To get my mind off of my EVER FAILING computer!

I have been really down in the dumps about this computer issue we are having in the Evans Household. Some of our very best friends, Jean and Travis, are coming over to cash in on a "Talent Dontaion" tomorrow. While they are here, we are going to also cash in on his talents. He is the master at computers! So, with a small prayer in my heart, we will see what he can come up with. This is the way I look at it, since I am really dumb with computers, I couldn't screw it up that bad... right? Let's hope!!! It's really weird, but since the whole diareah/computer mess, my blog is doing funny things. I don't have spell check anymore, no option to post a picture, change the fonts, or colors... weird things, that maybe if I knew anything, I could understand. So, if you are feeling up to it, and want to send a little virtual hope my way... I could really use it!

Speaking of "HOPE", let me tell a story...

One of my favorite cities is Chicago. I love it there. I make a trip there a couple of times a year, and every time I am there, I fall in love with it all over again. LOVE IT! Since we are moving to Virginia soon, I probabally won't be making any frequent stops in this fabulous city. It will no longer be a 4 hour drive, and if we come this way, we are coming home, to see friends, and family, which we have none of in Chicago. I thought, I would love to get in to the audience of Oprah. I am sure there is no possible way. People try for YEARS to get in to see her. What are the chances? I went to the website, and called the line, and of course, the recording said, "We have no seating available for the month of January or February. Please try again in February for seating to the March tapings. Also, check out our website for 'Last Minute Seating'." So, I poked around, and found where they had seating for the 17th & 18th of February. I filled out the online questionier, (forgive my spelling, no spell check!). Everything I read, specifically said, "you are not gaurenteed a seat. Please wait for an email from Harpo Studios to confirm seating." When I lived in NYC, I weasled my way into pleanty of shows, and knew, that this meant, I WAS IN! Then I remembered an Oprah episode, "The Secret", and you have to "will" things to happen. I didn't buy into it, still don't, but thought I would humor myself, and others. So I posted on my facebook act. "I'm going to see OPRAH!" When I knew dang well, I am not confirmed. I could be making a complete idiot of myself. But this is me... "willing" for it to happen. Then I got tons of comments, "You're so lucky! I'm so jealous. ect." I started to feel bad that I may have jumped the gun? SO, I was going to wait till next week, to hear something from The Oprah Show, then call them, then announce to myself, and then others, that I was a HUGE dork for even thinking that I would be able to go see Oprah.

So, Joel and I were on the phone while he was driving home from work. We were talking about our date night, and my cell started buzzing. I was TOTALLY annoyed, until I saw, ILLINOIS CALL. I freaked out! CHICAGO!!! I answered, totally hung up on my husband, and screamed the poor girls ear off on the other end. She said, I have confirmed seats! She started listing, where to go, what to bring, what to wear, what not to bring, the entire time, I AM LITTERALLY, JUMPING, JUMPING, JUMPING!!! (Nora thought I was pretending to be Tigger!) I was jumping so hard, I hung up on her! AHHHHHHH... I called her right back. Luckily, I remembered her name, otherwise, it could have been a disaster! She asked me who I was bringing, I told her one of my best friends Katie. When I got off the phone with her, I called Katie. Katie is driving from Florida to Michigan today, which would be rather depressing, so when she answered, I started screaming! and jumping... I managed to tell her, WE ARE GOING TO OPRAH!!!! She refused to believe me. Nuh uh! Nuh uh! You're lying, Nuh-uh!!! I still don't think she believes me. So, although, it is old news, it is "CONFIRMED" old news! I am going to be in the audience of the Oprah Winfrey Show! I have no idea what the show is about, nor do I really care! To be honest, I haven't seen the show in months! (don't tell Oprah... oh crap, what if she reads my blog... HAH!) That would be pretty awesome though! Thank you for humoring me, and listening to my shallow little story. I never thought something like this would actually make me jump up and down for 25 minutes straight! YIPEEEEE! I'm goin to Oprah! One to cross off my Bucket List! I feel very vulnerable without spell check. You all now know what a horrible speller/typer I am. Have a great weekend!!!

