Smell this....

So here is actual proof that I did make Banana Bread today. And let me tell you, if it tastes as good as it smells then we are all in for a treat!!! Mmmm

Easy to follow directions for Banana Bread:
You put this










into here , then


put these into






this for 50 minutes at 350 degrees









Then you poke it with a toothpick to be sure it's done.... and it should look like this










Good Luck!!! Hope this helps!

So I am learning how to knit and have been able figure it out thanks to mom and a couple books and websites information. Unfortunately, my first attempt I started out making 22 knits per row and about 12 rows later have 36 knits... That's bad. Calling mom to urgently figure out what I can do to fix my problem and the advice to me broke my heart. "Rip it out and start over". Loving words only someone who has known how to knit since the age of five could only say. Dad just said "knit one pearl two." well I'm not pearling yet so unfortunately being married to an expert doesn't make you one in dad's case... Very disappointed. John will be wondering what I did today and I won't have anything to show for it.... 'cept a pile of yarn that was to be my beautiful scarf.

I am proud that I was able to get it that far without noticing any problems. I have also attempted to crochet and I'll leave that to Tami.... Besides, It's more fun to receive booties that someone else made than to give them to yourself.... Right??? I'm thinking it took about three hours to get as far as I did... well I was watching Anne of Avonlea too. How the heck to people have the patience to make afgans and sweaters?? I mean honnestly, it must take hundreds of hours!!!

We are having pork ribs in the slow cooker tonight and our house has smelled like bbq sauce since noon... I just hope they turn out alright. It's always nerve racking making dinner in the crock pot. For Mom's 60th birthday I made potroast and was parrinoid i was going to overcook it... well apparently when you cook it in the crockpot the longer the better. So everyone was nice and said it tasted good... Liars... What family won't do to hurt your feelings. I had some and I know what it tasted like.... The vegetables, potatoes and gravy were all good. Luckily I made extra gravy for my tough roast. But since we were feeding 10 adults there were't any left overs and didn't have to think of a way to use it for another meal at our house.

Oh the joys of being newly married. I instantly wanted (want) to be the queen of everything domestic. I sometimes feel like Alyssa and I are in a (friendly) competition for who can be the most like Martha Stewart... aside from that whole scandal and jail thing.... and I fear that if we were to count points now she would have me beat ten fold. I haven't even had a party here yet. She is able to plan a million things at once and still pull of everything beautifully. There is no better complement than for her to ask me how to do something. and not just because she is my older sister but because for forever she has "known everything". But I do hope some of her skills rub off on me. I have no idea how Mom, Alyssa and Tami have been able to have kids and run a household... I have of course seen each house out of sorts but I have no kids, just a lame job and a wonderful husband and I am still in last place, well Toni and I tie for last... I am certain that having kids won't give me the energy to keep up a household... so what is it that keeps them ontop of things??? I can't even go grocery shopping without forgetting something. Speaking of, I didn't make banana bread yesterday and they are at the end of their rope. Nice and black... But before they are unsalvageable I should go and do that now before John get's home and wants dinner....

Well, another day another dollar. They are finished painting the outside of my building but they aren't done with the whole complex yet so i still wake up too early for my own good. For some reason there has been a group of boys in the swimming pool way too early in the morning his week... like 8:30... it's not even warm yet and the pool is not heated yet they are having "swimming" competitions to see who is best i guess. Lot's of yelling "That's not fair!!!" and "You have to say GO!!!" so early rise again... Oh well, school starts next week and I will get to sleep in for a while then. I am planning on making banana bread. Some folks at work have been complaining that I haven't been bringing anything in. Well sorry if I don't have the energy to and don't feel like heating my kitchen up durring the day in the summmer... I'll gladly do it when the weather cools down.

John and I are planning on going to the Family Life Weekend to Remember marriage confrence in November. I highly recomend it for anyone who is married, regardless of how old you are.... mom and dad!!! We went to it just before we got engaged and had a great time. They hold them nationally so regardless to where you live there is most likely one near you... We are going to stay in the hotel this time. It's all the way in Janzen Beach and since we wern't married last time it wasn't appropriate for us to do so, so we woke up at 6 in the morning each day to get there by 8... It'll be nice to get a way for a while. Even if it's not too far away!

John has purchased an exhaust bender for his shop and is going to be able to do that now instead of sending his customers to another shop and not make any money off of it. There is another shop in the area that does it and he has been having him do all the work so instead of John making any money off it he barely scrapes by. So now that he has one he is able to service his clients better. "Everything is for the future Princess...." Which is true, but I know he is having fun learning a new skill too...

