Memorial Weekend Day 3

Spent the day with my parents today. Its kind of something we do every year, celebrate Memorial Day as well as my little brother and sister's birthdays.

Well we had a good day, Caleb loves his toys at Grandma and Grandad's house.

The big kids played some ladderball and cornhole.


And got a snap of my dear hubby.

Memorial Weekend Day 2

Love love love holiday weekends. Today we went to the Marina to hang out on the boat, catch a little sun, and even take a dip in the pool. Caleb loved it but boy is he a handful this year. There are so many things he could get into or lets not even mention the fact that he could easily fall into the lake. Well we managed to keep him out of the lake, and he really enjoyed walking around in his life jacket when up on the docks.

Here's a couple snaps I got throughout the day, he's such a happy boy!

kissy lips

Lots of boat dogs were out today so I got a couple pics of them.

Eastern Market

So yesterday we went to the Eastern Market in Detroit. I have never been there so it was neat to see. There were tons and tons of plants, flowers, and produce. My hands were a little full with Caleb but I managed to take a couple snaps.

Caleb loves his Granddad.

And his Aunt Lori.

Of course I had to get some pictures of the pretty flowers. After all they are soo much easier to take pictures of since they don't move as much as Caleb does.


I was drawn to the yellow and orange flowers.


But this one was probably my favorite.

15 months

Wow, I can't believe my baby is 15 months, it seems to fly by so fast.

Lets see what is he doing, he says a couple more words: ducky, bahll (ball); bye bye (and waves a lot); nnnnah - I have no idea what this one means but he says it all the time when he wants something to eat or drink and he points to what he wants.

He's loving the outdoors and learning how to walk down stairs by himself holding the railing. He is starting to walk backwards, and *finally* likes to have his teeth brushed. He's starting to really love balls and cars and taking toys out of his toy box and putting them back in.

He's learning to feed himself with a spoon and toddler fork and is doing great with sippy cups and even tries open cups once in a while.

Oh and probably my favorite thing ever, he actually kisses with a smooch and gives really big hugs (he did this a little before but its uber cute now).

His stats:

31 inches long
23/24 lbs (can't remember exactly)

Little Brother's Graduation

So my little brother is all grown up, he Graduated from my own Alma Mater Lawrence Technological University (LTU). He graduated top of his class with lots of honors with a B.S. in Civil Engineering. Congrats Little Bro.

2 Years Ago...

I married my best friend. Today was just one of those regular work days, to make it a little more special we took a short trip downtown mt clemens to have dinner and take a short walk. I brought my camera along and got a couple shots of the family.

Oh yeah and 2 year anniversary is cotton, Tony is so cute!



a famous self portrait LOL

Then we came back home for a glass of wine - riesling - yumm

a walk with Caleb

went for a walk today after work. just wanted to share a picture :)

I am so happy the weather is nice again, Caleb loves being outside!

More Gardening

So we're still working on our Garden out back, this weekend was so nice so we got up early both days to get some serious work done. A couple weeks ago Tony pulled up the grass to make room for our raised bed, I wasn't able to get a picture because the rain came soon after he finished. Here it is. We have some serious clay in our yard hence the reason for the raised beds.

So earlier yesterday when Tony was working on other chores for our rental unit, I decided to put some old paver stones to work, I created a little flower bed in the backyard. A few years ago we transplanted a rose bush from the front yard to the back so its the first thing in the flower bed. I also planted some bulbs and some various seeds, we'll watch it throughout the summer to see what grows!!



So today we started piling in the dirt. And went to the farm greenhouse to buy some seedling plants to go with the seeds we also planted.

here's the list of what we planted:
From Seedling Plants:
3 Tomato plants
4 Broccoli plants
4 Basil plants
2 Green Onions
2 White Onions
8 Red Leaf Lettuce
8 Green Leaf Lettuce
8 Romaine Lettuce
8 Slicing Cucumbers
4 Pickling Cucumbers
1 Oregano
1 Cilantro
And from Seeds:
Carrots
Soy Beans



And finally a couple pictures of my little man!

