Brother Update:

Cathy has asked about my brother, so I thought I'd make an update of what we have been told.

First off, the worst thing second to death from being hit by a drunk driver: The drunk driver is totally fine with out a freakin' scratch, and based on the fact that he pulled the "I'm having chest pains" at the scene, I'm guessing he could care less about my brother.

My brother however is not as well as we all would hope, but he's alive and he was wearing his helmet so his head is fine (insert your own joke here).

1)His ankle is badly destroyed, saying that they had to "rebuild it from scratch" makes it sound like a cooking recipe, but it sounds like there wasn't much left to work with

2)His legs are badly injured... i.e. they are both broken in several spots I think. He is STILL undergoing various surgeries.

3)He had to receive a hip replacement.

4)Doctors speculate it will take Months, not days, or weeks, but months for him to walk again at best. After that he will most likely not be able to stand for long hours.

5)He has to have some skin graphs done because of the something, something to do with the doo-hickie thingie and something about you know - the burns, the scraping of the roadway, the skin attached to the front end of the guys car (okay, little much but just to show how drinking and driving is unacceptable).. and probably some other things that I don't know...

He is still in the hospital doped on meds no doubt. Once released from the hospital he'll be living in a rehab center. And that is all I can think of at the moment, my hair is up in rollers for the night, it's surprising I can even think at all. I hope I got all my information correct as I'm about third or fourth on the telephone tree, heck the ways those things work he's probably enjoying life at a luxurious resort with a bruised elbow... seriously, joke.

"...I am socially Awkward...."

Ok, maybe not so much.... BUT, it was a great Saturday night for Chris and I as we took a seat at The Young People's Theater Company fundraiser to enjoy Second City: On Tour. There is no question that we need to give a shout out to our "all-growed up" baby girl Isabela for saying that she really wants to see Second City when she comes to America... So we never had the chance to get to her a show (AHEM, we might have but it had like warnings everywhere for offensiveness, and language...) Like I said, we never had the time, however had she stayed a whole school year, we would have had plenty of time. :) .. so only because she mentioned this did we even know what Second City was, so when I saw they were stopping in MC, we made plans to go. IT WAS GRRRRRREAT! So freakin' funny, we're going to HAVE to see another Second City show in Chicago.

I wanted to share our funniness with you all, but I couldn't find any clips of this particular group together... so I found separate clips of three of them.

The first is Tim Baltz. He is the guy at the beginning telling the other guy his girlfriend "lost her clothes".

The second one is Vanessa Bayer doing a stand-up routine.

This last one is my favorite, it's soooo funny. It is Steven Yeun. It's exactly how they did all the skits at the show here. But most importantly it involves CHUCK E CHEESE. (I miss working there now, hmm... funny.)

Found another one!

Hey, Hey I noticed a cache right near the library this weekend, and well... decided it's my day off, I'm taking my books and CD's back today... I'll check it out. This one was sooo much fun because it was actually INSIDE the library! (With permission? I do not know) But Kristina and the Girls can ask their library about it maybe... basically it was a piece of paper taped to the inside of the back cover of a reference book and you just signed the sheet. I was all over that library hunting before I finally decrypted the hint, then I went to the regular books, then typed it in the computer and found it is a reference book. I think I may get a magnetic key holder to put on the bottom of a shelf if the library will allow, then people will have 2 to find when they go in for the one. LOL - I was squeezing my head in between the shelves looking for a magnet of some kind at first.... at least it was not that busy.

School Updates:

I got registered for my summer and fall classes yesterday, and Chris finished his first class last Monday, and got the homework for the first day of his next class. He passed this class with a 94% - A! Yay for Chris!!! He has 19 more to go including this one.

I however discovered that if I take on two - 3 credit classes this summer and a 1 - credit course, then take 1 set of two hybrid classes, I can have my associates degree next May! So here is what I'm looking at:

This Summer:
EDUC 130: Multi-Cultural Classroom
SOCI111: Intro to Sociology
EDUC 156: Transition to Baccalaureate

Fall 09:
History 235: World Civilization I
Math 127: Mathematics for Elementary Education I
EDUC 201: Computers in Education
Chem 101: Intro to Chemistry I

Spring 2010:
SCIN 111: Physical Science
Math 128: 1st 8wk Hybrid - Mathematics for Elementary Education II
Math 129: 2ND 8wk Hybrid - Mathematics for Elementary Education III
ENGL 240: Children's Literature
EDUC 230: The Exceptional Child

... so let's keep our fingers crossed that this works out and I can keep moving right along to PNC to wrap it all up and start teaching.

