my holiday weekend was three "F's" football, food, & the FBI

yes. you read my title correctly. apparently someone in my family is being investigated by the FBI. I won't mention names or situations because A. until I know EXACTLY what is going on and whats going to happen to this person I don't want to post anything on here and B. because if this person is being investigated...what if i am? what if the FBI is reading this post right now? ahh!!! what if they are taping my telephone conversations?? haha
so anyways...thursday I woke up and went to my grandma and grandpa's for thanksgiving dinner. We ate around 1:30 and after we finished cleaning up I met JC at home and we watched the Cowboys game. After the game we were planning on driving out to my mom's house to spend some time with her and some of my family who were down from indy..but the game didn't get over until late so we just ended up staying home. Friday night was my dad's thanksgiving dinner and christmas. He goes to Florida for the winter and he usually leaves just a few days after thanksgiving. So we do christmas and thanksgiving at the same time. Friday morning I went to Wal-Mart at 4 am to get a Cricut for $199. I've been wanting one for sometime now and it was on my christmas list. But I knew at the original price of $289 I wouldn't get it because that was just way to much money to spend on one thing. So when I saw that it was basically $100 off I knew that I had a better chance of getting it. So I went and waited from 4 am to 5 am until It was time for all the sale stuff to be "unwrapped." I was so excited to get one! It's a gift from my grandma so I won't be able to actually use it and play with it until christmas eve. But that will be here before you know it.
So then Saturday JC and I went back up to Wal-Mart and he bought a few of the cricut accessories for me for christmas. We went and had dinner at Friday's and then headed down to my mom's house to visit with them for a while. While I was in Terre Haute, I received a phone call saying that someone in my family was being investigated by the FBI. It is someone that I see pretty much everyday that I am very close with. We don't know all the details of the situation yet but we were told they were being investigated by the FBI and that the FBI had contacted this person twice letting them know that they are going to be in serious trouble if they don't stop what they are doing. I wish I could post on here what exactly is going on but I'm not even really sure what is going on. So when I find out more information I'll be sure to let you know. Just please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers. This is something that is extremely hard for me to believe because they are accusing someone that I love dearly of actions that I just can't see this person do.

i am thankful. . .

i am thankful. . .for my wonderful husband.  Without him my life would not be complete.
i am thankful. . .that we have food on our table.  I know with the thousands of people being laid off from their jobs (including me) its harder than ever this year.
i am thankful. . .that my family is healthy and happy.
i am thankful. . .that due to me being laid off I have got to spend alot more time with my family and my husband.  I learned that me losing my job was a blessing in disguise. 
i am thankful. . .that I am getting the opportunity to do what I love and stay home and craft and create things.  Hopefully this time next year I will be thankful that I have my own business.
i am thankful. . .for britney spears & taylor swift.  they are two girls that inspire me and write songs that i can sing at the top of my lungs to. :o)
i am thankful. . .that I'm alive.  I love life and being able to enjoy it. 
i am thankful. . .for the dallas cowboys.  I don't eat turkey or ham...so I look forward to watching the dallas cowboys game every thanksgiving.  the cowboys are my turkeys. :o)

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

sneak peak at some christmas gifts. . .

ok...so i'm super pissed off right now... i just had this looooong post...and when i clicked publish.. it went to some error screen and then when i went back to the "edit posts" it wasn't there....are you kidding me?  i was talking about switching to typepad in it...i wonder if its like a conspiracy?? hmm...
so i'll try to retype what i wrote but it won't be near as good....
so below is some pictures of the frame I made my aunt for christmas.  her son, my cousin, is a senior in high school and plays football, basketball, & baseball.  baseball is his favorite sport and its my favorite to watch him play.  I made this frame for when they win the state championship this year she can put their championship picture in it. :o)

I know my aunt will absolutely love this.  She's his biggest fan (other than me of course) and she's all about this kind of stuff.  I made her an NCHS green/white scarf for football/basketball season and she loves it.  I'm also in the process of making her a tote bag for baseball season too.  The template is taking a little longer than I thought to cut out and make it "perfect" so it'll be a few weeks before I get around to finishing it. 
I'm hoping that this weekend I"ll be spending alot of time in my craft room getting alot of things done.  Yesterday I spent alot of time outside getting my christmas lights and decorations up.  Hopefully I'll get out there in the next nite or two and take some pictures to post.  If you check out my flickr account I did post some pictures of our christmas tree and fireplace decorations.
Has anyone else had any problems with the blogger editor?  Sometimes its one editor with a certain photo upload program and the next time its completely different?  Does anyone else have this problem? Is there anyway you can fix it?  I'm thinking about switching to typepad.....any thoughts?  The editor that its making me use now doesn't even have spell check...what the heck?  Ok...i'm gonna try and publish it...let's see if it works this time....

and the winner is. . .

