brand-new husband?

Cat Toys...and What I've Learned

A few days after we picked up our then-kittens, I traveled to the local store and picked up some fun looking cat toys. I got a two pack of fabric mice that smelled like cat nip as well as a couple furry balls that supposedly prevented cat boredom. I was going to be the best cat mom ever.
When I got them home, I hurriedly ripped off the wrappers, threw them to George and Thea, and excitedly waited for them began their pouncing and playing.
They only reaction I got from them was a sniff and paw swat. Seriously? I thought to myself. I tried throwing the toys away from them, hoping they would run after them, but the cats just watched the toys with a look of boredom. Seriously? I could almost hear them saying to me.
Now, after seven months of being cat owners, here a few "toys" that they LOVE. Seriously, no need to go out and buy cat toys...the things at home work miraculously. Here are the top four cat toys in our house.

1 Year of Marriage

The hotel we stayed in on our weekend trip was great. It had a Jacuzzi tub and all the decorations in the room were rustic, just like I like! We also had an inside door, as well as on outside door - that was handy because we were able to park right outside our door and walk right in.
We arrived around 4 o'clock on Friday, brought all our stuff in, and relaxed on the bed. Aaron on his phone, me on my computer. We were headed to the Battle of Little Bighorn that evening so it felt nice to relax for a bit.

About ten minutes went by and then my hubby looks at me with a look of pure disgust and exclaims, "I smell puke". Sure enough, wafting into our noses was the horrible smell of vomit. We jumped off the bed and begin sniffing around, trying to find where the smell was coming from. We sniffed the garbage cans, beside the bed, under the bed, the bathroom, but could not distinguish a set place! It was baffling. We came to the conclusion that maybe it was a one time thing (the person beside us must have fallen ill), and decided to head to TBOLB. The smell would surely be gone by the time we got back.

We arrived back at our hotel a few hours later and it wasn't long before the smell began wafting by us again. "WHERE is that COMING from?!" was exclaimed by us more than a few times that evening. It wasn't a lingering smell - it would come and go.
"Maybe it's your socks," I said as a last resort to Aaron. We were completely stumped. Aaron's socks did indeed smell, but it wasn't the smell we were smelling.
"I feel like I'm sitting in one of those twirly rides at the fair," My hubby mentioned. We had a good chuckle at that, and decided to ignore the smell the best we could.

After three days, we never got to the bottom of it.

But we did have a great trip, otherwise. It's hard to believe it has already been a year since we said "I Do," but I have a feeling the next year will go just as fast.
While in Billings, we hiked about 6 miles or so on top of the Rimrocks which overlooked the city. It was a beautiful, clear, summer day and we could see the snow-capped Beartooth Mountain Range in the distance.