That's about it from this side of things. I'll see if my darling husband would like to contribute anything later tonight.

Congratulations, Andrea!Your IQ score is 126

This number is based on a scientific formula that compares how many questions you answered correctly on the Classic IQ Test relative to others. Your Intellectual Type is Word Warrior. This means you have exceptional verbal skills. You can easily make sense of complex issues and take an unusually creative approach to solving problems. Your strengths also make you a visionary. Even without trying you're able to come up with lots of new and creative ideas

Too early...

So our apartments are in the process of being painted... There was someone outside of our bedroom window at 7:15 this morning... John get's up and closes the window so the paint doesn't get in and make it smelly. I tossed and turned until 8 and decided to get up. Too early... not being a morning person as I haven't gotten off work earlier than 11:00pm for a long time I have never been able to get up, and now my pregnancy has made me more sleepy and i feel a greater need for rest. I might take a nap after lunch though.

I had my second dr.'s appointment today and it went okay, pee in a cup, weigh in EEEKKK!!! not that i was skinny before but I have gained more than I thought(4 lbs). maybe that's why my pants are a little snug!! blood presure i think was 120 over 72??? i could be way off but i think that's what she said. Dr. Drake lubbed up my abdomen and slid the dopler around on it and tried to find the heartbeat. no luck but because i have a tilted uterus and i'm just 11.5 weeks it makes it harder to hear. three weeks ago i did see the hb on an ultrasound and Dr. Drake said he'll do another ultrasound in 4 weeks at my next appointment. The whole thing took about 20 minutes. I am excited to get another chance to see how big my peanut (My friend Lauren's endering tearm refering to my baby) is getting. I am a bit confused. I have read atleast 6 different books/websites and most of them don't agree on how big "peanut" really is, as small as a fig and a large lime to a small apple or a softball... that's quite a difference. All the organs are formed and working, as far as I know, and the next six months are just for letting the little Peanut grow. John and I have decided not to find out the sex of the baby. At first I really wanted to but I have realized that the supprise is worth the wait.

John and I have differing ideas as far as labor and delivery go. He does not want me to get an epidural... I being an optomist of course would like to have an all natural birth. There are pros and cons to both sides but I will feel especially proud if i can manage without. But I am not saying for certain that I will not. When I was 17 i had an ovarian cyst and the pain was so great, I threw up from it. Mom said that it is relitive to child birthing pains. Hmmmm no good. I have thought about taking the Bradely method birthing class with John. It seems to be what we are planning on attemping to do. John also wants to deliver the baby. In a hospital with the Dr.'s help, but as he puts it he wants to catch the baby like it's going to shoot out of me like a rocket!!! I have been watching several births online Half of the women are completely nakes and so it's a little weird but it give a good idea to what actually happens. Like all you moms and dad's don't already know(please don't look at the very grafic videos, it is about a 21 week gestation birth and it will tear your heart out) I am confident that he will be able to pull the baby out and lay him on my tummy. With the dr.'s help as long as everything is normal.But all the sucking of the nose and mouth and making sure I don't tear etc. I will leave to my doctor.
Well if I'm going to get my nap I must get off the computer. I think the painters are done with my building for right now, it seems to have quieted down.

The Gypsies are coming!!! The Gypsies are coming!!!!

Well I have aprox. One week before all hell breaks loose at work and Banquet season officially begins... And what a way to kick it all off with a big old fashioned Gypsy wedding... As of this moment I wish I was put on bed rest and not required to come back for about a month and a half. After the "beloved" gypsies are gone we have another group well known for rudeness and complaints and unstoppable hunger... They are called the Northwest Marketers Association... About 300 or more vendors and their staff invade our hotel for 3 days and nights and make the staff at the hotel near suicide... I have dealt with this group for 5 years now and seeing that they come 2 times a year makes me no novice to their dramas and problems. And soon after they leave we have the very strange and eccentric tea drinking art and soul ladies who try to entrap you with their tarrot card reading spirituality... Yes, their crafts are quite lovely... But they (most of them) have the manners and etiquette of someone raised in a barn. Very rude and impatient. And all of these groups will be taking place in one month!!! I hope I don't have an episode.... Or maybe I do.