Enjoying the SunShine

Chris and I were out-n-about yesterday enjoying the beautiful day. We met up for lunch at Subway, then I went to Hobby Lobby and spent a hundred bucks a little too easily. Everything I bought, I bought for the bedroom. I bought a metal shelf/ledge, and a big decorative metal square thing to match (that explains it right?) I also got a new night stand lamp that Chris says is about two inches too tall for his liking--- he is going to cut the pole down a little. I also got some ribbon and flowers to decorate the lamp because I love the lamp, and the lamp shade - except for the goofy light green around the rims, so I am going to change that to a deep red to match the bed spread. And the flowers are from the wedding materials and I hope I can get to them to stay like they are with the pins in them because they have this awesome 3D effect that I am loving! I also got an aged looking golden sign with Psalms 119:105 on it. And last but not least, a deep red cross that has GRACE written inside the second cross. I am going to try to get Chris to hang these up tonight when he is done with his homework.


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We also went Geo Caching yesterday. This was GREAT exercise because we rode our bikes to the cemetery that is 2.4 miles away (yes, that's one way... and there was a big 'ole hill!) We found one of the two caches. I asked the owner of the one we didn't find for a clue, so maybe we can go out this weekend and finally find it. I made cool labels with a hula girl and my Geo name, on them for me because my name is HulaGirl25. For Chris.... COLTS picture and his Geo name WESCHR2381. This is because sometimes you find the cache and the pencil is gone, or it is broken, and you discover yours is not in the bag anymore.. lalala.... so, the labels are fun ways to mark our find as well.

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With my allowance this week, I bought a little craft storage box with the multiple boxes in them to store my eye shadows, because I am tired of dealing with them little containers. I searched and searched for one that wouldn't leak them all into each other, and I found one near the beads at Hobby Lobby where each compartment has it's own topper. So this morning I took the sifters out of the containers and poured them each into their new homes... (however cautious, I still managed to get it all over my hands and on my robe.) Then of course, I labeled them with their names so I can buy them again if I liked it. This container is pretty cool because it has two rows of 7, and you have to push a button on the side, and push up on the compartment you want into in order to get them to open. I thought that was kind of nifty.

The Weather Permits

We went on a Geo Cache today with Kristina and the girls. We found two of the three - which is pretty good without a GPS! I'll get pictures up when I can find a way! We hope you enjoy following our Geo adventures by watching our additions made on the sidebar of this page. And yes, we totally plan on finding the one at Dunn's River Fall in Jamaica because that is our "off resort" retreat this time anyway!

We're Here For Ya Brother!

My brother was in a terrible accident this week. Apparently there is not as much information as we'd like at the moment. I've heard shattered bones to broken ones. Dad says his ankle and hip are really bad. Casi mentioned rumors of two broken legs and a broken thumb. No mention of head injuries, so hopefully that's all still intact and working normally- :) . He was still in surgery last night, we're praying for a positive response from the doctors today. (I for one, would like to not have to worry any longer!) As far as the accident goes, my mom says the driver was drunk when he hit my brother who was obviously enjoying a nice warm, rain-free day in Tennessee (much unlike ourselves here) on his motorcycle. He was air-lifted to a hospital in Chattanooga. So we'd like to ask, if your thinking about it, please send warm, healing prayers for him.

Savings, Savings

I'm excited that I just saved $30.31 at Victoria's Secret, haha I saved more than I spent. I got 1 biofit bra, 1 panty, 1 pair of sheer beach pants, and 2 liquid eye shadows for $23.66 after shipping. I used a combination of three coupons - One was my Angel Rewards for $10, another was the February Bday coupon listed at retailmenot.com, and the last one (also on retainmenot, but I got it in my catalogue also) was $10 off bra purchase (of certain style) + free panty. I'm surprised that the coupon worked for the bra because it was on sale for 29.50 (usually VS won't allow discounts on sale merchandise) and because VS ships by price you spend... I think I got the lowest shipping cost possible from them. (no ,I don't have the luxury of having a VS store at the outlet mall.... yet.... they could still put on in there one day! :( Which is why I must resort to the shipping fees)

Taxes are Done!

