Thanksgiving and Dad's Retirement

This past 4-day weekend was a blast! Jeff and I drove to Normal, IL on Thursday and then celebrated Thanksgiving with my family on Friday. Then on Saturday, my family held a retirement party for my Dad whose last day of work was TODAY!

Here are some pictures from the festivities (click pics to see them larger):

The sisters and my niece, Claire, who is soon to be a whopping 3 years old!


Pretty Claire....she knows how to pose for the camera!


Autumn...always being a silly girl!


My Mom and Dad!


The retirement take-home-treats...ZAK Happy Face spoons. (The tags were made by my mom. They looked adorable! Check out her site if you have any dishtowel orders to fulfill...many of her towels are sold with ZAK spoons or bowls.)


I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend. Here's to hoping the weather cooperates for our Christmas drive to Tennessee!

Fire!

Yes, fire, but a good kind.... After three winters in our house, we decided it was finally time to buy some gas logs and get our fireplace working. Jeff hooked everything up today and got it going.

Me, posing by the fire after a long day of shopping. :-)


Full view of the fire. The mantle is the only natural wood besides our stair case that we did not paint white. If we painted it, would probably have to re-tile too and I just wasn't up for that!


A grasshopper on the hearth is supposed to bring good luck to the home. =-)


So, maybe the fire will help me be more optimistic about the upcoming winter. Those of you who know me, know I despise the winter and it gets worse each year! I'm going to try to look at the positives of the winter....and a nice cozy fire is positive #1! =-)

Bean Pod Frog Shop

For any scrapbookers or card makers out there, you have to check out the Bean Pod Frog Shop blog. My mom and sister, Lisa, has teamed up in producing digital stamps and have begun to market their first batch, "Relax." Digital stamps also make great gifts if you know of someone who is into stamping. There is a link on the blog to their Etsy shop. So easy to purchase and isn't gratification! You don't need to worry about shipping or waiting to receive your stamps! For only $5, you can't go wrong! Check it out!

Gifts and Visits

Hello blog world! It's been awhile!

I try each month to get to see family, whether it's me go there (Illinois) or some of them come here! (One day it'd be cool to have everyone out here at once but there are so many of us and we all have different schedules so it's not possible right now.) But, my parents got to visit a couple weeks ago!

My mom made me an awesome hostess gift and a cool 4th of July package! The hostess gift contained a pink "Zak" bowl with an embroidered watermelon towel, a nice candle, and some cute stamps. I love the ZAK bowls and have three of them now...green, white, and pink all pictured below.

The 4th of July gift is yet another lovely embroidery creation from my mom. Two very patriotic towels for my kitchen displayed on a cute lobster platter! The pictures don't do the towels justice. The eagle on the blue towel looks as if he really has feathers on him...the way she embroidered it is just soooo cool! I love all my gifts but was just glad to have my parents here to visit.

We did chicken on the grill when they arrived. Saturday, my mom and I ate at The Elephant Bar, while my dad and Jeff went to Oklahoma Joe's (which, I might add, is on the top 10 list of places you must eat before you die...pretty cool! We love that place!) Saturday, my mom and I did a lot of shopping....Stamper's Ink, The Scrapbook Page, Archiver's, and a final stop to Joann's. We then went to church and met up with Jeff and my dad for a dinner at Red Robin.

Last weekend, for the 4th, we went to Memphis, TN to visit Jeff's family. We were there for 4 days...so that's the longest we've had to leave Fozzy alone. Had me nervous but we came home to an intact house and no hairballs...just an attention lacking cat that was VERY happy to have us home! Memphis was a lot of fun. Stayed out until after midnight the first night and until 2am the next night. It was great to see everyone and hang out with Jeff's sister and husband with their friends at a house party.

Other than having family visit and going to visit family, nothing too much different has been happening here at the Raggett household this summer. I'm looking forward to a couple weekends from now....for the annual Merry Sister Weekend get together!

And another picture of some petunia's that have been living by God knows what....I don't water them as much as I should but for some reason, they keep on living!

Memorial Day 2009

I hope everyone had a good Memorial Day weekend and got to enjoy some time off work hopefully! We traveled to Illinois that Saturday and to Iowa that Sunday to my Aunt's for her annual Memorial Day party. We had perfect weather! We had a great lunch, played volleyball and badminton, had good drinks, and tons of fun visiting with everyone. My mom also made all the ladies a take-home-treat! Check them out at her blog: Dishtowel Dame! See below for some pics and the festivities (and click it to make the collage larger)!

Is my cat spoiled?

We let him sleep like this every night. :-)






--Heather

Off Broadway, Extra Virgin, and Stinky Rabbits

Hi everyone out there in blog land! It's 11pm and I'm not tried...very out of the ordinary...so, thought I'd write.

Jeff and I are on our 3-day weekend. We live for these weekends! However, Jeff has been fairly busy with studying. His PE exam is at the end of this month; a day before his parents visit for the NASCAR race. I'm sure Jeff will be happy once the exam is over. He has been studying so much!

Today I ran some errands including buying a much needed new pair of work shoes at Off Broadway. I really love that place. I'm so picky when it comes to buying shoes...I can rarely find anything I like but at Off Broadway I always seem to find a lot! So, went shoe shopping, to Chick-Fil-A (only had a garden salad, no meat for me on Good Friday) to Hobby Lobby, and Price Chopper. I cooked Mahi Mahi tonight. I know...not that hard but it really is rare that I cook. We are trying some new dishes lately...some healthy dishes.

At Hobby Lobby, I bought 2 tan mats for my BigKick machine. My nestibilitie collection now consists of two designs - scalloped ovals and rectangles. My MOM informed me I can emboss with those and not just cut. Thanks MOM! I did a lot of practicing tonight and finally made a card I was happy with. I still have a long ways to go but I'm glad I have a neat tool that I can use the correct way now! =o)

Tomorrow night I am trying a new restaurant with some girlfriends. Well, it's new to me. They may have been there already but I don't know. The place is called Extra Virgin and it's in downtown KC. I can't wait to try some Mediterranean dishes! Looks yummy!


On Easter Sunday, Jeff and I are going to church at either 7:30 or 9...I can't decide yet. Then, we are doing our traditional eating out at a Mexican restaurant. We've done this the past two years so I'm calling it a tradition now. Mexican for Easter. Sounds good to me! I imagine the tradition will change when we have kiddos but I like it for now the way it is. =o) My family is organizing a little Easter egg hunt for my nieces, Claire and Autumn. Katie got them some Easter dresses and my mom is making them some little capes since it might be chilly out. I am soooo looking forward to the pictures of this!! =o)

We had a visitor tonight in our flower bed...a fluffy orange and white kitty that looked like our own Fozzy! He didn't seem to mind the visitor and neither did I. I welcome any animal that comes my way...even the rabbits that dig a hole in our mulch and poop under our front step. Stinky! But, I'm a huge animal person so it doesn't really bother me! =o)

I am done rambling now! Happy Easter everyone!

March for Babies

Hello -

I've joined March for Babies because the March of Dimes champions the needs of moms and babies in our community and across the nations.

My small team at Black & Veatch will be walking in May and are seeking support for this cause.

The money we raise for March for Babies will help:

...support all important research offering preventions and solutions for babies born too soon or with birth defects...

...provide comfort and information to families with a newborn in intensive care...

...push for newborn screening and health insurance for all pregnant women and children...

Any donated amount helps...and it's easy, safe, and secure - just click my personal link below to sponsor me and my B&V Powerful Footsteps team in our 1 mile Kansas City Power & Light walk this May.

http://www.marchforbabies.org/HeatherRaggett

Thank you for your consideration!

Look What I Got!

My mom got me some awesome card making supplies!

She also got me 50 sheets of solid cardstock all from Papertrey Ink. Made my day! I can't wait to make some new cards...I've been slacking lately!

Thanks MOM! =-D It was such a nice "just because" gift!!

Company and Kitties

Last weekend my aunt, uncle and cousin stopped by for the night on their way home to Iowa from their vacation in Texas. Fozzy was a big hit. He let Aunt Marie hold him for quite a long time and normally he doesn't tolerate too much holding. I think cats can sense a "cat person" easily, so I'm sure he felt a sense of comfort with her for sure.

Tonight Jennifer and Lisa will arrive. They'll also be meeting Foz for the first time. He'll enjoy the attention. He loves the attention!

Here are some Fozzy pics from today and over the past couple of months.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Hola! Haven't blogged in awhile...but really don't have too much to blog about. As my profile says, I lead a simple life...not much to report here! This entry will be quite random. Enjoy! :-)

One of my favorite reality shows, The Bachelor, has ended it's season with Jason, the bachelor, proposing to Melissa but dumping her on national TV 6 weeks later and asking out Molly instead. Made me furious. But, what I'm excited about tonight is that Melissa took a spur of the moment offer to be on "Dancing with the Stars." I don't watch too much of that show but will this season since she is on it and so is some gorgeous eye candy from "Sex in the City"...or is it "and the City?" I'm not sure...can you believe it...I've never seen one episode of that show!

What else...oh, we paid off the truck. We originally were just going to make the payments and pay it off by January of 2010 but decided to pay it off in one lump sum instead. According to Dave Ramsey, it was the best thing to do. Dave is coming to KC in May. I am going to get tickets for Jeff and I and maybe Megan and someone of her choice if they can make it down here. I agree with about 95% of Dave Ramsey's teachings...he's a great financial adviser.

Fozzy has some bad chin acne. I need to get him some Stridex pads at the pharmacy according to my vet, Dr. Warwick. See? Random! I told ya!

Jeff's trying to spend an hour an evening studying for his Professional Engineer exam. That's in Topeka at the end of April. I tried to put Fozzy on his desk to "help" him study but for some reason, Jeff wasn't amused.

My mom got me and my sisters each a spoon from the Garlic Press for Halloween a couple years ago. I really love the spoon and use it all the time. I usually incorporate it into dishes that I take to gatherings also. It makes for a funny conversation piece. =-D

I know I've advertised these Etsy pages before but stop by and check them out...there are some new items!!

www.dishtoweldame.etsy.com

www.coiled.etsy.com

Jeff sent this to me at work. I think I remind him of Calvin. ;-)

This is kinda neat-o =o)

I figured out how to add a signature to my posts! ;o)

Go to http://www.mylivesignature.com/ and following the directions. When it gives you the HTML code, go to your dashboard/settings/layout and scroll to the bottom where it says "Post Template" and paste the HTML code there and save your changes!

Your signature will start showing up on your posts but won't be added to your previous posts. There is a way to make it show up on previous posts but that entails you having to edit your actual HTML code, which I don't plan on doing! I guess another downside of doing it this way and not having it edited into your HTML code is that when you start a post and accidentally delete your signature from it, you can't add it back in unless you start a new post...so you'd have to copy and paste what you already had, into a new post.

That's my blog tip of the century...you won't get much more from me, as I am not that gifted when it comes to blog layouts. LOL!

Rant and Rave for today...

Rant: People Reading in the Bathroom
Ugh, just gross. Get in and get out, people!!

Rave: My New Hard Drive
Jeff just ordered me a 250GB PINK external USB hard drive from newegg.com. The thought of loosing any of my pictures on my current hard drive just scares me. Hopefully nothing ever happens to my current drive but I've always wanted a back-up for all my pictures and important files. We've talked about getting me another hard drive at times but tonight we actually did it. Thanks to my technology savvy husband, he knew what would be best for my computer and showed me the pink one. I fell in love. =-) It even comes with software to sync it up to files on my current computer so it'll be really easy to ensure I have a back-up of all my important files...mainly all my pictures! =-)

Valentine's Day

Today, Valentine's Day, we spent a majority of the day sanding down the rest of our wood trim. We have one more doorway to sand and we'll be DONE with that part! So, in my collage (using Picasa, inspired by Katie's blog!) you can see the taped kitchen windows, ready for painting. Fozzy jumped up in the picture so I snapped a few more of him. =-) We never let him on the counters but since the blinds were down, he was curious about having a new window to look out of. Also in the collage are the flowers Jeff got me and the jelly bellies I got him. Yeah, we go all out for V-Day! ;-) And then, nicely displayed on my oven are the various V-Day towels my mom has made me through out the years. I also took a picture of the white bean chicken chili we are making for dinner. First try at that so hope it turns out good!

Healthy Living Journal

I received an awesome package in the mail today from my mom!

Read more about it on her blog:
http://dishtoweldame.blogspot.com/

25 Random Things, Facts, Goals, Quirks...

1. I'm a worry wart.
2. I love routine and consistency...I don't do well with change.
3. I have about 5 websites I check religiously every morning.
4. I honestly believe my RB cat, Oliver will be the first to greet me at the pearly gates when I die.
5. I hate to read books, but can read anything that is on a computer screen.
6. One of my biggest problems in life is trying to figure out what makes Fozzy physically twitch all the time. It scares him and makes us sad when he does it.
7. I am obsessed with finances and money, therefore, I'm cheap and stingy.
8. I plan to see Dave Ramsey when he comes to KC in May.
9. I think about going back to work on Sunday nights and it makes me more anxious and stressed than the actual work does on Monday morning.
10. I go to church on Sundays and Jeff makes sure I do.
11. I'm on the 9/80 schedule at work and have every other Friday off work. I live for my 3-day weekends.
12. I lead a simple life...nothing too stressful in it, which is why I fear adding any kids to the mix!
13. I often get complemented on my eye color.
14. I really like my house...and it's pretty big, yet when I am home, I spend 95% of my time in one room, our office.
15. When eating at Texas Roadhouse, I want to just grab a broom and start sweeping up all the peanut shells. I'm OCD.
16. I have 4 sisters and we all get each other. We all think alike.
17. I take pride in any job I have and it's really hard to quit one even if I'm miserable at it.
18. I went to Illinois State and think getting my degree was my biggest accomplishment.
19. I think everyone I know is pregnant. I'm afraid it's a just a fad and when my time comes, no one else will be. It's also a time I'm not craving yet.
20. I love reading people's blogs, even blogs of people I don't know.
21. When I retire, I will be playing World of Warcraft again.
22. I hate the cold...in fact I can't even stand the Fall. I love hot summer days with clear skies and even humidity.
23. I play sand volleyball and often reminisce about when we had a net in the parent's backyard and all the neighborhood kids would come over and play.
24. I often think life is just flying by. Being able to distinguish new people at work as recent college graduates, makes me realize I've been out of college for nearly 6 years.
25. I love Cheerio Chex mix...just cheerios, butter, garlic powder and W sauce.

Dining Room is done...

Sneak Peak at some pics...still need to accessorize but this is what it looks like after painting today!

Edit: Done accessorizing. Updated pics are below.

Before:

Save Now

After:

Merry Sister Weekends...

So, in 2006, the Merry sisters slowly started moving away. Jennifer to Connecticut, Lisa from Chicago to Texas, myself to Kansas and Megan to Springfield. When Lisa moved to Chicago, we started a tradition of the "Merry Sister Weekends." After Chicago, we all visited Jennifer in 2006 in Connecticut. Then in 2007, we all traveled to Houston, TX to stay a weekend with Lisa. In 2008, all the sisters came to KS to visit for a weekend. The sisters are all back in Normal, IL, except me so I think the tradition will continue with everyone coming here each summer! Or maybe someday we can all meet in Florida or something!

Anyway, thought I'd share a picture from each Merry Sister Extravaganza. I always enjoy looking back at the pictures. It's goooood times!!

Chicago 2006


Connecticut/New York 2006



Houston, TX 2007



Olathe, KS 2008

Kitchen Transformation...

Thought I'd post pictures of what my kitchen has been through since I moved in.

January 2006
This is what the previous owners did. All plaid and rooster/chicken wallpaper...




October 2006
We painted it red...





September 2007
My mother-in-law and I painted it "dust storm aka Raggett Brown" while Jeff and his dad were at a NASCAR race....






January 2009
The wood trim transformation in progress...Trim opening to dining room has been painted. Doesn't it look great! I can't wait for the rest of the trim to finally look like that!




We did a lot more sanding today but still are not done with that process. I will never ever again complain about painting because it's 100 times more "fun" than sanding will ever be!

Sometimes life catches you off guard....

...or Jennifer takes the picture when we aren't quite ready!

Happy Birthday, Jennifer!

Today is my oldest sister's birthday!

Happy Birthday, Jennifer!