The giveaway is closed. (yes i know..i'm late...i was busy hanging up christmas lights yesterday.. yes i know its only november 20...anyways...) There were 10 entries. I had my beautiful model dog Lacey help me pick a winner. I shook the cup up and sat it on the floor for her to pick a winner. She stuck her cute little nose and and pulled out the lucky winner..

She brought it over to me and ......drumroll please.....

the winner is Mistress Meeyee from "All the way from Bloggy Creek. Congratulations Rachel!!! I hope you enjoy my picture frame as much as i do. I see your having a blog giveaway on your blog too! Maybe if you don't use my picture frame you can pass it on to someone who will.

Thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway. It was so exciting. haha I loved waking up and checking my email every morning to see if anyone else entered my giveaway. I hope to try and have a giveaway every month of something I made or something that I love that someone else made.
Rachel, email me with your mailing address and which picture frame you'd like at adiqshun {at} hotmail {dot} com.

craft room is making progress. . .

So I thought I'd show you a picture of my workspace/craft desk. The room itself still has a long way to go. I still have to paint and install shelves to store all my supplies. I've also been looking for material so that I can sew curtains to go along the bottom of the desk to hide all the storage stuff underneath it. I'm okay with just the desk being done for now. I've got alot of stuff to make for christmas and to make for my shop so the rest of the stuff will have to wait until after the holidays. Which is okay with me. As long as I've got a work space to do my projects..i'm good.

I'm finishing up a christmas gift I made for my mom and my aunt. I wasn't going to post it on here but I know my aunt has ZERO computer skills so I don't have to worry about her sneaking a peek and as far as my mom she does know a little bit about computers but I don't think she reads my blog. And...if one of them sneak a peak...oh well. They just won't be suprised. :o) Anyways, I finished them up last night so when I go into my craft room in a few to start working on more projects I"ll take some pics and post them later.

I bought a purse pattern of etsy about 2 or 3 months ago and I've been wanting to use it for so long now. I just can't find any fabric designs that I want. I'm almost tempted to just buy whatever I can and make a "sample" purse first... Around here all we have is Wal-Mart, Hobby Lobby, & Joann Fabrics. Hobby Lobby & Joann Fabrics have been around for ever and their stuff is just sorta "out dated." I just can't find anything I like. I find alot of stuff online but it's kinda expensive and I'd really like to see it and feel it in person before making a large expensive purchase on something that I don't really know if I'll like it... I did find spoonflower.com, a site where you can design your own fabric. That's so awesome!! But it's like $20 a yard. And when I need somewhere around like 6 yards that's a pretty expensive handmade purse. I wish there was like a "discount fabric" store...where everything was like $1.00 a yard. haha

my giveway ends in two days

Just a quick reminder to any of my readers out there that if you haven't left a comment on this post then your not eligible for my free giveaway. I am giving away one of the picture frames below. I will pick a winner using random.org first thing on Wednesday morning. I'll email you and let you know you won and then you can pick one of the three picture frames in the picture below. To sign up all you have to do is go to the original post and leave a comment.

