nice to meet you

friends from michigan, who live in florida now were back in schoolcraft over the weekend to see family and introduce their new beautiful baby to everyone!

this is addison grace. and that's her mom, kate, in the background. she'll kill me when she sees i didn't crop her eating out of the picture. i guess it's payback for all the torture i received from her as a child! i imagine that's what i looked like when i sat for hours with applesauce in my mouth that she force fed me and told me i couldn't get up without eating! HA! i hate applesauce to this day!

addison is one of the happiest babies i've ever met. she was passed around all day long to people she had never met before and i never heard her cry. i was amazed! lol!

don't you want to just squeeze those cheeks like crazy? because i do!

that's elie's (one of my bff's from schoolcraft) mom and dad! addison was asleep about 3.6 seconds after this picture was taken!!!!

ahhhhh, scott parker! lol. he was my brother's best friend, and i'm pretty sure the love of my life! HA! all of my friends were in love with him! that's his little girl he's holding! she was as precious as can be!

it was soooo good to be back in schoolcraft and see people i hadn't seen in YEARS! i missed them as soon as we left!! and it was not easy leaving addison! i could have played with her all night long.

the 'craft

last saturday my parents and i went to michigan! but not just michigan, back to schoolcraft, back to my hometown! i go to michigan every year, we have a cottage about 5 hours from here... but last saturday was the first time i'd been back to schoolcraft since i graduated high school and maybe only a time or two before that since we moved! i was ridiculous with excitment!!!

the neighborhood looked so different but yet exactly like i remembered it!

that's dairy isle. that was THE place to be for ice cream in the summer! we rode our bikes up there all the time! it looks like it's no longer open, and there's not even a sign that says what the darn place is called, but the sign out front actually says they were taking applications that day! i thought about applying... but that would be a long commute from indiana!

this was my house! i LOVED this house... L-O-V-E, LOVED! if i could pick it up and move it i would in a heartbeat! i cried when i saw it. it used to be a light blue color, and the front yard had trees in it! it looked so different! there was also a shed in the back but it's gone now. behind that shed, my friend, elie, and her brother, josh, and i buried a time capsule! i wish the shed had been there so i could have dug up the capsule. but alas, without the shed i wouldn't have the slightest clue where to begin digging!

i really hope this picture turns out and you can see what it says! it's the end of the driveway of our old house... it's mine and my brother's handprints. they were done in 1986 and i was only 4-years-old. this was what started the tears. i was certain they wouldn't still be there after all this time but there they were!

the top picture is where my dad added on to the driveway so that my brother would have a little basketball court! there was never room for him to play b-ball in the driveway with my friends and i always controlling it with 4-square and hopscotch :)

the second picture is the corner of the b-ball "court" where my dad put our last name and the date! that ALSO made me cry! LOL!!! we moved in may of 1994, so that wasn't even there a year!

there used to be a big oak tree close to this small tree. when i was learning to ride my bike, kate (the reason for the visit to schoolcraft in the first place...but that's for the next blog post!) was "teaching" me how to ride. we would start out up close to her house and she would push me through the yard... right straight in to this tree and the big oak tree! OR, right in to the road. then, my mom, from our living room window, having witnessed the whole traumatic event, would scream at her out the window to stop throwing me in front of the "traffic" (or the five cars that drove down the road a day lol)! ahhhh memories! lol

these two houses were my home's away from home! the first was my friend elie's and the second was my friend bridget's (also the house i was at on saturday). the three of us could always be found together at one of our homes!!!


this was the neighborhood pool. actually it beloned to the wood's but we were ALWAYS in it! i have so many memories of swimming in that pool. and it's where i LEARNED to swim! it looked a lot nicer when i was younger and before those selfish wood's moved! LOL!!!

i had the BEST time saturday in schoolcraft, and it made me sad that we ever moved in the first place. i miss those people and every time we get to see them, i miss them even more!

the yummiest of days

keri and i went shopping and out to lunch a couple friday's ago! we went to red robin and it was DEEEELISH! just looking at the pictures makes me hungry and makes me realize i NEED it right now!

the most delicious fries and ranch dressing this side of the mississippi! well unless they have a red robin on the other side of the mississippi too!

our drinks! YUM! the one on the right is keri's... it was blueberry lemonade (with limes)... i think! and mine was freckled lemonade. it had strawberries in it and it could quite possibly be my favorite drink in the history of drinks!

i forgot to take a picture of my cheeseburger (cheeseVEGGIEburger that is) until it was nearly completely devoured! it too was insanely tasty!!!

keri and i were both wearing jewelry that once belonged to our grandmothers. her's is that beautiful necklace she has on (that i envy EVERY time she wears it!)and mine is a ring that i wear every single day on my thumb! when we realized that we were both wearing our grandma's jewelry, we decided that they must have been there with us, enjoying the awesome lunch!! :)

if you would like to see the other half of this lunch, you can go to keri's blog
here!!! (thanks keri, for helping me figure out how to do the "here" thing lol!)

we later went back to keri's and pigged out on homemade lasagna that keri made that night for my birthday! she's the best!!!! and so is her lasagna!

l.o.v.e.

i've decided it's time to introduce the blog world to MY pride and joy! i talk about jason and keri's kids and how much i love THEM! so now it's time for you all to meet my neice so you can know how much i love HER!!

so bloggy world, i present to you....

makayla christine clark!

i'm not even sure how old she is in this picture... i just know i want to pinch the heck out of her cheeks!

she's nearly perfect in every way! :) i've NEVER seen her throw a temper tantrum or pout when she doesn't get her way. she's always been so good!

