LIVE EVERY DAY...

2005-09-06T17:15:00.000-06:00

I am back, relaxed, refreshed, and ready to take on the world. Or at least starting a daycare, anyhow...
We spent the weekend in southern B.C. at Koocanusa Lake. Last year some friends invited us along on the houseboat they had rented, and it was so much fun that we decided to do it again. The general opinion was that this year was way more fun than last year. The houseboat has three private bedrooms, two double beds in a loft, a couch that makes into a double bed, and the table makes into a double bed. It also has microwave, stove, two fridges, propane BBQ, fireplace, DVD player, one and a half baths, hot tub, and slide off of the top floor of the boat. Marc and I took our boat also, so we skied, wakeboarded, and tubed until we were too sore to move. All day we can just putter up and down the lake in the houseboat, and then at night we beach it. Last year when some of them went cliff jumping- and you have no idea how high the cliff was- the one girl hit the water wrong. In a few seconds she had the nastiest bruise I have ever seen from her thigh to her knee. The impact actually broke the skin open. When she got home, the doctor told her she bruised her kidney, spleen, and rib cage. He said he had never seen such severe damage from water, and really questioned her if her husband was abusive! We were talking about it last weekend, and I asked her just how bad it hurt. And she said, " we'll just say I have not cried from physical pain since I was six years old ( she is 26 now) but I cried so hard when I was alone in the loft!" Thankfully, we had no injuries this year and yes, they went cliff jumping again! She wanted to do it again, but when we climbed up there, she wasn't able to jump off. I was so glad.
It was good to get home, and now I am anxious to get everything rolling in ernest for Lisa's KidzKare. I will try to keep you updated, but I have alot going on and don't always feel in the writing mood. =) Have a great day!

Lisa's KidzKare, LLC

2005-08-30T00:41:00.000-06:00

I think I am going to pull it off--I am going to start my very own business..........With a lot of support from my husband, some amazing help from the Lord with the details, and a lot of grunt work from me, I think it is actually going to happen! The childcare situation in our town is desperate. At this point, there is one lady licensed for 12 full time and up to 16 overlap ( no more than three hours daily) kids. There is 25-30 more kids who need care. I have never confirmed that number, but it is the one I hear consistently. So I began checking into it, and the doors just kept opening in front of me. I had an employee, who has years of experience in running a childcare facility, within days of expressing interest in opening. The Chamber of Commerce and Three Rivers Telephone will give me help with finances and buying equipment to get going. Marc is just so excited about it- he is my biggest fan ! And I could never do it without him- he's just so sure that I am so smart and good with kids and everybody likes me and will like me even more and etc, etc. =) The biggest snag I ran into was a building to have it in. Our house is absolutely not an option, and everything is Fairfield is just so tight right now. I wasn't ready to take the huge step of purchasing something yet, and there is just no rentals available. It was causing the "Cheetos-and-Coke" stress, because I cannot send in my application for licensing until I have a building, so I can draw the floor plan, to prove that I will have the required minimum amount of floor space. It takes a few weeks to process the app and I really, really want to open around the first of October. I think we found the place last night. It is a block from our house, and it is the very first place I thought of when we started looking into all of this. (Note to self: ALWAYS pursue your first instinct!) I called and asked about it, and found a few drawbacks. So I thought, " oh, something else will fall into place" After a week of frenzied searching, we went and looked at it and I LOVE IT. It is a small log building that was used as an office. It doesn't have kitchen facilities, but he is willing to put them in. He also wants to put in a tub/shower unit, and laundry facilities. The kitchen is the only essential one, but he would like to be able to rent it out as an apartment in the future, and figures he may as well do it all while he is at it. Just pray that it can all be done by the first, please, please!! I went to the accountant this morning to form an LLC, and that made it seem pretty real. I am very excited and thankful that this opportunity came our way. There are a million things that need to be done, from getting my TB test read to buying a computer. Working under pressure brings out the organized and efficient qualities in me, so I am not really worried. None of my bosses have shown up the last couple of days, so I haven't given notice here yet. I hate doing that. I always get caught in the mind trap of feeling obligated to someone, and blah, blah, blah. I will be very happy when that task is off my list!

Now I am going to think of something else to be mysterious about!!!!!

2005-08-29T12:20:00.000-06:00

Stress that drives you to Cheetos and a 20 oz. Coke at ten-thirty in the morning is a bad thing.