40 days until Christmas

So yesterday my aunt and I went up to Indianapolis to do some christmas shopping. I also had bought two shirts from Delias last time I was up at the mall and when I got them home I realized they didn't fit. I didn't have time to try them on when I was there that day so I just grabbed what size I thought would fit...oops I was wrong. So because it had been over a month I couldn't get my money back but I could exchange. So I ended up exchanging them for this awesome sweat shirt. Isn't it so freakin' cute? I love it..I can't wait to wear it. I also found this cute key covers. I had them on my christmas list and hadn't seen them anywhere but online. Which means if they are ONLY ONLINE i'll never get them because noone in my family is computer literate. So if its online I might as well just buy it for myself because otherwise I'll never get it. Anyways I found them at forever 21 which is my favorite store and I hate that we don't have one closer.
I also got some freakin' cute boots from journeys. I won't get them until christmas because they are a gift from my grandma. But I picked them up and we had some money from her so we used that to buy them. So I won't have them until Christmas Eve when I open presents from her but that will be here before you know it and I can't wait to wear them!!
I'm working on my christmas list right now. As I get older it gets harder and harder for my grandma to know what to buy me so last year I printed her out a list of like 4 or 5 things I wanted from American Eagle and she said that helped her so much. So I did the same this year. I put a picture of the item, the description, price, & place you can find it next to it. haha I hope that helps her this year. There really is much I can think of that I want this year because for the past six-nine months I've really started to appreciate hand-made stuff. So when I go to a store and see a shirt or something for a crazy amount of money I think.... hmm... I can make that.. or hey..I bet I can find that on etsy. It's just hard for me to give my money to a department store when I could give it to someone on etsy working hard trying to make money. So there are a few things as far as some sewing tools that I need and a pair of sweatpants I really want from Victoria's Secret but other than that... that's about it. Even if I see a purse or something and I'm like..oh my god I want that... before I didn't even look at the price tag.. If I wanted it...I picked it up and bought it no matter what. Now, my first instinct is "oh my god I want that." Then I look at the price, look the item over really well and then say to myself I can do that.. and for alot cheaper... and then I put it back.

I can't believe I forgot your birthday. . .

Yesterday was November 15.  Yesterday I should have been going to a certain place that I have been going to EVERY YEAR since 2000 on November 15.  But I forgot.  I feel like a terrible person/friend.  I can't believe that I forgot him this year.  How could I have been so selfish?  I am so sorry.
Yesterday an old friend of mine turned 25.  He's not here to celebrate with us and he hasn't been here to celebrate with us for 8 years now.  But that never stops me from every year making sure I go and tell him happy birthday.  Sometimes I leave him a balloon or a card or sometimes I just go and visit so that he knows I remembered.  Yesterday was November 15 and I didn't go.  I can't believe I forgot.  I NEVER forget.  I'm always the one who remembers.. I remember on March 15 every year that that was the day we lost him.  And I remember on November 15 of every year that that is the day he should be turning 1 year older.  I'm so mad at myself that I forgot. 
Gene, Please forgive me.  I know I may have forgot you on that one day but I would never forget you as a person, as a friend, as a life... I'm so sorry.  Happy 25th Birthday Gener. 

the perfect solution to keep me warm at night. . .

So due to my husband being extremely cheap and the fact that I'm trying to do things to help the environment. every year we turn our thermostat down a few temperatures and dressing a little warmer. this year we've got it down to the mid 60's. with me being laid off home everyday I have learned to dress a little warmer and use blankets and I'm good. I'm usually moving around a lot anyways so I seem to stay a little warmer. But...at night time bella & lacey I freeze. JC being warm blooded sweats his ass off at night and here I am right next to him shivering. He mentioned that maybe I should get a heating blanket...I don't know if they make them different these days but when I was younger and we had one growing up they were itchy and scratchy and very uncomfortable. Plus he wouldn't use it so it'd be awkward and only on my side and just not what I had in mind. So I was suffering around today and found this. It's PERFECT! You can heat one side of the bed and not the other. That's great! I can stay all snugly and warm and JC's side can just be normal like always...but there are those nites where JC's back or knee is sore and needs the heating pad..well that's okay too because you can decide which part of your side you want on. upper body...lower body...back... so it's very therapeutic. I'm in LOVE. For a King Size it's about $240. While I can't talk my "cheap" husband into buying it for us I'm sure after Christmas I will be able to start saving money and be able to purchase it to use during the rest of the winter.
Also to help us save money we purchased a wood stove with some of our wedding money. We haven't got it installed yet because we just recently found out there pretty much NO ONE installs them anymore because of the risk of user error and fire. While I have no idea how to use a wood stove my husband does and I don't think it'd really be hard to figure out. So we finally found one place around us that will install it. The only thing is it's the type of place where you call them and they call you back 7 days later. Then JC talks to the guy on Monday and JC says hey we'd like to get this installed this week. The guy says "sure no problem..I'll call you tomorrow." Today is Thursday and still no call. JC even called him two times yesterday and no answer. It's really starting to frustrate us. We really want to get this wood stove installed and ready to go. It's getting colder each day and we want to get it installed before it really starts hitting our wallets. Right now our furnace kicks on a few times a day but like I said we keep it pretty cold in here. Eventually it's going to get so cold outside that the furnace is going to start kicking on more. We don't want that. That's why we bought a wood stove. The frustrating thing is that this guy is the ONLY guy around that will install it. So pretty much were screwed. Hopefully soon it will be installed and will be able to enjoy it. I'm trying to figure out how exactly to set it up also. We've been told by people that we have to have a stove board behind it to protect the wall from the heat. I have searched flicker and seen that in about 90% of the photos no one has a stove board behind it. So I'm hoping that we won't have to do that. I don' t really like the black stove board that has to go under it either. I'd rather have like a stone or brick but I guess it'll do. But I definitely know that I don't want a stove board on the wall behind it if I don't have to. I think it will look much better without it and easier to keep the area clean. I left some messages on the photos that I came across without the stove board behind it asking them how far it had to be away from the wall and why that didn't use a stove board. Hopefully that will help me decide what I'm going to do. I can't wait to get it installed and running. I'm excited to incorporate into my decorating. haha

