A few updates...

I HAVE MY CAR BACK!!! I picked it up Thursday night and I am so happy. I missed it so much. Every day I would frantically look for my car keys thinking I had lost them! I am trying to make sure I don't hit any more deer.

We have not heard back from the possible adoption situation. I debated all weekend about calling them, but it really was a bit out of our comfort zone cost wise, so I've decided to let it sit. If we hear from them we will move forward. I know several people think we should pursue this further, but it doesn't feel right. But it was fun to submit our paperwork. It made me feel... excitement. At least I now know someone has seen our profile. Also on that note, I just looked at our Parent Profiles info. Our letter has been viewed almost 1000 times! Our contact us page has been view 85 times and we've even been added to someones favorites list twice! At times I feel like it is a waste of money, but we are going to continue to keep it running. I also want to thank everyone for their prayers last week. They were defiantly felt. After we mailed our paperwork I thought I would be a wreck wondering about it, but I felt so calm. Thank you so much. We are still pondering something else at our home so please keep those prayers coming!

I am trying (but not hard enough) to give up soda pop. On average I was drinking 2 cans a day of Diet Dr. Pepper. I am drinking lots more water and so far I have managed to drop to one soda a day (with my lunch) and I have been able to give up Diet. Dr. Pepper for...

AND

Sadly, I am not impressed with my results. But I promise that once I run out of those to increase my efforts. I don't want to quit cold turkey and I am telling myself that I can still have one on special occasions, like dates (fun) and dividends day at work (not fun), than maybe I can really do this.

Truthfully, I did quit once. It was years ago. I went 18 months without carbonation or caffeine of any form! I even had a Dr. Pepper that sat in my friend for 13 of those months before I finally threw it away. My employer had a machine out in their shop and for months I begged the Pepsi guy to put Country Time Lemonade out there. Seriously MONTHS! Finally he did. I walked out with my two quarters and came back with... Dr. Pepper. But if you had to work there you would understand I why I needed to be drugged in some form. Even if it was only a soda.

I think I am finally figuring out this blogging thing. So far I have 6 comments on my Attention kittens post. I want more! Please leave a comment, even to just say hello. I want to get at least a dozen comments. Also if you are following my blog, be sure to click follow. I want to see my readership increase! If you have anything you would like to see me blog about, just let me know. I love to talk and I love to write!

Attention Kittens!

Dear Cats:

The dishes with the paw prints are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest. Your dish will always be located on the floor. Only my dishes will be placed at the table.

The hallway and staircase was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Racing me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.

I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort, however. Cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It i s not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other, stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out on the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.

For the last time, there is no secret exit from the bathroom!If, by some miracle, I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge in an attempt to open the door. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years - feline attendance is not required.

The proper order for kissing is: Kiss me first, then go smell the other cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough.

Finally, in fairness, dear pets, I have posted the following message on the front door:

TO ALL NON-PET OWNERS WHO VISIT AND LIKE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT OUR PETS:
* They live here. You don't.

* If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. That's why they call it 'fur'-niture.

* I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.

* To you, they are animals. To me, they are adopted sons/daughters who are short, hairy, walk on all fours and don't speak clearly.Remember, cats are better than kids because they:

(1) eat less,

(2) don't ask for money all the time,

(3) are easier to train,

(4) normally come when called,

(5) never ask to drive the car,

(6) don't smoke or drink,

(7) don't want to wear your clothes,

(8) don't have to buy the latest fashions,

(9) don't need a gazillion dollars for college and

(10) if they get pregnant, you can sell their children.

FSA Activity

We had an FSA activity today. We are now in charge of the group, but we haven't done much yet. We couldn't think of any ideas so I decided to bake some sugar cookies and then we frosted them at the activity. It was fun. We enjoy getting together with others in the adoption world.

300th post!

This is my 300th post! I can't think of anything special to talk about to mark this occasion, so instead I have complied a bunch of nature photos for your viewing pleasure. Some were taken recently and some were taken last year. Enjoy!

Rock Creek Trail - I think this was taken in 2008. We saw these turkeys up in the Pigeon Water area. I think we took this picture in 2008.
I can't remember when we saw this moose, but I think it was in 2007 or 2008. He was just a few miles up the road from our house.

This hawk was on the bank a few years ago when we went fishing. He stuck around for about an hour before he finally flew off.