2005-08-23T16:50:00.000-06:00

We have a huge red lab, one min pin, and two lab puppies at our home, in town. The puppies are not permanent family members, only until we find people to pay cold, hard cash for them. The new puppies caused a huge backset in all areas of my dog's( the min pin) behavior. He is consumed by jealousy, and the best way to show that is, when he is in the house , to poop behind the loveseat. We need to sell the puppies. Anybody?
By the way, our house is very clean and it does not stink like animals!

Marc has been roofing some friend's addition in the evenings and weekend. When I get off of work, I go there, and my friend and I spend the evening eating, and talking, talking, talking, talking,talking..........She never thinks of anything that she wants to ask, but is too afraid to, if you get the picture. It is disconcerting and comforting at the same time. You can ask her anything, also, and you never ever wonder what she is thinking. =) I love her to death. And she causes me anxiety. She has three beautiful daughters and one hilarious little boy and they live in a very small house- like 800 sq. ft. or something. Time spent there is a true adventure.

I really want to know how a person cultivates self discipline in your life ?

And I have a huge project in the works. I'm not revealing what it is until I have it more pinned down, but I am really excited.

2005-08-13T13:26:00.000-06:00

I'm not feeling to great at the moment- not really sick- just like I usually feel when I have been eating a bunch of Junk Food...So I paused to remember what I actually had eaten and this is what I realized:
For Breakfast- chunk of banana bars and coffee
Drive to Work- 1/2 piece of pizza
Lunch- Huge piece of coffee cake and coffee ( that one isn't my fault- Marc brought it for me as a surprise and that is so sweet, I had to eat the whole thing.)
I have also had three or four mint candies.
I don't think I should allow any comments on this post ! I am so ashamed of myself. I truly feel like I should go get my stomach pumped and then live on fruit, water, and vegetables. And run at least five miles in the morning and evening.

2005-08-12T12:55:00.000-06:00

Last evening after work, I stopped in at Target in search of a magnetic calander to hang on my fridge, to enhance my efforts to lead an organized and efficient life. Well, they didn't have what I was looking for in the calanders, but hey, while we are there already, better take a cruise around and see what else I "need." I found all kinds of beautiful house plants, all lucious, green and healthy. But the best sight was huge 75% off signs- three of them. The signs were all on different shelves, but all grouped haphazardly towards one end of the display. Several other ladies and I gloated over our great fortune, and set about deciding which ones we had to have. One lady chose several and wheeled away. The other one and I were still making up our minds...I had one $15.00 and two $2.99 ones selected for sure. There was a bunch of even bigger and more expensive ones on the end of the aisle. A Target employee walked by and I asked, " Are these on sale, also? "No," she said, "only the ones directly behind the signs." How glad I was she chanced to walk by and save this bargain-greedy woman from the undying embarrasment of taking a cart full of plants to the registar and leaving them all there, because " you see, I thought they were on sale, but I really don't want them if they are not." I probably would have been too proud to not take any of them, and then imagine how bitter I would be when I haul it out to the garbage after I killed it....My green thumb is still growing, by the way.

2005-08-10T16:37:00.000-06:00

Does every wife think that her husband is the most complex man ever created or is Marc really outstanding in complexity? Some days it seems like this whole wife thing could just break my heart. He is so sensitive and feels pain to the very bottom of his heart, but he is the most private person about his real self,whether it is happy or sad. It drives me to all kinds of wild emotions. When we got married, I was determined to be the best wife- I didn't want to just keep the house clean, make good meals, do his wash, and all the other things men want- I wanted to give him the safe place he never had felt in his life. I wanted him to know that any and every secret would be sacred and nothing that he could tell me would shake my love. I wanted him to feel confirmed by me, his wife. I wanted him to feel a real pride and value in himself as a man. I know that it has only been three years, and I am still as passionate about it all as I was when we got married. The desire for it is not the problem....I just don't know if I know how to do it. One day, in the middle of his terrible grief over Jas getting killed, a very well meaning and loved friend of mine told me that if I could not get him to open up and talk about his feelings, she was afraid he would become suicidal. That still makes me cry to write that, because I have never before or since felt like such a fundamental failure in all the things I was desperately trying to do. I mean--I guess that somehow a wife should know how to make her husband talk, but I guess I didn't know something that I should have all those nights that we lay in bed and he sobbed and sobbed. I tried and tried...but the answer was always the same " I don't know what to say." No question that I ever came up with made any difference. And even now, when there is something that is really bothering him, if he does mention it, it seems better not to press too much or he just shuts right down. But what if I should be asking something? Or what if he does want to talk about it and just doesn't really know how? One comfort to me is that at one time in our marriage there was something he did not tell me for a couple of months, and I could feel a distance between us, a subtle shift in our friendship. He finally gathered the courage, and ever since than, I have found a comfort that I was able to feel that, even though it was a carefully concealed secret. However, sometimes when I see "that" look in his eyes- that look of quiet desperation and fear, that look of almost childlike pain- doubt grips me and questions pound relentlessly through my head.
So all you godly, wise, and experianced wives....let me know what I need to do.