Did this just really happen???

Neither Joel or myself know anything about computers! I know how to turn them on. I know how to upload pictures, create a new document, the standard stuff. I know what I need to know. However, repairing it, we know nothing about. The last couple of days, I noticed it was getting slower, processing more, every once in a while, a warning popup came up, that I would of course ignore, because I didn't know what the jargin meant anyways! I am on the verge of crying. Is it possible to have all of my programs still saved, but all the document/pictures gone? Well, that is exactly what happened! Joel is gone at church tonight, so, he can't even help me. Where did all that stuff go? I have some of my pictures backed up, but I didn't back up everything. I don't even know where to look. This is so freaking sad! I could really just cuss right now! Please, does anyone know what I should do? ANYTHING?

I'm BAAAAACK!

I think last week was honestly, the most fun, stressful, adventuress, and memorable, week I have had in a long time! It was fun to be in Florida during record breaking low temperatures. Just to see the Floridians walking around, not even knowing how to get warm was hilarious! I think they had a low of 21 degrees while we were there. Thankfully, I am from Michigan, and my blood is thick. We handled it like pros!

I have lots to blog about the last week, but I wanted to blog about my baby first. Before we left for Florida, she started a tap class. Seriously, no kidding, no exaggeration, one of the cutest moments in her life. Of course I had to be the dorky mom smapping her picture. One day, she is going to be able to say, "Mom, you're embarassing me with that stinkin camera!" Hopefully not anytime soon, and hopefully after she says, "Mom, here's me, take my picture!"

I thought it is time for her to be more involved, and I wanted to see how she is compared to other kids her age. I know I shouldn't do that, comparing her to other kids, but I am really concerned with her "only child syndrome", and it makes me feel better, sometimes worse, to see where she stacks up to others her age. It also helps me figure out what I should work on with her. Today in class, she was very clingy to momma. She spent the first 15 minutes on my lap, which frusterated me to no end. Nothing like spending money to have Nora watch the other kids tap!!! But once she saw that they were reaching for Tigger tails, (she met Tigger last week, so she could relate!) then bouncing around the room just like Tigger, she wanted to be a part of it! So, I hope that she warms up, and will some day spend the entire class period actually IN the class. I also made another observation, and maybe this is me being proud, (although, I hope not) I don't know why, but, Nora was the teachers pet, (in my opinion). Maybe it was just becuase, she wanted her to feel comfortable, I don't know, but there were some things that Nora was doing, that the other kids were doing too, and she didn't get corrected, but the other girls did. I will keep my eye on that. I am not sure that is a bad thing, but I don't want Nora to think that she can get away with more. Super boring post, I know, but I really have to blog about these things! A few people out there depend on me to go on and on about how great I think my daughter is! (Actually, I think only the grandparents really care!)

GET ME OUTTA HERE!!!

This weather has got me losing my mind! I heard a devastating story today of a man in Livingston County who lived alone. Last night he went out to clear off his deck, and fell, and injured himself to a point where he couldn't get up. Throughout the night, it was so cold, that he literally froze to death. My prayers go out to his loved ones.

Toady's HIGH is 7. Tomorrow is supposed to be the coldest day in the last three years. Having said that, I am out of here! Nora and I are taking, what I am sure to be, the craziest adventure of my life! We are DRIVING to the sunshine state! Joel's company has a vacation place that employees are able to use in Orlando. So we called up, to see when the next opening was, and it is next week! We are leaving early, with one other crazy mom and daughter pair, and going to see how it goes. We will be going to Disney of course!

So, to all the Michiganders, please stay warm. Only go out if you absolutely have to. COVER YOUR SKIN! Heat up the car before going anywhere! (I sound like a bossy mother!) Be careful. I pray that it gets warmer by the time we are supposed to be home. We come home Friday. Next Saturday, the crazy mom and I are off to another CRAZY adventure. This time, closer to home. We are going to see Jewell, acoustic, in a small casino in Mt. Pleasant. So I will sign off of the blogging world for a while. But I will be back with some fun posts. (And by fun, I mean crazy!)