These birds showed up this year in the fields just down the road from our house. They are there every afternoon.

Josh took these deer pictures this winter.
We took this picture a few years ago. It is up Hell's Canyon.
Josh took this picture last summer.

We can't remember who took these rainbow pictures, but I think we took them last year.

Here is a few more pictures of the Sleeping Lady Mountain. I am trying to decide where the very best place is to take this picture.

I took this picture earlier this week as the sun was breaking through the clouds.

This is my favorite picture. I took it as I was driving to work earlier this week.

To funny not to share...

This website has some hilarious cartoons!

www.9thwardcartoons.com

The Deserted Island Question

Tia over at Clever Girl Goes Blog has asked a great question. If you were stranded on a deserted island, what 5 essentials would you want to have with you. I think that is a serious question that needs answered.

After much consideration here is my list.
1- Josh. That really should be a no brainer. He can hunt so I won't have to worry about going hungry. He has a great/weird sense of humor, so I will never get bored. He knows how to build things so we would have good shelter. And he is really good in the outdoors. Plus I love to snuggle with him. I guess if I could only take ONE thing with me, he would be it.

2- My pets. Even though there is four of them, I am going to lump them together because I'm greedy like that. But really, Missy wouldn't come because that would be outside (cast momma cold glare!*) so I guess only Pyro, Zipper, and Sage would be with us.

3- My TempurPedic bed. I will sleep in comfort! That is by far the best money we have ever spent!

4- My Books. I really can't imagine anything more relaxing than laying on a beach and reading some of my favorites. If I can't take all 200 of them, I will have a hard time limiting myself, but some I would have for sure is: "The Visions of Ransom Lake", "The Highway Man of Tanglewood", "Divine Deception", "Shackles of Honor", "Heavenly Surrender", "The Touch of Sage", "The Whispered Kiss", "Born for Thorton's Sake" (all of which are by Marcia Lynn McClure, LOVE HER!), "Some Sweet Day," "The River Path," "Chance Encounter" (all by Jennie Hansen), "Counting Stars" (Michell Paige Holmes), "Pipit's Song" (Alene Roberts), "Towers of Brierley" (Anita Stansfield), "The Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites: The series" (Chris Heimerdinger), "Gone with the Wind" (Margaret Mitchell), "Scarlett" (Alexandra Ripley), and "The Twilight Series" (Stephenie Meyer). Whew that's a lot, but those are my must haves. Plus I would expect Marcia Lynn McClure's newest books to get delivered somehow to this deserted island. I guess that is how I will get rescued, is by the postman....

5- My Camera. This one was a little harder to decide. I really would want to take my computer, but only if I had Internet access. But then I thought about how pretty it would be and I decided I would rather have my camera there so I could document everything.

What would take? Either leave a quick list in the comments or if you do this on your blog let me know in the comments so I can check your list out.

*Everyone should know that I truly believe my kittens talk to me. Everyday when I throw them outside I know Missy is casting me a cold glare and telling me she doesn't like me very much.

How Many of Me?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 4 people with the name Savannah Christensen in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

I LOVE being a Christensen, but Haslem is a name to be proud of too....

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 1 or fewer people with the name Savannah Haslem in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

...even though I was the only one.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 9 people with the name Josh Christensen in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

A few facts about the name Savannah:
*There are 15,313 people in the U.S. with the first name Savannah.
*Statistically the 1495th most popular first name.
*More than 99.9 percent of people with the first name Savannah are female.

A few facts about the Haslem name:
*There are 1,133 people in the U.S. with the last name Haslem.
*Statistically the 24960th most popular last name.
*There are 1 or fewer people in the U.S. named Savannah Haslem.

A few facts about the name Josh:
*There are 35,221 people in the U.S. with the first name Josh.
*Statistically the 975th most popular first name.
*More than 99.9 percent of people with the first name Josh are male.

A few facts about the Christensen name:
*There are 79,629 people in the U.S. with the last name Christensen.
*Statistically the 426th most popular last name.

I'm glad I married into such a popular last name! But I have to admit something. If for some strange reason I were to ever be in the arena to marry again...I want someone with a much shorter last name! Do you know how long it takes to sign my name and most reciepts don't have enough room!

I must have done something wrong when I uploaded the boxes, because the link isn't working. Here is the link: How Many of Me?