2005-08-09T17:28:00.000-06:00

I had no idea what a speed queen I had become since I moved to Montana...Last night about half way into my 40 minute drive home, my front passenger tire shredded to bits. I am so very, very thankful that it did not blow out, because I would more than likely have been killed or seriously hurt. Anyhow, Marc was about ten minutes behind me on the road, ( I was actually on the phone with him when it happened, and he heard the awful noise it made.) so I just pulled off the road and he and a very helpful kid from his crew soon had my teeny, tiny little spare put on for me. That forced me to keep my speed at 60 miles per hour or under....and I thought that I was absolutely creeping. It was seven o'clock and I was worried the grocery store would close before I made the last fifteen miles home! It closes at 8:00. I guess when you drive 75 all the time, it is the same if you have to go 45, when you usually go 60...At any rate, I finally crept into our drive, thankful to be alive and very anxious to get another tire so I can drive a " decent" speed again!
A note on the plants that are busily dying: My plant that was a gift has spider mites. They are so tiny they just look like dust, but they do make a web all over the leaves. I am supposed to get Neem Oil (?) to treat them. I knew that we had them in our house, because last fall when Cel and Jane were at our house for six weeks, one morning Jane told me to come look at something in their room...and she showed me these minute little bugs on the wall and in the carpet. There was maybe half a dozen. I knew she was pretty sure they were caused by our dogs ripping around in the house some. I about had a heart attack and felt like a real scummy housekeeper. I called an exterminator, and they would come out and treat the house for $500, but she said they don't hurt anything or cause any damage. So I forgot all about it, except every once in a great while when I would spot a lone one on a south wall in the house. I guess they like some house plants, also. My ficus tree??? Not sure yet, but I talked to the florist I bought it from and he thought it was probably where I had it in the room. ( I also think I watered it too much, but he seemed so intelligent that I did not want to ask if it is normal to grow little mushrooms in the dirt.) So last night I moved it and that meant rearranging our entire room. I don't like the furniture arranged like this quite as well as I had it before, but it is growing on me and if it saves the tree, it is a small matter.

2005-08-05T16:44:00.000-06:00

What a week..............
.......spent $361.00 at the eye doctor.
.......boss wrecked Marc's truck ( or actually wrecked it more- it has a huge dent in the side where my cousin backed into before we got married.)
......our other junker Marc drives to work chose to take a dump this week.
.......my huge ficus tree is dying. I thought I had it too dry so I faithfully watered it. Now it grows mushrooms ( no joke) and still dies. Maybe a little moderation is called for ? Mostly I try not to look at it and the large drift of leaves on the floor around the pot as I walk through the room. Die, see if I care!!
......I sleep in every single day. and then I am mad all day long.
......gas is now $2.29 a gallon and Marc and I both drive 70 miles a day for work.
.....my wisdom teeth really hurt.
.....a plant someone sent us when Jase got killed also died. When we got it, it was in a planter with several other plants. It wasn't a particularly pretty one, and we had received so many, that when I repotted them I thought I would just throw that one away. Several weeks later, I noticed the very same plant still sitting in the garage, half of its roots hanging out and dry as a bone...and it had GROWN !! That tenacious little plant struck me, it had the courage to stick it out and even grow in conditions like that. I rescued it and have taken such good care of it ever since, because it was a symbol of hope to me..............now it turns its belly up and withers for no apparent reason.

2005-08-04T11:09:00.000-06:00

I am trying to get back in the groove of normal life again, after our fun vacation with family and so far I am still battling the "after-fun-and-parties" crabbiness, so I don't feel like writing a whole bunch yet. =) We had the best time with everybody, and I hope it won't be too many years before we can do it again. We also had a nice time with my family in Payette, although they are extremely busy this time of the year.