16 months old and cute as can be!!

one of her many dance recitals...she's been in dance class for as long as i can remember! she LOVES it! she must get that from her aunt haley because i was in every type of dance class and gymnastics class as a kid that a child could be in!

she loves her aunt haley just as much as her aunt haley loves her!

the top picture is my gorgeous cousin, cristi and makayla on cristi's wedding day!!! the second one is my other cousin cadi (cristi's sister) and makayla, also on cristi's wedding day!! i've always thought she looked just like my cousins! i think these picture are proof! :)



makayla will be 7 in october and i just can't believe how old she is and how BIG she's getting. she's about as tiny as a toothpick but sooo tall! and she's turning in to one of the most beautiful little girls i've ever seen! i want her to stay young forever, but i can't wait to see what a gorgeous woman she'll become!

being an aunt is one of my favorite things. nothing beats hearing makayla call me "aunt haley". i can't wait to be an aunt again one day, and i can't wait to have children of my own someday! i can only HOPE they are as beautiful and perfect as makayla! yes, i'm biased because she's my neice, but isn't that part of an aunt's job description?!?! :)

dirty feet

i'm listening to xm radio at work (shhh don't tell), and one of the main topics of the morning is whether or not you wash your feet in the shower?!?! huh? i guess i didn't realize that this was something that was up for discussion.

i ALWAYS wash my feet in the shower. there were tons of guys that called in and said that they DON'T wash their feet... and a couple girls called in too. so my question is: how many of you out there do or don't wash YOUR feet when you take a shower???

i know there are lots more people that read my blog than just those that leave comments... SO, if you want to leave a comment and tell me whether or not you wash your feet (lol) then you can! you don't have to sign up or even have an account to do that... you can do it anonomyously or you can just use your name!!! FYI!

attention: slow drivers

i hate you! you are my daily pet peeve. i can't stand someone that doesn't drive at LEAST 5 over the speed limit at all times. if the speed limit's 55, DRIVE 60! it's that simple...and if you can't drive at least 60, get out of my way! it just gets on my nerves. if i ever move somewhere else in this area, it will for sure be somewhere that doesn't require me to drive on state road 1 to get to work. i'm NOT a morning person so the last thing i want when i'm already running late is to be following someone who thinks it's okay to drive 54 in a 55. NO. that's NOT okay. and YES i will ride you like there's only a 6 foot rope between us and you're towing me! i will also more than likely be screaming at you to speed up from my car! yes people, i realize that you can't hear me... but i'm gonna do it anyway! plus it makes me feel better! :)

OR, how about when you're on the interstate and some idiot is driving in the left lane, going about 60? THIS IS NOT OKAY! GET OVER! please tell me i'm not the only person that hates this?!?!

the only reason to drive under the speed limit is if it's weather related... other than that, there is no excuse! especially when you see that there is a line of traffic behind you that is beginning to look like an angry mob!

maybe my road rage is to blame for the 47 times i've been pulled over. yes, 47 TIMES! no joke! (insert a shout out to greg steele right here!!!) in my defense they weren't ALL for speeding and i've only received 4 speeding tickets... i think! BUT if people would just speed up i wouldn't have to pass them and then go 65 or faster just to make up for the time i lost following them going 51.

so the moral of the story... if you ever see me following you, speed up. i don't care how fast you are going... go faster! thanks :)

also, keetha, keri, or anyone that blogs, why does my post say i'm posting this at 7:04 AM when it's 10:33AM? did i move to seattle and not even know it?? why am i always 3 hours behind?? this baffles me every time!!!

fatal attraction

ever heard of it? boy meets girl, boy doesn't want to be with girl anymore, girl can't let go, girl makes boys life miserable. if you haven't heard of it... by the time you're done reading this post you'll understand!


for the last 6 years i have stood by and listened and watched as my best friends jason and keri baker have been terrorized (for a lack of a better word) by jason's ex. i just don't see how i can stand by and watch it all happen anymore. there may not be anything i can do, but i can get all of this off my chest... finally!!!


