For the Sake of Happiness.

I tell you what, this past week has been one of the most stressful weeks I've endured in quite some time.. if not ever. I am not going to go into any details right now, but when it is all said and done with, I will explain. For now, you'll have to deal with online ambiguity of it all, and just know that things are extremely stressful with our rental home.

Because of this, I haven't been feeling well, sleeping well, and have been trying really hard not to be negative all the time. I feel like I'm doing a pretty good job, but the stress is taking its toll on me, I can tell.

I'm trying to remain positive, though, because I don't really want the "prolonged maternal stress" to cause premature labor.

So, happy time.

My sisters (Samantha, 15, and Allison, 11) have both been at my house for the last week. While tomorrow is their last day here as my dad is taking them both home to Minnesota when he leaves town, we have, in my opinion, had a pretty good time together.

Sam and I went to MN to get Allie on Saturday, and came back to Sioux Falls after a brief visit with my mom and brother at their work-place. We had supper with Jake, and then that night, went out to see "Vampires Suck" together at the theater. Now, I didn't really care for it at all, actually, but I did enjoy how much my sisters and husband laughed through the whole thing.

On Sunday, we went to Wild Water West, the local waterpark. It was incredibly hot outside, but we had a great time! We started out with mini-golf, but after getting overheated and exhausted by it, we hit up the wave pool. That was by far, my favorite! We were in there for quite some time before getting out for a break. Jake used the waterslides (I was not allowed), and then he and Allison went on the lazy river. Samantha and I went back to the wave pool, and then Jake and Allie joined us again, and we had a great time, until I announced I was getting really hungry and we came home. After supper, Samantha and Jake went back and rode go-karts. I'm not sure if they did anything else.

The week was a little less eventful, but we spent time together every day anyway. We had dinner together every night, which is fun for me, because after they leave, I'll be eating alone most nights. We watched a bunch of movies too, and had popcorn! I love popcorn.

Wednesday, Jake was home, and so we all took Wendell (and Bud, my cousin's wife's dog) to the dog park, because it's finally open again. They had a great time, as did we!

We've visited Barnes and Noble a few times. Last night, we were there for over three hours, writing letters to family members in the military, and laughing our butts off.

We have also been working on fleece tie-blankets for children in Haiti, as a comfort project that is going on at my workplace.

Today, after we finish our showers (I'm already clean, woohoo!) we are going to Oh My Cupcakes downtown, to enjoy a delectable baked good. Not sure what we'll do after. I'm sure we'll have fun, though!