Ashley Madison is a disgusting website

Yes. You are reading that correctly. A match-making website for people who are married and want to cheat on their spouse. Are you kidding me? Seriously? The Ashley Madison Agency is a website that guarantees you 100% that you will have an affair. Their slogan is "Life is Short. Have an Affair." WTF? This is a terrible website and I can't believe they have over 2 million people signed up for this site. Cheating is cheating no matter how you look at it. But to sign up for a web page and sit in front of the computer picking out a person that you want to cheat on your spouse with like your picking out what shirt your gonna buy is DISGUSTING. As a married woman who loves her husband and is happily married, it makes me sick to my stomach to think that someone is making money off of other peoples "affairs". I'm still one of those people that believe in "til death do us part." I'm the type of person who still believes in forever and faithful. Call me old fashioned...whatever. But marriage is a commitment and I would NEVER EVER do anything to jeopardize my marriage.

This website is making money off of people who are making other peoples lives terrible. I'm sorry...but if your not happy with your spouse leave them. Don't stay with them and sign up to a web page finding someone to cheat on your spouse with. Uck. By the way, out of those 2 million people who signed up for it the ratio is 70% men, 30% women.

I was thinking....if their gonna cheat, why can't people just cheat the old fashioned way?

Happy 24th Birthday to my wonderful husband

Happy 24th Birthday to my wonderful husband. I know your family doesn't "celebrate" birthdays but my family does so I know you don't think today is a very special day but I do. So just like I have the last 8 birthdays I plan on making today as special as I can for you because you make everyday special for me. I love you.
So, my husbands birthday is today so were having Taco's for dinner tonight...yumm.. and I'm making him some birthday sugar cookies (he doesn't like cake) today and then this saturday I have invited a few of his family members over to have cake and snacks.

Raking leaves is fun, being jobless is not

So our yard is covered with leaves and has been for about a week. Everytime we go out and rake them up and burn them...more fall the next day. So yesterday (like the 4th day in a row) my husband says "hey..let's go outside and rake leaves" I thought NOT AGAIN!! So as I'm raking leaves and he's starting a fire in our fire pit to keep us warm (and to burn the leaves) I decided that I had to do something to make raking leaves fun or atleast something that will keep my attention for a few minutes. So I decided to draw in the leaves. It was actually a lot of fun and if it wasn't so cold out I was going to try drawing stars, peace signs, etc.
I went to Wal-Mart today and bought a few craft supplies. There are SO MANY things I need/want but just don't have the money for them right now. Not to mention that christmas is right around the corner so I should be saving every cent I have to be able to afford gifts this year. I usually spend $100 on each of my two cousins, $50 each on my mom, aunt, & grandma, and then about $100-$150 on Justin. So if you add that up I usually spend $450-$500. This year I need to cut that in half. So I'm thinking about telling Justin that we should set a limit at $75 no more for eachother. Drop my cousin's from $100 each to $75 each. Drop my aunt, grandma, & mom to $40. That would be a total of $345...saving $155. The thing is I never really have a "budget" during christmas. I know what I usually spend and just do that or somewhere around that. So I really need to make a budget and stick with it this year. I'm hoping to make atleast two gifts for my aunt so that will help out alot. The thing is I really want to have my Etsy Shop open on December 1 so that I can start selling my crafts. But to be able to make money you have to spend money...so what happens when you don't have the money to spend?
I'm really starting to get annoyed with not having a job. I mean I know I've got unemployment until August of 2009 but it's just not enough money to get by anymore. After the holidays it may be different but right now it's killing me. I've been looking for a job and have sent out my resume but no responses... It's kinda driving me crazy. I've had a full-time job since I was 18 and as much as I LOVE being home, I LOVE spending money even more.