John and I are trying to get out and start to look at homes. The small two bedroom apartment barely fits the two of us and with not much more room to fit a crib let alone the million of other things that come with having a baby. Our lease is up at the end of November so I would of course like to find something before then, I won't be too big, hopefully, then and will be able to do lots of packing and moving things around. I would of course like time to set up a nursery and start nesting after we move instead of before... I have found quite a few on craigslist and I was wondering if anyone could take a quick look to see if any of them stick out. We are looking in Clackamas county, Milwaukee, Clackamas, happy valley Damascus but not too far out in Estacada or Corbett or Molalla... Price range 250-375k. 3 bed 2 bath. Preferably not a manufactured home and with a decent yard... Thanks

Well I must off to work... I hope the few of you who went on the church campout this year had a good time... Talk to you later. Love Andrea

Why are pregnancy dreams so wild??? I have had the widest range of dreams in the last couple weeks. Half of them were about whether John and I should get married or our actual day and no part of the dream actually happened in real life... Last night we were getting married again in something that reminded me of Gateway Baptist Church, an airport and my old high school buildings. My food and bev. Director at work was giving me away and we were in the back of the church sitting down on the pews and the procession starts but before we can leave the highschool dance team gets up on the stage in white costumes and does a "wedding themed" recital. I get fed up with this nonsense and decide to go find John since he didn't seem to be at the church. I was running in my gown from building to building and people kept stepping on my dress... So I carried it. I had my 4th grade "boyfriend" ask me for my number and I told him plainly that I was married, he apparently didn't notice I was in a wedding gown... Then I am following a really tall man and it turns out to be John's dad. Then I turn around and John is there and he and I are going to some meeting with one of the pastors from Good Shepherd. I am now in the bathroom and we (john and I) are doing my hair and he says he wants me to wear something pink. I have the hair from hell and it's wild and untameable. I try to set it in hot rollers but for the first time in my life I had too much to deal with... Then I wake up, it's 9 am afterall and I have to pee....

John was still asleep but he got up shortly after I crawled back into bed, he's at the shop right now for some reason....

Last night at work was good, we were busy but the kitchen was ontop of things and we were able to turn tables easily. There was a couple in there that were arguing and swearing... I couldn't hear it from where I was standing but reports from two servers said they were. It was supposedly their anniversary... So another group of people come up to be seated and as I'm on my way back to the cashier stand I hear him say $#!* and since no one was around I didn't say anything about it... A half an hour later a family comes up and the only table that is set up was too close to them so I go place the menus on the table and another word vomit somes out of his mouth and I look at him and say "sir!!! You cannot talk like that in here!!! It is completely inappropriate and you'll have to leave." Mind you they have been done with their dinner for about an hour or more and they said "fine, let's just go to the bar... " Yeah... That's just what you need alcohol and a new set of witnesses to your drama. The server that was waiting on them came up to me and we got to talking about it and I said something about never ever belittle your partner, in private or in public.... I don't know what I would do if I was ever treated in such a fashion!!! I came home last night and kissed my darling Husband and told him that I was so glad I married him... I told him of the couple and what else I had to deal with that night.

Well I must get ready, we have a BBQ to go to in half an hour and I haven't even showered yet...

Saturday, July 08, 2006
Andrea's pregnant!!!! Current mood: excited
So for all my pals who actually talk to me and know what's been going on in my life I would just like to fill you in on the latest news.... As you can tell by the heading I found out yesterday morning that John and I are pregnant! The baby is estimated to be due on March 16 or sometime around then. I feel fine, no morning sickness and my bbs aren't overly sore... Yet. I have slight cramping and my back has been sore all week but this is just a prelude to everything else that will be happening the next 8 months. We are celebrating our one year anniversary today and this news couldn't have been a better present for either of us... I hope all of you (Lesa) who have been through this will be able to give me loads of advice.... But mainly just pray for all three of us that we will have a healthy pregnancy and the transition to parenthood won't be traumatic. Love ya'll, Andrea

Just to add more to your reading pleasure... I'll add some of my old myspace blogs here...

