IRELAND!!!
Current mood: exhausted

Well as you all know, or most of you do, we went to Ireland for our honeymoon!

We left on August 5th and returned on August 14th.  To start with, the flight we left out on had electrical problems.  The power went out several times as we sat for 2.5 hours on the tarmac in Charlotte.  It was probably abt 90 degrees that day!.  Our lay over in Munich, Germany the next day was only for an hour so needless to say... we missed our next flight!!  They managed to get us a flight from Munich to London (I got pics of the royal palace from the air) then on to Dublin that afternoon.  They gave us each a voucher for 10euro so that we could eat lunch while we waited for our next flight.  We got to Dublin at about 6ish in the evening on Wednesday the 6th (about 7.5 hours after we were supposed to arrive) and went to get our car rental.  Finally we were on our way!!  We stopped the first night in Kildare and stayed in a nice little bed and breakfast room. 

The next day(Thursday), after seeing the sights in Kildare, we were on the road again.  That day we found our way to Clonmacnoise then found a nice camp site.  Friday morning we got up, visited Athlone and Athlone castle and headed west again. 

We made it all the way to the coast and caught a ferry to Inis Mor, home of the aran sweater.  We had to leave our car on the mainland and thus had limited room in the duffel bags to carry stuff so we took only our tent and our change of clothing.  That night the rains began!!  Let's just say they had more rain in the week we were there than they have had in 10 years!!!  Anyway, that was the night we found out that our tent leaks! Dana's clothes were soaked and my spare pair of jeans were dry, so Dana spent the following day (Saturday) wearing my red jeans!!  I thought he looked like a sexy rocker guy in his long curly hair and tight red pants lol.  Well while we were on the island we rented bikes.  Yes, our fat asses rode abt a total of 4-6 miles round trip that day (I pushed my bike up some of the hills but all in all I'm quite proud of us).  We biked up to Dún Aengus and had to hike to the top of the site to see the ruins and the cliffs that were abt 100 M up.  We then biked back down to our camp site, mostly in the drizzley rain.  About the time we were almost back to camp it began to pour again.  We hurrieddly packed up camp and stuffed everything back into our bags, rigged the bags onto the back of the bikes and hightailed it back to the docks to catch our 5:00 ferry back to the mainland.  We got to the docks, dropped off the bikes and made it to the peir at 5:02, just as the ferry was pulling away!   But all is good, there was another ferry coming at 7, so we walked back up to the "Super Mac" (Ireland's version of mikky d's) and got out of the rain.  When we made it back to our car we decided to drive on down the coast to the Cliffs of Moher.  Aarriving in Doolin we found a camp site and set up camp, in GALE FORCE WINDS!!!   We set up our tent, this time with the tarp we had brought to help keep the rain out.  It flapped in the wind all night, coming loose once to flap all over the place!  Finally we just staked it to the ground over top of our tent and left it at that! 

 Well the next morning we got up and visited the cliffs.  They are 214M high, (I think that is somewhere around 700ft).  The view was amazing! Well worth the trip (which of course included even more walking to get to the top!).  After visiting the cliffs we drove south east, coming to our next camp site, near Cahir.  This site was in an apple orchard on a working farm.. A very nice place!   The rain died down enough for us to set up camp and get our tarp up.  We stayed there for 3 nights.  It rained and rained but the tarp helped keep us dry!  In those few days we visited Limerick, Cork, Kilkenny, Clare Abbey, Blarney castle, and drove up "The Vee". 

 The Vee is a mountain pass up a windy road.  There we encountered the mountain sheep!!  They were spray painted blue or pink so the farmers could tell who's was who's and they were just roaming free in the road!!  

The last night at our camp site we stopped in a pub in Cork called the Old Oak.  There I had about 5 pints of irished brewed Smithwicks beer and we had the pleasure of hearing a band called "the Rye". FABULOUS! I would call them "Irish rock/blues/celtic/drinking music", anyway their myspace page is http://www.myspace.com/theryeband  go check them out!!