I just bought Taylor Swift's NEW CD Fearless...

Please excuse my none fixed hair and my no make-up face.  It's cold and I could careless what I looked like when I went to Wal-Mart today to purchase Taylor Swift's NEW CD Fearless.  I love her.  She's so awesome.  I haven't listened to the entire cd all the way thru yet but I'm on Track 8 and so far I am super impressed and I'm sure in a few days I'll have them all memorized.  When her first CD came out I went out and bought it and listened to it over and over until I could sing every track from beginning to end.  OCD... sometimes...

GO OUT AN BUY IT!!!

Be and angel to a cold, lonely backyard dog

Click the image above to visit the PETA webpage and donate to help a cold, lonely backyard dog. It's so sad to think that there are actually dogs out there who don't have shelter during the cold winter months... As my dog sits on the couch next to me in front of our fireplace with her sweater on....I realize how lucky my two dogs are and that I wish I could do that for every dog. So please if you have an dog that will be outside this winter please provide it with a warm shelter. Some dogs just don't know how good they got it.

Attention anyone who lives near an IKEA Store.

I am sorry to say that I have become obsessed with everything at Ikea Store Online.  Unfortunately the closest one to me is about 170 miles and in the next state.  As much as I LOVE roadtrips I will not be able to persuade my husband or anyone in my family or even my crazy friends to drive 170 miles to purchase some organization stuff for my craft room.  So...this is where you come in.  If any of you who are reading this lives close to an ikea store or will be visiting an ikea store soon...I have a HUGE favor to ask you.  There are a few products to I must have.. Yes..I MUST have.. and they aren't available online.. IN STORE ONLY... so I would love you forever and send you lots of free stuff when I get my craft on and probably talk about you multiple times on my blog because of the nice thing you've done for me...
Okay...so for the favor... I need you to go to your local IKEA Store make a few purchases for me and then ship them to me.  I will send you money thru paypal.. Enough to cover the cost of the items, cover shipping, & a little extra for your trouble.  Please if any of you are seriously intersted in doing this for me I will never forget you. 
I want the Bygel Rail and probably about 7 of the Bygel Containers - Green.  There are many more things on their page that catch my eye but these are the most important things.  I found someone on ebay who would do it but of course they want to make a huge profit.  The Containers are only 99 cents at the store and she is charging $4.00 each for them.  If I have to I guess I"ll have to order them from EBAY...but please don't make me do that.  Please help me!!
Please leave a comment here or you can email me at adiqshun {at} hotmail {dot} com.

craft room is under construction. . .

so on thursday i took my measurements and my little plan i had drawn up and went up to menard's to purchase my wood and supplies to start building (well for my husband to start building) my craft desk/work space. i love how it turned out so far. the desk itself is pretty much done now... i'm going to buy some material and sew a curtain to put around the bottom of it to hide all the stuff that will be under it. i bought partical board for the actual desk top that had like a white plastic finish to it.. i learned after getting it home it scratches VERY easily and after we had to screw the table top to the legs that i probably didn't need to buy the white... because I'm going to have to cover it up with something now. i was thinking about getting old maps or maybe vintage wallpaper and putting it on top.. hmm..we will see.. anyways.. I really wanted to paint the room first but the desk was a MUST and the paint is just a WANT.. hehe So I figured I'll get the desk in...and get everything organized as much as I can then I'll paint later. I won't hang any shelves or storage stuff on the wall yet until I paint but atleast I'll have a workspace that I can start getting my projects done. I'm really excited to get to start working in there. We got the desk finished on friday and I moved my computer and sewing machine on it but it was late and JC was tired and really didn't want me messing with it anymore so I just left it. Yesterday (saturday) after JC and I went outside and raked some leaves and got some things done in the yard we went in there and he helped me organize it a bit. I'm hoping to go to wal-mart today and buy me some plastic tote/drawers and start putting away alot of the clutter.

I can't wait to post my stuff on here to show you guys all what I've got planned. Not only with the stuff I'm going to be putting in my store and selling online but all the homemade christmas gifts I'm going to be doing for my family and friends and how my craft room turns out.

my first giveaway - FREE picture frames

November 2008

So I am super excited to announce to you guys that I am officially opening my own etsy shop. I started working on projects yesterday and plan on working around the clock in November so that when December 1st comes my store will be stocked and ready for the holiday season.