okay....this CRAZY (and that's putting it mildly) woman (okay so i'm being nice when i call her a woman... she's actually half demon, half satan) has gone too far this time. my best friend keri has been accused of breastfeeding her (almost) 5-year-old step-daughter, kaeleigh. not only is this disgusting but it's laughable. NEVER in my life have a met a better mother (besides my own :-) ) than keri baker. i don't know how many times i have said "if i can be 1/3 as great of a mother as she is, i will be blessed). kaeleigh's mother has been filling her head with lies all of her life. every ime i see her my heart breaks because it is clear to me that she is emotionally and mentally abused by that pathetic excuse she has for a biological mother. but this time she actually has kaeleigh doing her dirty work for her. she made kae tell the doctor that keri breastfeeds her! PATHETIC. you are disgusting, and sick and NOT the kind of person any child should ever be around. and this latest saga is just the tip of the iceberg. she's said and done some even more perverse things in the past. i will not be saying what they are on this blog because it is truly disturbing to me...she's SICK. SICK. SICK!

from day one, this spawn of satan has used kaeleigh to try to control jason... try to have the upper hand and hold something over him. she NEVER accepted that jason didn't want her. she's ALWAYS been jealous of keri and the life she has with jason. that's where all of this stems from... i think somewhere in her messed up mind she thinks if keri is out of the picture jason would be hers again! WHAT? NO. what a whack job huh? literally from day one she has tried to control jason by using kaeleigh as leverage.... (great parenting technique by the way... idiot!) down to the fact that when she was pregnant with kaeleigh, she wouldn't even let jason go to doc appts, or even be there when she gave birth. infact jason wasn't even TOLD kaeleigh had been born until 3 days later! NICE! it was all a mind game... all about control. i almost always question whether or not she actually loves kaeleigh. i no longer question this... she DOES NOT LOVE HER. there are no if's, and's, or but's about it... she does not love her daughter, she does not want what's best for her. she is using her as a pawn in a twisted little game she's playing. too bad she's playing it alone. do you not understand that no one is playing along? do you not see that no one cares about the lies you want to spew? the ONLY thing WE care about is kaeleigh. that's probably not even entered your mind... KAELEIGH! yeah, the daughter you're supposed to be putting first?? remember her? ring any bells?

my heart is breaking for kaeleigh right now! not only for kaeleigh but for jason, keri, and also mackinley. he misses his sissy so very much and at 3 years-old he just doesn't understand what's going on. how do you explain to a 3-year-old "sorry buddy but sissy has a crazy effed up in the head mom that doesn't love her, doesn't want what's best for her, is still OBSESSED with your daddy, will never move on, and has ZERO grasp on reality"? exactly, you can't...


if ever there was a time when child protective services needed to be called, it's now. kaeleigh (and her sister) need to be permanently removed from that hell hole they call a home. you know the kind, gov't subsidized apartments where kaeleigh finds mice, needles and who knows what else on the floor... AWESOME!

these are years that kaeleigh will never get back. she will never be this innocent again and i fear that it's already too late. the damage has been done and i pray that she will finally be given to jason and keri and be able to grow up to be the beautiful, amazing, person that she is meant to be. her "mom" is certifiable and i fear the things she could or will do someday.

please, pray for this beautiful little girl you see here! she needs us and our prayers more than ever right now.

oh and one last thing..... jason and i did NOT have sex on the table at cracker barrel in front of scott turmail and jason's mom on the day jason graduated from the police academy! YOU CRAZY CRAZY LUNATIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

also, i tried to be very tame with the things i said here... mainly because the things i'm truly feeling and thinking would probably offend a lot of people! if you made it all the way through this blog, thanks for reading and please keep kaeleigh in your prayers!!!!

those crafty japs

i'm addicted to this game. my friend, diana, emailed it to me and i've been spending way too much time playing it this morning.

here is the link:
http://flashfabrica.com/f_learning/brain/brain.html

and here are the rules:
1. click start
2. wait for 3, 2, 1.
3. memorize the number's position on the screen, and then click the circle from
the smallest number to the biggest number.

at the end the game it will give you your brain age. obviously, the lower the age the better :) so if you are all sitting at work with not a whole lot to do, this game is great! oh and most of it's in japanese so don't worry about trying to read anything (unless you're a genius like me and can count to 10 in japanese... YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT!!!)

OH, and leave your brain age in the comments! if you don't have an account, you can still leave comments!!! just click anonymous or name and you can do it that way!!

love bug

i found a video this morning on www.perezhilton.com. i cried when i watched it so i wanted to share it with my bloggy friends! i don't have any children, so i don't think i can fully understand the pain that jayla's parents must be feeling...but my heart breaks for them! i've seen miracles happen in people's life and believe that prayer is truly one of the most valuable tools that we have at our disposal, so i hope everyone will take a minute and pray for this little girl and her family and friends.


on a side note, i'm in no way a fan of the jonas brothers, but i thought what they did for jayla was amazing!!! and i have a whole new respect for them! (not so much their music though lol) :) i was totally bawling when i watched it!

if the video keeps stopping, pause it and wait for the whole thing to load then hit play again!