Well, Wednesday morning we packed up our camp and headed back up toward Dublin, hoping to find a B&B somewhere near the airport.  By this time we were down to our last 55euro.  Come to find out, all the B&B near Dublin are about 70-75!  After camping in so much rain (and it was still raining) we absolutely did not want to camp another night! (not to mention our airmatress doesnt hold air lol)  Finally, we found a nice little room in a bed and breakfast called "the Seasons" (it was also a bakery of some sorts) in Skerries, about 30 min from Dublin.  The room was 65 but the nice guy there let us have it for 55 (we had explained that was all we had left lol).  We went to get our car and park it in the lot and opened our room and he had left us dinner!! That was the nicest thing! Anyway, after a good night sleep we got up Thursday morning and headed to the airport with the gas light on the whole way !! (they DID tell us to return it on empty!!)  After driving in circles we finally find the place we were to drop the car off, get into the airport, find our counter to find out they had just closed the check in for that flight!!  They opened it up for us but couldn't find us in the system!! AirCanada had not updated after changing our flights and we almost didn't get our tickets!  But it worked out, we rushed to the flight as they were calling final boarding and we were off to Toronto! After a 3 hour lay over in Canada we came home to Charlotte.  And wouldn't you know it, abt 30 minutes before we got home in the car it started to rain!!!

Anyway that was our adventure and I had a great time and wouldnt' hesitate to do it again!! Of course we will be better prepared the next time lol

Most of the pics are posted on my photobucket, and we will be adding more as soon as I get them off the camera!

http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a96/maiajoi/

feel free to browse the Ireland folders for step by step pics of the trip!

2:03 AM - 4 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

I got taggeds!!!
Current mood: breezy
Category: Blogging

10 things about me....

1) i can draw.. almost anything i look at.. hardly anything out of my head. i am open to commissioned work.

2) I have a wonderful husband and 3wonderful (yes i said wonderful) children by birth and 3 wonderful (again, yes, wonderful) children by choice (step children, of course)

3) I want number 7 child, born of love, from the fruit of dana's loins, man of my dreams, etcetc

4) i rarely, if ever, wash my own hair! (i'm spoiled that way)

5) i read, books are like crack to me,

6) i am a pack rat, hate to throw stuff out incase i might need it. 

7) I am a groupie/roadie for The Vintage Sons!!

8) I cut hair at Cutting Edge Salon in Fletcher NC... and YOU need a haircut

9) i have 11 piercings and i want one more

10) i have one great big tattoo

and i am tagging Tiffany, Tiffani, Tonya, Nicole, Doug, Don, and anyone else!!

10:18 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

the wedding part one
Current mood: smitten
Category: Romance and Relationships

Well, we did it! We are finally married!! I am MRS.KOONE!

Up until a couple years ago I had pretty much resigned myself to a life of "old maid" status and one day some silly big-haired guy waltzed right in and changed everything lol. (I bet if he had known it would end with us at the alter he would have thought twice about sending me that initial YAHOO message.)  He certainly wasn’t was I was looking for at the time (not my "type" if you will) but he ended up being everything I ever needed or wanted and I wouldn’t exchange him in for any other. Funny how that works huh? 

 I am constantly being asked "so how does it feel?" . Well , it’s different, but not different.  Yeah we were already living together. Now when someone notices out picture and asks about my "husband" I don’t have to correct them LOL.  But still, it IS different. I feel more SECURE (which is silly cuz of course he can still leave and i couln’t stop him). I feel more LOVED (yeah, stupid, I know) cuz someone loved me enuff to marry me and agree to put up with my shit for the rest of time. I feel more COMPLETE, because he IS the flipside to my coin, my OTHER HALF. I feel like all the puzzle pieces finally fit together (well I am still pushing for that last puzzle piece, most of you know what that is. I may not get it, but I guess without the last piece to the puzzle you can still look at the pretty picture and know what it is right?)

Well i gotta run for now, I will post a blog abt the actual wedding later :)

10:24 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Check out this event: Benefit for Jazzmin Jaymes HAIRSPRAY

Hosted By: Gail Keyes
When: Wednesday Dec 12, 2007
at 12:00 AM
Where: Hairspray
Asheville, NC 28801
United States
Description:
Gail Keyes

Click Here To View Event

11:06 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

for Joseph
Current mood: hopeful
Category: Life

I wished last night upon a star

 shooting cross the sky.

I wished last night, I wished so hard,

I wished with all my might.

I wished that God would give you strength

to make it through the day.

I wished that God would see your pain

and take it all away.

I wished you up and well again,

a simple life of ease.

I wished you health and happiness,

your head and heart at peace.

I wished to see you smile again,

good times like days gone by.