Whew- we finally made it to get our taxes figured. Usually we wait till the very last weekend we can to get them done, but I needed them figured so I could fill out the FAFSA for school, so I can apply for scholarships and/or grants, which you can only apply for if you've filled out the FAFSA. The deadline for those however is Tuesday. So I'm all taken care of in that department.

We drove ALL-THE-WAY back to Kokomo to get those done by the same people who had been doing them for us. We also got some Donato's Pizza (yum, yum!) and we spent a few hours over at John and Eva's (our former neighbors with the soup and pie's). Of course, they sent us home with soup and a pie! Haha.

The house in Kokomo looks mostly the same, but we've heard the inside looks amazing! John says he's had a lot of people in and out doing work. He was outside working on his John Deere when we left, we thought about stopping in but then we saw he had like five other people there as well, and decided we'll see about hitting him up next time.

WIFI Wii Games + new link

For anyone who does not know, we have Mario Kart - so if you want to be friends with us, let us know. We also downloaded Tetris Party from the Wii Shop Channel for $12. It is WI-FI, so if you download that one- again, let us know so we can swap friend codes to play each other.

I'm also adding a new link to the blog - retailmenot.com - Retail Me Not - It has various popular sites and different promotional codes that they are using so you can save your green stuff! I use the Victoria's Secret ones from time to time. Some are hit and miss, some work even better then described... if that's possible, clearly- it is!

Smellin' good in the Neighborhood

Today we went to watch HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU, it's funny deserving of the 4 star reviews, just don't go thinking it is ALL comedy. It was not intense drama at all, but it was cutesy and fun.

Then we went to Meijer (and this is where the smelling good part comes in,) we had to get filters for the furnace, a new belt and a new filter for the vacuum. The filters were BOGO (free) so we bought two, and got two since you know it is changed out monthly. Then I found this neat little air scented thing to put on the furnace filter...YOWZER, it smells awesome! We got Gardenia, they also had Vanilla, Wild Berries and Cinnamon. Now we'll just have to see how long it smells good.

100% - A

Science test last week was a 100% A+! Cheers to whoever complained about not being taught the material for the test. Remember I said that he truly believes he can not teach us everything we need to know for the test? Well... someone had to have said something because he came in last week for the test and announced: "I don't know how I can make this any more fair then to make the tests open book, open notes. I mean it's open book now, so no one can be upset at me if they don't get the grade they think they deserve." Well Cheers, I got an A.

Travelin' Weekend

After work on Saturday we headed to IL. First to mom and dad's house to drop off their copy of Mario Kart, then we ate with Kris and the girls and them at Monical's (or Monica's depending which side of the family you're from! haha). The pizza there is so awesome and I left it in the fridge at Brent and Amanda's house. I hope they enjoy it as a snack at least...(don't just be throwing it out, it's too good.) So obviously after pizza we went to B&A's to drop off their Mario Kart and see the Prius and hang out for a few with them. Makenna is so much fun...however after she went to bed we went to get ice cream and donuts and milk and cereal from the new county market near their house. I'm so jealous that they have everything right there in one town right near them. The rumor is soon MC will have an Olive Garden! Movin' on up...

I learned today at the post office is to be discontinuing Tuesday services...??? Budget cuts, I can assume.

So we left the camera at Brent and Amanda's house. Not that I could take the pictures off anyway until we get the laptop back in service, so... it just saves me from taking more pictures and getting further behind with posting them.

Yea! I can travel by air outside the US now!

My passport arrived today! Well it could have gotten here yesterday or Saturday, I only went to the PO box today since Friday. Once a week (sometimes two) is plenty. My picture looked really good, but it don't look so good on the finished product with all those lines going through it, and it sorta looks fuzzy! But ah, well... as long it gets me home that's all that matters.

Chris and I are going to be planning a road trip to Canada for a weekend just so I can get my first stamp put in there.

Call me crazy, but why does Taylor Swift call herself "the scarlet letter" in Love Story? Every time I hear that song (and I really like that song) I cringe at that line"you were Romeo, I was the scarlet letter." ...Just to clear this up, when I say herself, I don't mean like herself, herself personally obviously so no one needs to think I'm saying she can't write a song just to write a song, I'm just saying.. THE SCARLET LETTER.... seems a bit odd to me. Instead of "I'm not a policeman, I'm a princess" we'll be hearing "I'm not a princess, I'm a scarlet letter" Perhaps I should look it up, but is there an alternative to the scarlet letter from the book...