Peanut update and work issues Current mood: Stinky
Okay now I'm 10 weeks and 4 days along... things are starting to pick up.... I haven't had more than one episode of morning sickness but i tend to get naucious often, I don't know which is worse. I seemd to have felt better after I threw up... I have been so tired lately though, If i don't get atleast 10 hours of sleep then i nearly crash before 7 and if I'm at work it's worse. For some reason they don't allow naps while your on the clock... Dumb!!! I have my next Dr.'s appointment on Monday and Hopefully will be able to hear the heartbeat. Last time i was in I was just 8 1/2 weeks and we saw the heartbeat but she didn't use the dopler to listen for it.
John's back has been killing him lately and does he go to the dr??? no. he just complains about it and has me rub it.... I would kill for a massage, back pain... he has no idea. Why the heck am I paying $300 a month for insurance for the both of us if he hasn't gone to the dr.s once since we've been married??? It's less than $100 for just me...that's $2,400 we could have saved. Hmm
The assistant manager to the restaurant and lounge either got fired or he quit, no one seems to want to talk about it. Amber had me "fill in" for two days.... I have a horrible feeling she'll want me to do it full time, until i leave permanately in Feb. and if that's the case, i'm ready for her.... I already have my demands as far as salary and hours worked.... just incase. I did that job for over three years and under terrible terms, I was just anxcious to learn anything and was naive to ask for why i actually earned and deserved. After three and a half years, I went from $8.00 an hour to $8.75. Infact, my first raise was for $.03. that's right, I made not even a nickle more... that should have been a sign there. I had to wear a uniform which was terrible, they never gave me what i needed to do my job properly, and my hours were terrible. After John and I got engaged I quit so I could pay for the wedding and began serving, I made almost double in that year than the previous as an assistant!!! makes sense right!!!
Well ladies... (I'm assuming no man is going to read about my pregnancy) I have to get going. I have B.O. and need to shower... Talk to you soon, Love Andrea

Well since everyone else is coming over here and creating their own blog I feel I must join you. I don't want to get left out like when I refused to join Alyssa and Aaron in their "clapping club".... Yea, that one was stupid anyway and it wasn't even a club, just another way for them to torture me cause I'm so much cuter than they are and they're jealous . Okay so now is the part where I tell everyone what I have been up to and what is going to be happening Right??? I am nearing the end of my first trimester with our first baby. And it seems to be going fabulously. I'm currently just under 11 weeks and I seem to be having all the symptoms, peeing three times a night, 3-6-9 almost like clockwork, I can tell what time it is just by remembering which pee of the night it is. Amazing. Morning sickness is just great. I love hovering over the toilet in hopes that something will produce but alas I am just left with a sore throat and lots of spit in the toilet!!! I haven't had any weird cravings, lots of carbs... Honeynut cherrios are Heaven sent. I have an aversion to fruit. I buy it at the store so it's available but John usually eats it because I just can't bring myself to... So I eat sugar free apple sauce so I don't feel so guilty about it. I feel if I don't get at least 10 hours of sleep I am a zombie after 7pm and when your at work and don't get off until 11:30 and home just before midnight it can be really difficult. I get hungry every 3-4 hours and I get cranky if I am and don't have a chance to get anything in me. I usually have a bowl of "Heaven" at night around 6 or 7 whenever I'm done peein' but just like many of you who have gone through this, until I actually feel this miracle move inside me I scarcely believe it's true.
I have one pair of jeans that still fit and my work pants (not to be worn outside of work for lack of attractiveness), Thank goodness it's still warm enough and I don't need to wear pants too often, and some drawstring shorts from last summer that still fit. If it's not stretchy or too big for me in the first place, all my shirts no longer fit. I had a wedding to go to last Saturday and the only nicer top that fit was a sweater tank.... And it was not in the greatest condition, I even attempted to wear some of the nicer maternity blouses Alyssa lent to me and my boobs just don't want to cooperate. I'm not even half way there yet and already I am having clothing issues. NO BUENO!!! I am tempet to go to Motherhood Maternity and look at their sales racks but it's weird being in there when I really don't have much of a belly yet, bloating yes and that pooch thing that I got after puberty....What's that about???
So besides this pregnancy there isn't that much else soo exciting to report. John and I are trying to decide where we should spend our vacation this year. Sometime in October, and cheap.... Dad suggested Victoria, B.C. I have never been to Canada and would love to go. Never thought I would go there, I was more thinking about P.E.I. on the East Coast where L.M. Montgomery was inspired to write her Anne of Green Gables books. I have always been a fan and hope to one day make it up there to see it. But anywhere but here would be nice. A week at the coast would be great too. Something different. But not too far away.
I get to go grocery shopping today and make banana bread... I love that smell... I might go to Michael's craftstore to see if any of their Holiday decor is finally on sale. They do that on purpose you know, all of us crafters and decorators who drool in the ribbon and paint aisle; can't wait to start this years decorating projects and it seems forever for the store to put them on sale. I know that they will, but it's like Christmas presents, You see one with your name on it and want to open it. You know you'll be able to on Christmas morning but you are still tempted to shake it right.
Romans 15:5 May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other - each with the attitude of Christ Jesus toward the other.
Well I think I have rambled on long enough. This was fun and I hope to have something to write everyday... I hope everyone is doing wonderful and is staying healthy and out of trouble. I hope you enjoyed reading about me and my life right now. Maybe I can convince John to get into this too and you'll have two contributors to the Cimino Home. Take care and GodBlesss, Love Andrea