4:39 PM - 3 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

wedding dress
Current mood: frustrated

Ok .. so I am getting married... and I cant find a damned dress.... When we got engaged I thought it would be so fun and romantic and pretty to have a themed renaissance wedding.  I had found a beautiful dress online and bought it.  Its gorgeous.... for someone with no boobs.   So I put the dress on and let me tell you, its not flattering, at all...  It has a very pretty elizabethan corset type top, thats flat, thats great if your skinny, but its not boned and when I put it on it doesnt support me.  So I have been looking for another gown.  At first I was only looking at renaissance gowns.I have found 3 basic types..

the elizabethan, which we have already discussed. 

 Then theres the Accolade dress,  its very form fitting down to below the hips.  Beautiful but not good for someone with a fat roll on their belly. 

then there is hte empire waist gown.. Now this gown is gorgeous in style and flattering for a big girl. 

My problem is this...

  I have what would be termed as an hourglass figure.  I have an ample bust, i go smaller around the ribs just under the bustline and I have ample hips.  While I love the empire waist and I know it looks good on larger women, I would like something that shows off my curves.

 I found this one  its perfect but its out of my budget.  its 1900$

 I found a beautiful ball gown at a dress shop.  It has a big poofy skirt made of chiffon and a fitted, boned, corset-looking halter top. 

 I know this isn't a renaissance style but I truly feel like cinderella in this dress.  I tried it on and it makes me feel skinny...

What are your thoughts on wearing a dress slightly out of theme if I were to change into a themed dress for the reception?  

2:48 PM - 4 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

baby fever
Current mood: contemplative
Category: Life

All my life all I have wanted was to grow up, get married and have babies, the nuclear family if you will.

Now, I know I already have had three babies but the experience was not the same. I made a few poor choices in judgement and each time when I found out I was pregnant I didn't get to experience the joy that comes with a planned and expected pregnancy, the joy came later. Instead I experienced stress. Thoughts like "what's the father gonna say?" and "what's my mother gonna say?" and "am I gonna end up alone with my child and no support?", instead of "OMG we did it, WE are gonna have a baby! I'm so excited!!" Now don't get me wrong, I love my children and wouldn't change things at all. I have no regrets.

These days I have found myself in a position where I have a wonderful man who wants to spend the rest of his life with me, through thick and thin, for richer or poorer, sickness or health and nothing thus far has made me happier. I never imagined that I would be in this happy place and I can only think of one thing that could make it more perfect than it already is. Yes, I want a baby. Not just any baby, HIS baby. In my opinion planning for and having a child together is the most intimate and ultimate gift you can share with the one you love.

The fact that he has three children with his ex wife already and doesn't want any more makes me undescribably sad. For that one thing I am jealous of her. She got to experience that joy with him and then she threw it all away, she is undeserving.  I will be with him until God sees fit to seperate us and there is a good chance I won't get to experience that particular joy with him and dammit I feel like I DO deserve it.

Imagine someone started a project, and while working on it they used up some of the important benefits, like the insurance. Then they decided the job wasn't for them, it was too tough and they just didn't feel like trying to finish it. Now imagine you saw the project as something you could do, something you WANT to do, would love to do. Not only did they get the priveledge of having the first go at it but you had to talk to the person in charge and convince them you were the one for it, since the previous person screwed it all up. Then you find out that you may also miss out on the extras that the first person got, like the insurance, because the resource is unwilling to input anymore into that department. Its a bad analogy I know but maybe it will help you understand a fraction of what I feel.

Now if you have done your math, yes, that's six kids between us. They are ages 6,12,13,14, 16 and 17. So right about now you are saying "my god the woman's insane". The truth is, the 6 yr old is mine, he lives with his dad. The 12 yr old, 13 yr old and 16 yr old are his and live with their mother. The 17 yr old is mine and lives with a friend so she wouldn't have to change schools when we moved. That leaves one full time 14 yr old at home. The rest come on weekends.

I'm not super mom. My house isn't immaculate. I don't cook (thank God he does or we would all starve lol). I don't spend every waking minute hugging on these kids and coddling them. What I DO do is try my best, and while I may not be supermom, I'm not half bad. We both have full time secure jobs, he has insurance and I wil once we are married. We manage to feed everyone without too much of a struggle and still seem to be able to afford to do extra things, with and without the kids. So financially its do-able.

I'm sure I have more arguments for, and could probably think of some against, having another baby, but I guess when it boils down to it its not just my decision. Unfortunately there is no compromise on this particular situation. Either you have a baby or you don't. The fact that he doesn't want one will not change my love for him and we will still move forward. I will just be sad about it and I will feel like something is missing.
I feel like I am being so selfish because I know there are people out there who can't even have one and here I am whining that I may not get to have a fourth. Is that really bad of me?