Tennessee

This weekend we made the looooong drive to TN to hang with mama and papa West. It was nice and relaxing when we weren't in the car. We basically stayed at the house and played Wii the entire time. It was great. We did go shopping for Mario Kart on Sunday, which we failed to find. But we bought the PRICE IS RIGHT for the wii instead...***Regret, Regret, Regret***.... all games by UBISOFT have been a bust so far. We're not going to buy them anymore. Cheap graphics and stupid context. It is 4 players, but you can only use one remote! Don't waste your money on them. ... Okay now that I got that out of the way... We did bug the Game Stop guys all morning on Monday, and they got 6 Mario Karts in... three were left by the time we got there. So we bought all three. Then we went to Target where mom bought herself one. Now Austin can stop calling us and Grandma Hall about buying Mario Kart to play him online. We can play him. I think we will set it up tonight when Chris gets home from work. Now I got to go eat lunch, then I'm off to work.. You all have a wonderful day.. and do like Aunt Kelly and let us know you stopped by... :)

LapTop Needs Helping Hand

Our laptop apparently inherited a virus back in November sometime... and when the anti-virus program expired, that little virus was let free and the laptop is a little more than ghastly ill...we're hoping Brent, Amanda and Vicki can work their magic on it again...?? But We may just drop it off at the computer store to see what we've got left to work with. First though, it's probably safe to get my pictures off right? I mean it barely starts up long enough to do much, but maybe I can sneak one or two to a disk or something I'll be okay...? I'm ignorant with computer stuff.

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So a lack of laptop means lack of pictures because I can't find any of the cords to get from the camera to the computer. The memory stick is too big for the video camera or I'd just slide it in there. Hopefully, we will get something moving and grooving this week. That's our goal, to at least get the computer looked at!
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It's Funny:

So I started to feel a little better by the late afternoon, and we decided to get out and go watch a movie. We went to see Paul Blart: Mall Cop. Now I know it looks really funny on the trailers right? And usually all the funny parts are on the trailers....Well I can tell you that it is one movie where they do not even show you a third of it's funniness. It's on the 5 buck club, go enjoy it you'll laugh your freaking head off.

Thanks to you who...

delivered the goods on the 60 degree weather yesterday!

Man was it ever so nice outside yesterday. Bad news is that this area got 13 - 26 inches of snow on Tuesday and Wednesday. And it is melting incredibly fast which means flooded basements and rivers. I wish I wasn't feeling so under the weather, I would have loved to go bike riding yesterday. Maybe today, we got up at 7:30 and the temperature was already 33 degrees.

Traveling Fool

Just applied for my Passport this morning. As long as I completed the form correctly I should be ready to travel outside the country by air in just a few short weeks. As you may have read (or heard) we are going back to Jamaica for our five year anniversary this August. Before when we went you know we could travel with our birth certificates, but now we can't. Chris got his sometime last year for work...which panned out well because I was already wise the cash only rule. Which really was not true because I could have written a check just no debit/credit cards. So sign me up whenever, I'm almost ready to travel the world... ;)

Everyone knows that I want to get done with school asap, and now we may be forced to make that full-time transition that I've been avoiding because I really do like to work, and I really do like that extra income. As it turns out, the bank that bought NC may make that next step for me. They had a press release that said they will be cutting 5,800 some odd jobs. We have no reason to worry at the moment, but there are three branches in MC and we are the smallest one that mostly gains an older clientele. So should they decide there is one too many here, it will probably be us to get the boot. Who knows what will happen, or when, but while it would be disastrous for my co-workers, it will be like a blessing in disguise for myself.

Science Test

I'm thinking that my Earth Science class is going to blow my GPA this semester. You'd think it would be pretty simple, but since the instructor truly believes himself when he says, "obviously I can't teach you everything you need to know for the test. You are responsible for the reading." So basically I should have just taken it as an online course since his only grading means at the moment are the standardized tests that come with the book, and heaven forbid he actually teach the stuff that is on the test along with the other non-test, non-related to the subject items he does discuss because he has more interest in teaching us Chemistry than he does Earth Science. He also said he recieved no guidelines as to what he needs to teach this semester, so he is trying to do as much as possible and basically it's 1.5 lecture classes over the entire 60 page chapter then a test that he "obviously can't" prepare us for. Grr...