My boy...

so my last couple posts have been pretty wordy, I just wanted to post a picture of me and Caleb. Isn't he the cutest!!

Learning more about myself...

Ok so I already posted a couple times about the Leadership Class I took last week, but I have a couple more evaluations that I haven't shared yet.

I already told you about the MBTI (Meyers-Briggs) that I am an ENTJ. Well we actually took the MBTI Step II test which goes a little more into the different facets. So here's the breakdown for anyone who cares. I think it super helpful in getting to know each other, I wish I knew this about all my friends and loved ones.

I will first list the MBTI step one category, then under that the 2 different describing words on each side of the spectrum.


E - I am high on the overall 'E' scales
Extraversion vs Introversion
Initiating vs Recieving: I am very much an Initiator.
Expressive vs Contained: I am very much expressive.
Gregarious vs Intimate: I am in the midzone for gregarious.
Active vs Reflective: I am very much active
Enthusiastic vs Quiet: I am enthusiastic more than quiet.

N - I am mid to high on the 'N' side (iNtuition)
Sensing vs Intuition
Concrete vs Abstract: I am very much abstract
Realistic vs Imaginative: midzone for imaginative
Practical vs Conceptual: very conceptual
Experiential vs Theoretical: theoretical
Traditional vs Original: original

T - I am more mid range to low range for 'T' (Thinking)
Thinking vs Feeling
Logical vs Empathetic: I am Logical
Reasonable vs Compassional: midzone for reasonable
Questioning vs Accommodating: I am out-of-preference and accomodating.
Critical vs Accepting: I am WAY out-of-preference and Accepting.
Tough vs Tender: I am a zero so I could go either way.

J- I fall mostly on the Judging range except for one category.
Judging vs Perceiving
Systematic vs Casual: Systematic
Planful vs Open-Ended: Very Planful
Early-Starting vs Pressure-Prompted: High Midzone for Early Starting
Scheduled vs Spontaneous: I am a zero so I could go either way.
Methodical vs Emergent: I am out of preference and Emergent

So yeah that's a little more in depth for they Meyers-Briggs - fun stuff.
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Next evaluation was the TKI Profile (Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument). Basically it tests your conflict resolving methods that you most use and have preference for using. The 5 different ways to handle conflict is Avoiding, Accommodating, Compromising, Competing, and Collaborating. All are good and proper ways to handle conflict if done in the right circumstances. And you should be able to utilize all of them.

Here are my numbers: The percentage was the percentile from a representative sample that scored the same as or lower than me.

Avoiding - 65%
Compromising - 58%
Competing - 57%
Collaborating - 41%
Accommodating - 30%

So basically I'm pretty well rounded when it comes to handling conflict. I probably avoid more conflicts than I should and I should try to be more accommodating.
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And Finally the Change Style Indicator - this shows your preferences about change. The three categories are: Conserver, Originator, and Pragmatist.

Conservers prefer current circumstances over the unknown.
Originators prefer a faster and more radical approach to change.
Pragmatists prefer to explore the existing paradigm in an open and objective manner.

The scale is 0-66 in both ways, I scored a 32 on the Originator side. A pragmatist is between 13 on the Originator side to a 13 on the Conserver side.

It was funny to see in the room when we lined up according to the scale I was the furthest on the Originator Side, right next to me were the other younger people in the class, so I kind of wonder if this changes with age and position. I definitely agree though the "N" in me is always looking for new ideas to solve every day problems and I am definitely one to try a new change without much probing.
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If you made it this far - THANKS! I hope you had fun learning a little bit more about me. I have another week of this training in May, and I will get results back from a 360 evaluation of me. I am still looking for more people to answer some questions about me so if you want to fill out an evaulation on me let me know! It is all anonymous, but it will definitely help me grow!