I struggled a little with whether or not to post this as a blog. I'm not looking for vindication or trying to give him a guilt trip. I'm not looking for sympathy. I guess I AM looking for some understanding, but I don't expect it. I figure he will read it and mybe understand a little more where I am coming from.

You're probably thinking, "maybe you should talk to him" and we HAVE talked. He has listened to me and I to him. I do undertsand where he is coming from and I do get his points. I just feel like when I write things down I am able to better express what I am trying to say, without ending up teary eyed and depressed!

That said, feel free to leave your thoughts here and thanks for spending a little bit of your time in my space...

4:37 AM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

its just a SMALL vent
Current mood: aggravated

ok i just have to vent a little here.  i know some of you have kids.  and you guys know we have kids.  so if you dont wanna hear abt kids and such tune out now lol

so here goes. we have 2 boys, both 13, who live with us full time. one of them goes to his moms every other weekend, but i still consider this full time.  they arent the best behaved kids in the world.  i mean they ARE 13 and they ARE boys. we cant expect them to be angels can we? iu thought they were bad until i went to juvenile court with my son (for taking a broken pocket knife to school) and saw that the kids who were there were MUCH MUCH worse. 

let me explain to you how bad our kids are . or how good in comparison...

we have tyler, who is my boy.  he has a smart mouth.  when he gets fussed at or called down for something he is quick to have a smart assed response.  now not to blame this on anything but he has ADHD.  this is NOT an excuse for him to misbehave but it DOES affect your impulse.  he has little impulse control when it comes to things that come out of his mouth.  he will say what pops into his head before he thinks abt whether it will get him in trouble or whatever.  he also has this thing where he thinks everyone is out to get him. everyone is against him...  he thinks he gets in more trouble then scott (the other one) and the truth is he does, but he brings it on himself.  if he would learn not to say things he would get in HALF the trouble he gets in now...

now for scott. he is danas boy.  he is quiet, and while he still has the habit of getting the last word in its not near as often, so he doesnt get in trouble for it as much.. so while hes not being a pure smart ass all the time he DOES have his faults. for example, if you take the kid to the store and tell him he can get a pair of shoes he will pick out the ones he wants. if you dont get the ones he wants for whatever eason he will argue and cry and raise hell in the store cuz he wants those shoes. or that toy , or whatever .. you get the picture.  when you tell tyler he cant have something he might make a smart ass comment abt something like "you woulda got it for scott" but that will be the end of it.  they fight over who gets to sit in the front seat. if you tell scott to get in back he will and has refused before. flat out refused. cried cuz he didnt get to sit where he wants. pitched a 3 year olds fit.  if you tell tyler he has to sit in back he will say "scott always gets his way" or some other equally smart assed remark, but he will get in the back seat. need more examples?

heres the newest saga.

in november scott and his older brother and the boy from down the street destroyed tylers bike, for whatever reason.. and lied abt it.. and got away with it.. but i was just biding my time cuz i knew they had to have done it.  but they lied abt it and backed up wach pthers stories. for 2 plus months.

this week tyler, in a completely unrelated instance, decide he would set fire to 2 aerosol cans. not only that but he put them in a ceramic planter and doused them with turpentine before setting them on fire.. he says scott and he both had the idea but admitted that it was he that did the dousing and he that lit the fire so he is the one getting in trouble for it.. scott says he had nothing at all to do with it that he saw something on fire and wernt to put it out.. now i dont know ANY 13 year old who wouldnt be out there marveling at the pretty flames in the container.. but he wont get in trouble because tyler admitted doing the stuff (i used the example that if i told dana we should rob a bank and HE went out and robbed the bank HE would go to jail). i dont believe scott. he has lied. and lied again. and lied again. just as often as tyler has, about various things.. i tricked him into admitting they tore up tylers bike. i know tylers offense is way more serious then scotts due to the safety issue, but thats not my point... the point is i can see where tyler would feel like scott doesnt get in trouble for things he would get in trouble for. because he lied and got away with the bike thing for 2.5 months. i would be upset too.