WalMart

2005-07-22T11:32:00.000-06:00

It is 10:21 a.m. I am sitting at work, all fresh and shiney...and the things I have already done this morning! I rolled out of bed soon after 5 and made us coffee and egg, bacon, ham, and cheese sandwiches for the drive to Great Falls. After I got my car at the office, where we left it last night after boating, I went to WalMart and I spent $122. ONE -HUNDRED- AND -TWENTY- TWO -DOLLARS !!!!!!!!! We have no children to blame it on. What have I done ? I did not even buy anything "fun"- my most expensive items were: Aveeno face lotion, ( not an absolute essential, but I have the driest skin in the world and like to do my best to look nice)olive oil, ( again we could live without it, but I like to use it as much as I can because it is healthier) shrimp ( for my husband) and a large bottle of fabric softener....so it seems like my bill with the other miscellaneous items should have been around $50. I. Hate. WalMart.
After that I went and worked out. Now I am at work, my stomach is growling and I have nothing to eat...after 122 dollars spent at WalMart...

No Nagging From Relatives Permitted

2005-07-19T17:03:00.000-06:00

I WARNED you, my husband and our two dogs do not do something exciting every single day !

I should have just been crabby Saturday, instead of aspiring to be such a PollyAnna, because it WAS a total rip-off that I had to work and last night I saw my "paralyzed" neighbor talking on the phone and mowing his lawn. (That is the joy of living in Fairfield...everybody "knows" everything, before it even happens.)

Do you ever get a fit and think that you don't have any normal friends or even wonder if there IS normal people in the world to be made into friends...I mean, I have one lady that totally adores me, loves me, clings to me, agrees with me, compliments me, drives me absolutely out of my mind. I have another friend who only has to spend ten minutes at my house or talk to me on the phone and she has some raging story about the attrocities of the Troyers. Another friend...well she is worth at least a week of blogging, and I still wouldn't have her figured out. Honestly, I think I am on a fairly even keel as far as my personality and relationships. Calling all others who are just interested in being friends with me in a nonclaustrophobic, loyal kind of way. In all fairness and honesty I do have a friend here that meets my ideals in almost every way. She is a strong christian, a very loving wife, a good mom to her three children, and when I am with her, we talk for hours and we agree about the way we feel in most things, because we actually DO - not just because I SAID IT. However, with her being a busy mom and my job we don't have lots of chances to get together.
I am grumpy today. People annoy me.
Tonight after work I am going to pick up a 48" round table, 4 chairs and 1 lounge chair for our "patio" that is actually kind of a car port, but it is a lot cooler than in the house. They are black wrought iron and I got them all for $50. It was advertised in the paper,and when I saw it and tried to call the line was busy...with nothing more pressing to do I hit redial approximately every thirty seconds until I got through. The lady had been out golfing all morning and when she came home she had like eight messages. She was calling the first lady back when I kept getting the busy signal. That lady said she would come over at 2 or 2:30 to look at it. The owner promised not to call any one else until after she was there. But since I called her, she said I could come look at it awhile, and then if the first lady didn't show up if I wanted it, I could have it. I loved it, and the first lady never showed. I am the proud new owner. Nothing like a little competition to sweeten the deal.

At Work on a Summer Saturday ??!

2005-07-16T10:36:00.000-06:00

I was so mad that I had to come to work today! I had asked off earlier, but it didn't work out. Today is " Swim Day" in Fairfield. ( I work about thirty five miles from home.) Our town has a nice little pool, but the fees only cover about a third of the expenses to run it, so the third weekend of July has been designated "Swim Days" for the last forty or fifty years. It begins Thursday evening with a BBQ, pie social, and silent auction. Friday is a golf scramble and street dance. Saturday is the main day, with a parade, bbq'd pork and beef sandwiches ( the firemen roast them all night long and until noon Sat. in a huge pit. You have NO IDEA how good it is.) for lunch, and then lots of games and entertainment in the park- skits, singing, etc.All the money that is raised goes towards pool operating expense.Being the huge and happening community that we are, this is The Event Of The Year ! I love our community, and since Marc and I are both members of the volunteeer ambulance crew ( he is also on the fire dept.) and I waitressed for a year and a half at the cafe ( and if I have to say so myself- I was by far the best waitress ! ) we have a lot of friends and I just love seeing everybody. But, no ! I had to roll out of bed and drag into work this morning....I was fuming over the injustice of this all and also berating myself for not being more assertive about not working, and generally working myself into a huge mood when suddenly I remembered----We just heard last night that our neighbor man across the street from us was in a terrible car accident and may be paralyzed now.He is probably around 40 years old, with several young children. His wife's mom died a couple of months ago at a relatively young age from cancer. Instead of being at Swim Day, they are all in the hospital, trying to deal with this new tragedy. All my reasons I was so grumpy suddenly seemed so trivial. I can get out of bed, I have a good job, and my husband can get out of bed ( at least I hope so- it didn't look too promising when I left the house =) I wonder if we can even really be thankful enough for all the "little" things, until they are gone and we realize what we had.