Wii Fit

So we got the Wii Fit and it is soo much fun. I scored a 333 on the soccer game now. I'm onto Advanced and I scored 223 as my high so far. Apparently I'm pretty balanced according the balance games. Chris has been doing the Deep Breathing exercises and some strengthening ones as well. Per mom's request I'll get some photos of us playing the wii in the next few days.

The official letter:

:::Cheering::: I got the official letter from Ivy Tech yesterday stating that I made the Dean's List for the Fall 2008 term.

Chris is Registered!

Just to let everyone know- Chris is officially registered for class starting February through Wesleyan University. All of his transcripts and transfer papers are received. There needs to be about 5 more people to join the class for the actual class to be "carved in stone". He is pretty excited to be going back to school.

We looked all weekend for a wii fit balance board and/or Mario Kart... nada. Everywhere around us is sold out. Walmart.com is sold out. ebay.. well it's ebay, these items actually cost more.. ///supply///demand///... but we'll keep looking.

Phone Update:

Chris called the phone company about insurance and replacing my phone. At first it sounded like I'd have to get the old model I had that echoed really bad (I had two of them, they both echoed). But after talking to the ins. rep. They show I have a Blackberry Curve, so all is well. I have to pay $125.00 for the replacement, but my number will be the same. Now, I just need anyone who's number I may have had, that Chris may not have to email me lara.west@gmail.com their phone number.

Thank you Much!

Just an FYI:

My Cell-Phone got Jacked while I was shopping at the Good-Will!! My number has been suspended while we work out getting another phone. That's right, I was all messed up and I set my cellphone down to put clothes in the bag for the bag sale and I walked away about three rows, remembered I set it down, went back to get it and it was G-O-N-E. Chris started calling it right away and I had it on LOUD ringer, and nothing... Someone done snatched it in less then two minutes. Of all the places we went today I had to set it down at the place people go for cheap junk... and michigan city ain't exactly overflowing with honesty. Some people... grrr... I'm mad, but mostly mad at myself... poor Chris he'll be taking the brunt of my frustration, as I said very clearly, "Don't let me forget my phone" when i set it down. But he knows I don't really blame him and I love him.

After great debate I have decided to drop my trig class. I took this class because I was having so much fun with the one before it...however after only two sessions I discovered that I am not well prepared because the instructor from last semester simply had us practice the first steps of the whole problem then went on to the next first steps of the another type of problem. So I thought hmm... I have one day to drop the class the class and get my money back.... or I stress out and try to do the course and hurt my 4.0 GPA for a class that I do not need for my degree. I decided to drop it. I took my book back this morning during the break for my first class, then after class I went to student affairs to officially drop for my refund. Tony, one of the guys in the office, was like "whoa, whoa, whoa -I'm going to make you talk to Doc Downs about this first." So I go to Dr Downs office and he's like "I think you should give it a few more weeks, it's hard but it's easy stuff at the same time....why don't you talk to Mrs. Ficken about it first." I call Mrs. Ficken and she tells me to come see her after work, before my other class tonight. I stop by and she gives me an A for effort on expanding my horizons and stepping out of my comfort zone , but she thinks I should drop it. So She signed off on me dropping the course, but encourages me to find another class to pick up.

Kids Say Bye-Bye

Friday night Isabela had a slumber party at a friends house, then on Saturday around 12:30 Chris and I picked her up and we went to Danville. First we played wii at Kristina's house with her and the girls. Then there was the three of us, Mom, Grandma, Kristina, Dustin, the two girls, Devon, Casi and Shane all eating at Monical's Pizza. After that we hung out at the house for the evening playing wii and laughing at each other. Then on Sunday we played wii fit again (have to get one), and then Chris, Kristina and I took Rachel, Ashley and Isabela sledding. It was her first time, and she liked it a lot better then skiing. She started off slow, but eventually the girls got her on the fast trail. Ashley went right under the chain fence! Mom made a big lunch with Ham and Mac & Cheese. Kristina and I skipped away to decorated Bela's cake for her party. Then we headed home.