Chapstick anyone?

When daddy is at work, he really misses us. He called today, and like he does everyday, just wants to talk. Never about anything in particular, just... chat. Since he is so dedicated to his job, and devotes most of his awake time there, I can understand that he gets lonely, and misses his girls. So, I flatter him, and talk. And talk, and talk, and talk some more. If I am done talking, and want to let him go, he finds more to talk about. Today, I got a little side tracked, and fell into the conversation, totally forgetting about my toddler having free range of the house. When we were done talking, (I don't even think we were done, I was just tired of hearing my own voice, surprise I KNOW!) I went to find my little princess, and instead I found a GREASE MONKEY!!!


What a mess! I was just glad that she stayed in one place. I haven't researched how to get grease out of hair yet, but Johnsons and Johnsons failed! What a day!

Favorite-Eco Friendly!

My visiting teacher inspired this blog post. (She is the A-mazing mom with 4 yr. old twin boys, and 1 yr. old twins, boy and girl.) She had to cancel our appointment tomorrow, because her dryer was broke, and the repair man was coming at the same time as our appointment. She thought that because I was out of power last week, I would understand. I totally undertand not having a washer/dryer, but doing laundry for 6 people... Don't know if I will ever totally understand the enormity of that daunting task. So, while I was on the subject, I thought I would post about our families best ever investment....
I really pray, that whoever buys our house, doesn't want to include these in the deal. My heart would break. These babies allow me to do... 3-4 loads of laundry per week. I shove them full to the max, and they always spin extra great, and take half the time to dry. It takes the wash load longer to wash, then the dry load to dry. They are great, and an all time favorite, and best investment!

Kirstynn in Sci-Fi/HD

Is is too Sci-Fi of me to think/hope that one day, we could have video cameras/cameras implanted in our eyes, that everything we see, could either be recorded or photographed? Well, that is how I have been feeling as of lately, because I have not had my camera at all the right times. This week, Nora has been hilarious, at almost every moment. And maybe it is me being a proud mother, and any other child wouldn't have been as funny, or maybe she is really that funny. If my eyes could record her, you would be able to say for me.


I was glad when she skipped the whole "NO" stage. She never said it, and I thought, wow... how great is she? Well, she skipped right to the "NO WAY" stage. "Nora, don't feed Barkley your grilled cheese, or mommy will take you to Time-Out." "NO WAY MOMMY!" "Nora, we have to get out of the pool, all the slides are turned off, and it is time to go home." "UH NO WAY MOMMY!" It really makes me laugh. Still. The fact that she never talks back to me, and now when she does, I laugh... probably not the right thing.



A few weeks ago, while we were pulling out of the driveway, I got stuck in the snow, and had to have papa come push us out. Now EVERY time I pull out of the driveway, "Mommy, we tuk? Papa coming? The snow deep? Mommy, we tuk?" It cracks me up!

My parents watched her last night, and when we picked her up, she was so chatty, and happy. I knew that she had to have had a great time with Lulu and Papa. So I called my dad this morning, to tell her how chatty she was, and when he asked me, "What was she saying?" I couldn't remember. I just remember it being soooooo funny! I don't know how I can do better at remembering these precious snickering things!

"HANDS ON" during a tough day.

For a Christmas gift, Nora gave my dad a day at the "Ann Arbor Hands on Museum". He could pick any day he wanted.

The week his dad died, he was at his house every day, mostly spending the time at his bed side. Praying with him, comforting him, and letting him know, that he is on his way "home", and we will see him again.

It was on Friday, that dad chose to go to the museum. I think he wanted to take his mind off of everything, and indulge in some innocent fun! I didn't realize how significant the "Hands On" part would be until later.

Nora and her Papa, used their hands for everything... playing in water, playing the harp with laser strings, touching bubbles, climbing rocks, hanging magnets...I enjoyed watching them have a great time, and snapped a few shots too.