2005-07-15T16:00:00.000-06:00

Awww!! Marc is THE BEST !
I was extremely bored here at work, since it has been a very slow day. A van pulled up, and out got the florist delivery man. He came in and asked, " are you Lisa?" and I was so thrilled. Marc sent me a beuatiful arrangement of daisies, glads, carnations, snapdragons, etc........it looks so awesome. Then I called him to thank him and he gets all shy. That is one thing that tickles me so much about him- he is a big, macho guy, but when he does something really sweet for me or gives me a great gift, he gets SO SHY when I get all excited over it. On the card he wrote " for the same reason that you do stuff like this all the time" and that made me pretty proud!

Chicken Salad and Finances

2005-07-15T15:00:00.000-06:00

The temperature has been in the 90's the last week, and Marc works outside in that from six a.m. until 5:30 or 6:00 p.m. so by the time he comes home, although he may be very hungery he does not have a good appetite. So I try to think of things to make that will seem good at the end of a day like that....This is what I came up with last night....
I tore up some leaf lettuce and drizzled poppy-seed dressing over it. I sprinkled on some cheddar cheese and pecans. I sliced an egg and arranged it over the greens and then put chilled manderin oranges on. I topped it all with juicy, grilled chicken tenders. Ooo-laa-laa-la....that scored me some pretty high points with my husband.

About eight months into our marriage, I realized a very sad and terrible thing. Our Money had a chronic and life-threatening disease- DTF- or Disappearing Too Fast. Although it was not diagnosed as early as we wished, it was not yet in the advanced stages and therefore, we were quite hopeful. We began an aggressive and intimidating treatment plan, the details of which you can find in the awesome book "Debt Proof Your Marriage", although it was adapted somewhat to treat our individual case. Our long term prognosis is very encouraging, although there have been several frightening, and one particularly severe, setbacks along the road to responsibility and freedom. There are numerous risk factors for this terrible disease- the #1 being- LACK OF TEACHING IN THE HOME. ( I can say that because I have no children yet, so I am allowed to know everything.) Therefore, when I have do have a family, they shall be taught:
1. Love God
2. Love your nice mom
3. BALANCE YOUR CHECKBOOK

On a positive note: I once read that as God sees you treating what He entrusts to you with responsibility and thankfulness, He will increase the measure. I surely hope our sincere efforts are dually noted...

Oh, All right! already........

2005-07-15T12:35:00.000-06:00

I will begin by introducing myself, since Aunt Arlene will be my main source of advertising and many of her friends and loyal readers probably do not know me. I am married to Marc ( NOTE to Arlene- when I told Marc that you said that I should "write about what Marky is up to" he asked in a steely voice if you spelled it m-a-r-k-y and when I said yes, he said I am not allowed to start until you learn how to say and spell his name. Your nephew has grown up. HA HA ) Troyer, one of Loren Troyer's nine sons. We live in Fairfield, Montana and he is a foreman for Baer's Construction. He loves his job pouring concrete basements. I work at The Amish Furniture Gallery, owned by Bruce Walter. We have no children now, and the number we hope to have someday flucuates between zero or seven, depending if we have just taken a family with four relatively undisciplined children fishing for the day in our new boat, or whether I have just read the blog "The Big Yellow House."
We do have two dogs- one big loppy lab named Butch ( like every other male dog my husband has owned, and I would have to estimate that around 15.) and for Christmas last year he gave me a Miniture Doberman Pinscher. I named him Sarge, and he is probably one of the biggest reasons I question my ability to raise lovable and well behaved children. If I cannot train a beady-eyed puppy, how will I EVER train a little boy that looks and acts like his adorable father ? I really do not know.
I was born and raised in Columbiana, Ohio. When I was seventeen, my family moved to Payette, Idaho. It was there that I met my husband, and our romance was a long and daunting process- but on October 20,2002 we were married, and I am not being sappy when I say that I never dreamed I could be this happy. Of all the great gifts God has given me, I would say that I cherish my husband and our happy marriage the most. We have also gone through some incredibly sad times, with the accidental death of his brother and best friend, Jason, only three months after we were married.
I have been reading a lot of blogs for quite awhile now, and I also love to write- it makes my mind feel alive ( something that I sometimes crave on slow days in the furniture store =) ) so I will give this a whirl. Have a great day, and let a comment...