To view more pictures of the picture frames visit my flickr account by clicking here.
To celebrate my huge step in trying to start my own business I decided that every month I would have a monthly giveaway. Where anyone that comes across my blog will have a chance to win something that I made for my shop. So for November I am giving away 3 picture frames that I made.
here) somewhere on your blog or webpage. Also if you mention my giveaway on your blog with a link back to my giveaway I'll give you two extra entries.

How do you win these picture frames you ask? Easy...all you have to do is leave a comment here on this post and you get one entry.
Extra Entries: You can get one extra entry by placing my link (you can get the code
If you do add my link or post about my giveaway on your blog please email me at adiqshun@hotmail.com and let me know so that you can credit you for your extra entries.
There will be one winner. I will contact the winner & they may choose which frame they like best.
Giveaway Ends on November 18, 2008 at midnight.

I have been a "wife" for 100 days. . .

Well today Justin and I have officially been married for 100 days. Every single day gets better and better. Before we got married we had been together for 7 years so I really didn't think it would be much different after the wedding. Which to a point it is the same but at the same time there is just something there that makes it feel a little more...secure...forever. I don't know what it is exactly. But before when you were a "girlfriend" and he was your "boyfriend" when you'd be talking to someone have say "oh my boyfriend..." even though I knew it was gonna be forever...the people who didn't know you instantly was like...oh...it's just her "boyfriend." Like when you went to the bank to get a loan...or if you'd introduce him to someone you knew or even when I'd be out with my friends... it seemed like if you said "boyfriend" no matter what...they acted like oh...it's just a boyfriend...ya know.. So now that I can say "Husband" proudly I love it. I say it as much as I can actually. When I could just say "Where is JC? or Where is Justin?" I say... "Where is my husband?" hehe I just love that word coming out of my mouth. I am so blessed to have him as my husband. I hope that he is just as blessed to have me as his wife.

His birthday is coming up on November 12 and I was thinking about trying to get people together and have a birthday party or something to celebrate it for him. He says he hates parties so I can't really call it that. I just have to say we are having people over.. haha But hopefully in the next week I can come up with something that we can do to celebrate.

I have so much laundry to do. I have washed and dried all of our laundry since last weekend..haha but nothing is folded. We had that softball tournament and then all that stuff going on so laundry just wasn't my first priority. So I'm going to get all of the laundry folded and put away and then decide what I'm going to make for dinner tonight. I have alot of errands I need to do too but I think I may get up early tomorrow, go vote, and then run my errands.

Halloween is past us and the hard part is ahead of us

Halloween is JC's favorite Holiday. I've learned to love it over the years we've been together. I wouldn't say it's my favorite holiday but it is definitely my favorite time of the year. I love decorating for fall and the weather changing. JC and I always take the last week of October off of work and stay at home and watch all the Friday the 13th movies and the Halloween movies...and whatever other scary movies that we can find to watch. I of course don't have a job this October so I didn't have to worry about taking work off...but JC did. He had asked for it off back in February and he had been talking about since last October how we were gonna do this every year and he was so excited about everything we were going to do. Little did we know that on the first day of his vacation, Saturday October 25, that he would lose one of his best friends.

We play in a fall softball league and we had our league tournaments that started on Saturday. JC and I showed up early because that's just how JC is..hehe.. and when we pulled up i remember seeing Q'Ball standing there in his red hoodie trying to stay warm when the temp was 36 degrees.... The ball diamond is at an old school that they use for a community center now. So Q'Ball, JC, & I went into the gymnasium and hung up for about 30-45 minutes until it was time for our game to start... I'd tell ya all the special memories I have with Q'Ball that day but they wouldn't be special if I shared them to the world...so i'll keep them to myself. But one that is important to me is after one of our games Q'Ball and I were the first ones to walk back to the picnic area where are team would sit until our next game...and I forget how but we got on the subject but I had mentioned that one day if we ever won the lottery or came into a lot of money that he wanted to build a four-diamond softball complex in our area...and he would run it and umpire it..and i could work in the office. O'Ball told me that he had the same dream.. he wanted to do the same thing but that he wanted JC to run it because he knew he'd be the best at it. I know Q'Ball and JC thought a lot of each other. They were good friends but yet they had a relationship that I had never seen JC have with a friend. They understood each other on a different level. Q'ball was a very spiritual person and JC respected that and I think learned alot from him. At the same time they were exactly alike. JC was the most conceited, the most competitive, the mouthiest person i knew (all in a good way) until I met Q'Ball. I first met Q'ball about 2 years ago at Spencer Park in Terre Haute, Indiana. They played on opposite teams but worked together everyday. So of course there was a lot of "shit talking" all day long at work...and then when we'd show up at the diamond..the minute we got out of the car I could hear Q'ball's mouth just a going...haha and the more I was around him and got to know him I thought wow... I always thought JC was the most competitive person...haha they were so much alike.. I liked it though...and so did JC. I don't think he had met anyone that was so much like him. Someone that could throw it right back at him just like he gave it. It was so fun to listen and watch them go at each other.. it was all fun in games but my favorite part was when Q'ball could actually say something and it would either make JC speechless or it would take him a second to give a comeback. haha I obviously love the way my husband acts...but i would hate when he would mouth me and i couldn't come up with a comeback..hehe so I loved it when JC was put in his place. lol because if I couldn't do it....I loved that Q'ball could.