After the museum, we went to see Pepe (that is what we called my grandpa, pronounced *pip/-pee* In Canadian French, means grandpa). At Peps bed, Nora once again used her hands, and rubbed oil on his hands, she rubbed his arms, and brushed his hair. We spent the rest of the day there, we said good-bye, and left for home. As we walked out the door, Pep took his last breath. All of the family that was there, new that it was best to let us go home as planned. His hands were that of a master gardener. Her hands are that of pure innocence. That day, she told me, "Pepe sees Jesus, Jesus is crying." I don't know where she came up with that, and I am not sure who told her that, but I have never heard her say anything that profound, before or since. All I can imagine, is that she is very close to the spirit of our Savior. Most likely she will not remember Pep, but as she reads her mommies blog some day, she will know how special she is, and how much Pep loved her! He made her laugh and smile every time she saw him. I am grateful for that.

Marl is ONE!

My most favorite niece turned one last week! This little missie, has a personality all of her own! She has to two most chill parents ever. They are always so laid back about everything, so I have no idea where she gets her feisty, and electric attitude from. She is so flippin cute, you almost want to eat her up! I can't believe she is 1 already. I tried taking some great shots of her, but she was having a bad day on her birthday, and well, the proof is in the pictures!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARL! AUNT KIRSTYNN LOVES YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!

Giveaway Winners!!!

Thank you guys for all playing along with my Giveaway! I hope to have some more really soon! Here are the winners selected by random.org:

hondaray6
Jenna
Kent and Leisy

Congratulations you guys! Enjoy the prizes, and stay tuned for more great things this year!!!

*I will contact you via-email, and get you all the juicy details.*

Progresso Give Away!

So... I have had this giveaway in my back pocket for WAY too long! Cooking has been slow here, as has everything else. With the upcoming move, the holidays, and all of life's other busyness, things have gotten pretty bland at our house. It is a new year though, and I thought I would start off with some great news...

Progresso is making it easier to create your favorite recipes with the introduction of all-natural Progresso Chicken, Reduced Sodium Chicken and Beef-flavored broths. Progresso’s broths are 99% fat free and contain no preservatives, artificial flavors, or MSG*! They even come in convenient, re-sealable 32oz cartons.

Now, I know what you are saying, this sounds too good to be true... whats the catch?... well, I am here to tell you a true story.

While our power was out, I made Chicken Noodle Soup. Because we have most of our house packed in the basement right now, and I didn't really want to go down there just to find my spices, I decided to try out how really great this broth was. So I asked my toughest critic to let me know what he thought of the soup. The soup with NO SPICES... here is what he said, *NO LIE, HONEST TRUTH*

"It had good flavor, not overly salty, a tangy flavor, Oregano... was there oregano in it?"

Really people... here is the real deal, 5 ingredients went into this soup- 1. carrots, 2. celery, 3. egg noodles, 4. tiny bit of roux, and 5. Progresso Chicken Broth.

So here is your chance to try it for yourself. Three (3) random commenter's will win the following:

*Note, the winners will receive a coupon for the broth, not the actual broth.

All you need to do, it to leave a comment, and share with me, the one resolution you plan on keeping this year. As always, the winner will be selected by random.com. Also, if you leave a link on your blog regarding this give away, leave a comment with your blog, and you will get 2 more entries! Good luck! The winner will be announced on Monday, January 5th at 9pm. GOOD LUCK!!!

Loved one, lost his battle... but gained so much more

So many posts... and not a single creative thought to share...

There is about to be a few posts, that seem all over the board. I am so sorry. I promised that I would have a Giveaway, and I have to get it done, however, the timing is really bad.
Let's just get this one out of the way.

I have been so blessed to spend my entire childhood, and a good portion of my adulthood, with 4 grandparents. Last spring I lost my first grandparent, my moms dad. Last night, I lost my second grandparent, my dads dad. He died of cancer. He was surrounded by the people who loved him most. He will be greatly missed. It was so pleasant to be by his side for most of the day. He went to live with our Father minutes after we left him for the night. Nora spent the day hugging Nana, and rubbing his hands. When she wasn't doing that, she was trying to make everyone else happy, by singing, and dancing.