 i am not saying scott is WORSE then tyler. i am saying they each have their faults but their faults fall about equal IN MY OPINION. tyler does bad things and sometimes admits it and sometimes lies abt it. scott does bad things and always claims to be perfectly innocent intil busted and even then will deny any involvement 50% of the time. tyler makes smart ass remarks abt things not being fair and speaks out about his feelings. scott keeps this stuff to himself but when you say anything to him he nods his head and acts like hes listening but it doesnt affect him at all. its like hes just humoring us. but hes quiet abt it. .so does this make tyler worse then scott? i admit sometimes i wanna ring tylers neck for the things he says but dammit i can see his point.. we dont know whats goin on here when we arent here. and i cant always be here.. tyler says scott locks him out of the house. but we have no proof. tyler says scott does this or that but we have no proof so scott doesnt get in trouble for anything so tyler feels like scott can get away with murder so he vocalizes that and gets in trouble for tryin to get scott in trouble..

ok so what do i do? i cant be here, i have to work and earn money to pay bills.. dana has to work and earn money to pay bills, these boys are 13 years old and should be able to be left for 2 or 3 hours a day without haveing to worry that they will burn the house down or tear up someone elses bike or put an axe hole in my door (which each says the other did).

i dont know what my point is. just that i feel like some think one is worse then the other but i see them as equal, what is your opinion? and any suggestions how we deal?  tyler is currently grounded for 2 weeks, no tv no radio, no comp, no outside, no gamecube. basically nothing but cleaning, with a spanking in the cards if he cant do the grounding right. scott is grounded from his bike for a month cuz ty had to go without one for more then that till christmas, and grounded from his comp for 2 weeks and cant go to the neighbors to play for a while.. this doesnt work. in my opinion they both shoulda had their asses busted. but we know the rules on that.. i wish that dana would try to talk to me more abt it, but when we sit and try to discuss things he has no input.. i cant always be the one that says they need spankins or the one that says they need to be made to do this or that, i dont want to be the bad guy all the time but i am. i am the one who makes the chore lists, and i am the one who has to call and tell them to do the chores and i am the one who will come home and do it myself if they havent done it because it needs to be done. and dan tries to help by doing dinner cuz i dont get home early enuff and i appreciate that but i still feel like the dictator and not the fun parent.

maybe im just makin a big deal out of nothing and as always there is more then one side to every story but this is my take on things.. in the end i wouldnt trade it in for whats behind door number 2 because i love the man im with and i love his childrne AND mine and i think they are just kids and can be dealt with with a little patience.. i mean at least they arent abusing us, or doin crack, or sneakin out. or cussin us to our faces.. ya know?

and  yeah i want another one.. guess theres no hope for that huh lol

and i dont feel any better for having vcented

i need chocolate

6:35 AM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

dbl GRRRRRR
Current mood: frustrated

and why the FUCK cant anyone wash the dishes around here but me?!?!?! cant they SEE that there are no cups to drink out of? cant they TELL they dont have silverware to eat with???

guess thats my cue to go wash dishes, then i'm goin to bed...BLEH

5:25 PM - 6 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

GRRRRRRRR
Current mood: aggravated

ok just let me vent here... what do you do when you live in a house with umpteen kids and something gets broke or ruined and the culprit is the infamous "not me"? what if only two were there but their stories dont match? who do you punish? can it be possible that its always the same one???  Mysterious holes appeared in "childA''s wall.. 'childB' has a seperate room.. A admits to having thrown a battery against the wall repeatedly, but insists that B had a part in it.. says that they were competing to see who could throw it hardest.. B says that he was innocently watching tv and hear noise and looked in A's room, upon seeing A throw a battery B proceeded to tell A "stop that" and A continued to throw the battery. B insists that he told A twice to stop them tried to take the said battery from A.. keeping in mind A is 5 foot and 80-90 pounds and B is 5'2 and 195pounds.. but B says A HID the battery thus keepin B from confiscating it.. B then supposedly left the room and proceeded watching TV.. while A continued to ruin the wall... what are YOUR thought? btw A and B are 13 yrs old.  the mysterious "not me" hid cigarettes in A's desk drawer (yes, i punished A for that one) and "not me" ruin A's nintendo games while A was at the beach .. (no, B didnt get punished , just got talked to) .. im not the only adult here, why do i feel like i am the only one who will stick to punishments and who will back up the other? 

now, SOMEBODY , prolly "not me" has been setting fire to stuff in the back yard.. i know that is prolly A, simply because A has done that before.. and accidentally caught fire to some dry brush.. however B has set fire to a milk jug  on the front porch, so thus either one could be the culprit.. if i find out who it was i would like to beat the living crap out of him.. BUT only one of these children is mine... AND not to mention that as per DSS rules i am NOT ALLOWED to beat the crap out of either one of them.. so what do ya do? let them burn down your house? let them tear up the walls? i think i give up.. im moving out!!!!!

5:12 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment