fall for your type

hello, blog.

i saved myself 100 bucks today and figured out how to add freon (a refrigerant, for the a/c) to my car! very proud of myself, since i know very little about cars.

i think its going to be my new thing, you know learning about fixing cars, and such. it just seems like mechanics these days are really overpriced and why not be more educated and spend less?

i am so excited we are getting a new a/c unit on friday. our old one has been here since the house was built, in around 1979... so thats an old one! they are also moving it to the side of the house because where it is now is right outside the backyard deck doors, blowing out hot air. so now it will be on the side so i can have a grill or plants there, yay! and i was talking to a friend at work and she said that the new ones are so much more efficient and we'll save lots of money on the electric!!! mega yay!

so right now im hanging out in the middle bedroom and there is a wonderful breeze, looks like it might storm. i love the rain.

i had dinner with brandon tonite, we had roco jojo's. he had a burger with peanut butter and chili on it called the "barney" and i had the "elvis" burger with bananas, bacon, and peanut butter. i have to say, it wasn't that great. LOL, but hey, we tried it!

this saturday my brother ben, graduated from uni with a degree in computer science. 1 of maybe 5 total. it was a fun experience, couldn't help but think i should go back...

mother's day i spent at home with brandon playing lego harry potter, we are trying to get 100%. we only get 1 day like this every couple of weeks where we can just stay in our pjs, order pizza, and watch movies and play games. these are my favorite days... sundays.

i just got lego pirates of the caribbean in the mail, off to play some :)

p.s. my cats are growling at something outside, hilarious.

techno kitten adventure

i just saw my uncle on a midwest one bank commercial on the history channel... lol.

i haven't been able to enjoy the amazingly good weather because im stuck inside with a cold :(

brandon said "i want a dog" today.

i said "no" today. lol.

wednesday is my day off this week, i so want to drive down to dsm to see my nephew- oh wait, yea i have a cold still :(

one of my cat's Hannah is sitting on top of the playstation 3, not cool...

im watching home alone 2 for the 1,368th time and crocheting a doily waiting for b to get home.

my old computer applications teacher mr. twigg was convicted last friday of 5 counts of lascivious conduct. pretty weird.

brandon wants to go to WWE Smackdown at the McCloud Center May 30th with a friend. lol.

Ben is doing well, he is just getting over the cold that i caught. he thinks he has gotten the job in moline, ill. just waiting for may 7th to be over.

our 2nd anniversary is june 4th... i think whatever we do we'll have fun. it's hard deciding!

i play this game on the big screen with the speakers blaring, always makes me smile :)

mondays and tuesdays i work 9 to 4 so the nights are my lazy ones, i do enjoy them.

time for some pineapple and more home alone xoxo

ally

march.

haven't blogged in a while thought i would write a bit...

brandon and i got to babysit our new nephew, jack, this weekend.

we had so much fun!

he was such a good baby!

he makes me want to have one...

i am so excited for SPRING!

i want to put daisies in baskets on the windows... let's see if i can get brandon to help :)

my favorite musician william fitzsimmons is playing in iowa city april 30th, and we're going! i'm excited!

um.... what else? im working on crocheting a baby girl dress, it is just too cute to not make... i figure i could sell it on etsy :)

i have been playing my clarinet alot lately, lots of ragtime/polka stuff. playing my guitar alot too... brandon loves when i play, he is so sweet... ill catch him humming songs ive played.

when brandon and i have every other weekend together we basically go nuts and stay up most of the time watching seasons of shows, grabbing late nite iced coffee drinks and eating junk, we have so much fun together! i am so blessed...............................seriously so blessed.

my bestie josie is moving from clinton to waterloo in may, can't wait! she is dating our old roommate caleb, and i will have a walking partner!



other than that, same old.... :)

happy st. pat's day!

the only exception

you are ^^^





well, the holiday season has arrived.

putting up ornaments and christmas trees in june at work kinda makes you prepared.

life is good at the mcbride house, steadily working on my plan of "5 boring years"

can't remember a time in my life where things actually go right for that long period of time.

boring = uneventful and content.

i mean, sure there are events happening all the time but, just not like MEGA bad ones, you know.

got a few deals this black friday... not really much out there for actual deals.

my husband is snoring on the couch as i write this,

he has a cold.

ever notice when girl's have a cold its no big thing, but when the guy's do its like a natural disaster?


working on crocheting some booties... and some socks for a friend.

i like to work on little projects, because bigger ones end up being such a committment...

he said she was "the salt of the earth"

seems like i haven't written in years.

well, big thing happened. grandma marge passed away last wednesday.
brandon and i went to see her at the hospital right before her surgery.
i wasn't sure if i wanted to go, but brandon insisted. it was kind of like he knew something i didn't... mom too.
she looked healthy and well, normal to me.
there was a group of 20 of us in the room,
when i saw her i honestly thought to myself...
this isn't the end, she will recover... she looked well.
i sat with her and she told me she was glad i was happy,
and she also said be honest. always.
i kissed her and told her she was beautiful,
she said she'd understand if i couldn't be around after the surgery...
and that was the last time i spoke to or saw grandma marge.

she taught me things about life that money can't buy.
i am blessed to have had her in my life.

http://wcfcourier.com/lifestyles/announcements/obituaries/article_9e9951e8-f327-11df-aa63-001cc4c03286.html

Autumn Leaves

Life is happening, whether I like it or not!
Lately, it just seems like weeks and months are just speeding by!

Brandon's Mom, Nancy, my mom in law got married on 8-9-10 to her longtime fiance, Dave Schipper at the Little Brown Church. It was a monday so I had to rearrange work stuff but we got there. So now Nancy is now Nancy Schipper... one less McBride and there are only a couple. She came over Sunday and we filled out Thank You's... She said she wanted me to help since she's figured out i'm a super speller. lol. Also, I have inherited 2 brother in laws, 3 sister in laws, and 2 niece's... big family!

I've been loving decorating our house lately, it's been hard to actually accept the wonderful gift that this place is. I have kept alot of things in boxes because I never really could tell myself... this is OUR place? I get to decorate the way I want? What? We're not moving? AWESOME! I have been here for 3 years and I AM SO BLESSED! It has been the most stable place I've been in in my whole life. In all aspects and because of that I feel like I can love Brandon with my whole heart, not just the broken one that I had before.

I went over to my brother, Ben's apartment for his birthday, he's 22! Gosh, time it flies. His apartment looks the same as when he first moved in, empty. I think he thinks of it as, hey, less stuff to move when I go wherever I go. He requested chinese so I brought over Red Apple and some No Bake Oreo dessert (he requested that too). We had fun, he is something else though. VERY funny, stubborn, opinionated...

Brandon started his new job, and it has been stressful! It is alot of stuff to learn at once, but basically he programms and operates a HUGE cricut machine for metal. My brother actually creates some of the templates that Brandon uses at his work to make special order parts for Deeres. It is alot of heavy lifting of metal, so B is looking like a football player these days.

Spent alot of time this summer at the beach, 30mins away in Palo, IA. Pleasant Creek State Park. Clean, beautiful, and free!

I have a bunch of time off I could take but we are trying to plan a vacation in February, its really hard to decide. Especially with a boss who schedules horribly! If I took of a week in October he would make me work tons of hours in sept. and nov. and I just want my regular shifts! If he's mad at you, you'll know by the schedule, and I don't want that to change, so I may just wait to take vacation.... idk....Brandon has been talking to a travel agent, I want him to make the initial decision then we can go from there. If I don't take my paid time off, I get a big check for all the hours at christmas, plus a bonus, so I may just do that.

Wisdom teeth are coming in, fiercely, and I'm trying to figure out my plan of attack. I have Brandon's and my dental insurance but I don't think this procedure is in our plans. I had a molar pulled a while back by Dr. Larry Lenth, and he did an awesome job, so I will go back there... I've never been put under before... kinda freaked out about it....

Lately I've been chatting with friends and I've realized... I'm an open book! Look at me! I'm not hiding anything! Because I don't have anything to hide now :) Is this what happy feels like? I know it sounds dumb but I actually have people in my life that don't want anything from me but friendship and love. It is an amazing feeling.

I was talking to Mom in law and by her calculations, she expects Brandon and I to have one baby, then TWINS! She said it runs in the family, and I saw what she meant. Good lord. I was laughing hysterically! Brandon and I had been talking, maybe no kids for us, because our life is finally going the way we want but... let's see how long we wait... lol. Everytime I see a little one at work I melt like butter, and lately they have been so talkative... there was a little girl who came up to me as i was cutting fabric and she was telling me about her cats, and asked me if i had any... I might as well have melted into a puddle on the ground. Brandon is that way too, we love kids too much not to have some of our own. Just not now. :)

I absolutely love September, lots of walks in my huge bears hoodie.

Final Thought:

Work sucks. but....

Hubby. Kitties. Home.
this is the life. my life :)

apple butter?

brandon & i went to go see toy story 3 on sunday. awesome! i saw my aunt marsha and uncle tom there we were buying tickets & they were buying popcorn, so we just missed them... it was nice to see them happy together, after having babies who have babies and they still go to the movies, hope for the future i guess.

went to the amish on wednesday with a coworker rhonda, we are crazy. ssoooo much rain! but once we got to the first place Anne Yoder's Kountry Store, i knew i was going to have a fun day. no electricity in the stores, so it was pretty dark. lots and lots of great deals on spices, dip mixes, soup mixes, rice, jelly, dry ingredients for cookies, just really cheap, really fresh stuff. i love how all the buildings were really well made and super clean too. everyone told me "buy apple butter" so i did, but i don't really know what to do with it, lol. its like apple sauce, well it pretty much is, it would be weird for me to put it on toast? idk, lol. i'll look it up.

so then after that i hung out at rhonda's, she has been wanting to show me how to make cinnamon rolls from scratch for years now because she says brandon would just love them, so we did, proofed, kneaded, and they were awesome! the only bad thing is it is a pain to wait for it to rise... 4 different times. other than that, super easy. let's see if i ever get to making some again, the me now would probably buy a tray frozen from sam's. love sam's!

we are putting up christmas trees and ornaments at work, i'm kind of used to it by now...

in august we get free tickets to adventureland from brandon's work & i think he got an extra one for my brother, ben, to go to. so sometime we'll be going there, then we're going to the iowa state fair for a day on the 18th. all the food is so fresh at the fair, especially the meat. also i love the new building where all the animals are having babies, just had babies, or are just about to have babies. so you get to see them just a day old or less. really neat! stinky! but neat, lol.

until next time!


ally


current fav tunes

not afraid eminem
alejandro (allyhandro) lady gaga

current fav games

toy story 3 xbox
paper mario 64
pokemon pearl ds