Now...he's gone. I only knew him for almost 2 years....and we had only become good friends the past 6 months or so... JC knew him since his first day at work...JC is the one that gave him his nickname, Q'Ball, and it was JC who talked to him everyday and played ball with him sometimes 3 times a week and then on the weekend. It's hard for me to lose a friend, but its even harder for me to see my husband hurting.

Sunday was hard because Q'ball was supposed to be there with us helping us win and making it to the championship. Everywhere I walked at the ball diamond I saw something that reminded me of him from the day before or somewhere where he and I had sat and talked the day before. It was so hard to be there and he wasn't there. He usually batted behind me in the batting order so every time I would get up to bat...I would look over and he wasn't there. Or when I'd get on base...usually he's up next so I would cheer him on to hit me in.... but i couldn't because he wasn't there. When we'd be out in the field and someone would get up to bat that always hits it to left/left center I would usually yell "Be ready Q'ball!" But I couldn't because there was someone else there.... Wednesday and Thursday was the showing and Funeral and that was hard for both of us. But I think with him being on vacation this week he still doesn't quite "feel it." I mean he was on vacation so he wouldn't have seen Q'Ball any this week anyways. Softball was over and we would have got phone calls him calling and just chatting but he wouldn't have seen him at all. So to him I think it's not really real yet. Next week he'll be back at work and Q'Ball won't be next to him on his line, he won't be on break with him, he won't be at his lunch table... So for me the hard stuff is over. Softball is over until next year and though the rest of the football season will be hard because I'll be waiting for his call after every eagles and cowboy games... the hard part for me is over... Now its just time to heel and be there for my husband because his hard part is just starting. He has to go back to work and see everyday that his best friend isn't there with him.

So this year his vacation wasn't exactly what he wanted it to be. But we were married this vacation and our love is stronger than ever. We still watched some of our favorite scary movies and we still carved pumpkins and we went to a haunted house...we just did it with someone on our mind. Someone that I will never forget as long as I live. Someone who made me think about things that I hadn't thought about for a long time or hadn't ever thought about. Back in August after Q'ball and his wife had been separated for a few months and he was ready to move on I started thinking about trying to set Q'ball up with one of my friends... On October 11, 2008 I introduced him to my friend Kari. He thought she was so beautiful and he really wanted a relationship with her. He wanted to introduce her to his faith and his kids and spend time with her. I won't ever know if she was ever planning on leaving her boyfriend (who doesn't deserve her) and gonna try it with Q'ball or if it would have even worked out. But I do know for that two weeks that talked I was so happy for him and her. I knew that the rest of our lives were gonna be so much fun. I knew that us four (JC, me, Kari, Q'ball) were gonna be great friends..doing stuff together and having kids together and living by each other (just like Kari and i had planned a long time ago). I know Q'ball was so happy and Kari loved having someone treat her like she was special. Their time got cut short and never went any farther then talking on the phone and texting but I know the idea of having a great guy Kari loved....and the idea of being happy again after a bad marriage Q'ball loved.And I loved that I was gonna make two good friends of mine be happy together and JC and I would be there to witness it all.

It's just so crazy how something can happen so fast....and things can change in a blink of an eye.

**the first two pictures are of JC's Halloween (the movie) pumpkin and the last two pictures are of my Scooby Doo pumpkin.**