I Am:

Tired, exhausted, hopeful, prayerful, waiting, patient, worried, nauseated, sad.
Did you know that you could have that many emotions running through you at once? I don't think I did. My grandmother had a bad day today and they ended up putting in a chest tube and increasing her ventilator settings. They say that she has ARDS. If you don't know anything about that, it's not good.
I know that whatever happens, God is in control. He is our great physician and no matter what the men/women with their college degrees say, anything can happen. It is so hard to just sit and wait. God is definitely trying to teach my entire family patience and understanding that is for sure. But I will tell you it's not easy. It's hard! Sometimes I think that I have too much book knowledge when they start spouting out medical terms and I have a tendency to think way too much!
It doesn't matter that there are about 15 people from my family/mom's church in the waiting room at any given time throughout the day. It's a lonely place! I keep reminding myself of the verse "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." Deut 31:6
It's hard. Really hard. It's hard to eat, hard to sleep, hard to focus, hard to wait. Everything is just hard.

Was Yesterday Christmas?

Boy, has it been a crazy week! In my last post, I let you know that my grandmother was going to St Vincent's. She's been in the hospital or rehab center since Dec 5th. On Tues, she was brought down here to another hospital and was intubated and on the ventilator less than 24h later. She was admitted to the ICU and I cannot sing their praises enough! All of the nurses and doctors that have been on her case have been wonderful! She definitely has a very long road to recovery ahead of her, but I am trusting that she will keep improving. She was better Thurs, and was even opening her eyes and attempting to smile at me and my sisters. It truly made me feel a lot better seeing her trying to communicate with us as best as she can.
I am just really glad that we had planned to do our Christmas with my mom's family on Saturday, so she didn't miss that. This is my work week, so I am completely exhausted! Trying to go to other Christmas get togethers between visiting hours, working at night and attempting to sleep has proved to be a little more difficult than I wanted it to be! It's okay though.

Pray!!!

Please say a prayer for my grandmother. She has been in the hospital or rehab center for the past 3 weeks and tonight she is in the ER. They are in Cullman now, but are probably going to be transferring her to St Vincent's tonight. She has pneumonia and now it is worse and she is having some difficulty breathing. I was at my church tonight for the Christmas program serving coffee when I got the call. I just want to say that I have an amazing group of Christian friends and ladies that I serve on the hospitality team with! I love you guys and thank you so much for your encouraging words and prayers! I will close with this Bible verse, "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20.

Merry Christmas!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Not Me Monday!

Over on MckMama, every Monday is "Not Me Monday." This is so that we can all divulge in the things that we most certainly did not do this past week. I thought that after my crazy week last week I would share my did not list with you all.
1. I did not get a notice that my car insurance had been cancelled due to non payment on Tues. I did not realize that I have had no insurance in over 1 week. And I most certainly did not forget my checkbook, have to go to the ATM and get cash since they do not do credit cards. And finally I did not drop my debit card in the floor on the way out of their office just to drive back to the insurance office for the third time that day.
2. I did not stand in front of my open blinded window and change my shirt so that people walking by can see me and my glory-because who really does that?
3. I did not go shopping every day and forget to do the one thing that he asked me to do for the week. I would never do that because I am the perfect wife. :)
4. I have not put off wrapping all of the presents that I am giving for Christmas and blogging about all the things I did not do this past week.
That was pretty fun, I think I might have to join in on the confessing more often. Check out this post for more Not Me Monday confessions.

Tonight...

Guess what we are doing tonight-

"Can I refill your eggnog for you? Get you something to eat? Drive you out to the middle of nowhere and leave you for dead? "

That's right, off to the Alabama Theater we go to see our favorite Christmas movie! Can't wait!

Christmas Card

WOW! It's my 100th post. Who knew I had so much to say in 6 months!?!
I would like to join Faith and her Christmas card carousel. I made 2 cards this year. Unfortunately I am only able to share one since my camera is on the outs, but this one is the favorite of our family. I ordered them from Vistaprint, and I think they turned out really hilarious! On the inside I signed them from Gus & Frankie Hall. Enjoy!

The Rockettes!

My sister Kali suprised me and my mother for Christmas and took us to see the Rockettes as our gift. It was so great! I had seen the show while I was in NYC a couple of years ago. The show was a little different since it was at the BJCC and not in the Radio City Music Hall where all of the history is, but it was still an awesome show! Kali told me that the show started at 7, so with her working day shift and driving home to Cullman, then back to Bham, we didn't get to meet up until right at 6. I was leaving my car in the parking deck at work since I had to work after the show, so we decided that since we wanted to eat together, we would just eat in the cafeteria. When we got to the show, we noticed that there really wasn't anyone there, then I looked at my ticket. Well guess what, it didn't start until 7:30. Kali felt bad since we would've had time to eat somewhere besides the cafeteria, but we did have a really good laugh. We had plenty of time to scout out the place and go buy a program.
The show was amazing! I just love the way that they incorporate the true meaning of Christmas! The manger scene was definitely my favorite! They had camels, sheep and a donkey. All the while singing We Three Kings of Orient Are.



The LED screen behind them was amazing. It was definitely in high definition and while the Rockettes were on a bus tour, the picture on the screen made it look like we were really there. I loved NYC at Christmas! All of the lights, trees, windows...I want to go back now! So, thank you to my sweet sister Kali, who really "stepped out of the box" for our Christmas present! She's really not that into plays or musicals, but she did it for us.

Venting...

I just got home from work and I feel like I need to vent a little.
Situation number one: I bought a box of tangelos from someones child at work. She brought them to me yesterday and I forgot to take them home with me and they were in a box in a chair in our nurse's lounge. This morning, I pick them up to bring them home, low and behold, someone has just decided to help themselves to half of MY box of tangelos. I had not even had one. I ask around, well of course no one saw anything because who would steal someones fruit right in front of someone else. I am trying to convince myself that apparently they needed the tangelos more than I did, they just were too ashamed to ask for them. And maybe that will be all they have to eat today. I just hope they don't get too much reflux from all of the citric acid they will be eating.
Second situation: I am on my way home talking to my mom and my mother in law calls me, (I work with my MIL) leaves me a message informing me that on the unit right beside ours, rumor has it that I am pregnant. Well, since I am not, that was news to her and she just wanted to let me know and make sure I didn't forget to tell her something. I called the person that asked my mother in law to see how that got started and why that was brought up. She says, "You were walking funny this morning." REALLY!?! Call me crazy, but pregnant people don't start walking funny until the third trimester and you would think everyone would've known if that was so-especially my MIL. And for the record- Just because I have gained a few extra pounds, doesn't mean that I am with child. I AM NOT PREGNANT. Don't ask!!!!
So what to do now. Definitely start back exercising and eating less and maybe tonight I will put up a Ten Commandments sign at work and highlight the DO NOT STEAL one.

Publix trip

My loot:
1 box Publix hot cocoa mix (penny item)
2 boxes Pop Secret
1 bag Tostitos scoops
5 lb flour
1 each Scotch gift wrap tape and packing tape
1 bag mini marshmallows
4 cans green giant veggies
1 jar Mt Olive dill pickles
2 jars Ragu pasta sauce
1 pouch Idaho instant potatoes
1 bottle Juicy Juice
1 Lysol bathroom cleaner
1 3lb bag apples
0.89 lb bananas
2 pkg brown sugar
1 3lb bag white potatoes
1 family size bag frozen green giant corn
2 8oz Kraft cheese blocks
1 gallon milk
2 Smart Balance butter tubs
1.5 lb lean ground beef
I saved $4.50 in MFC, $4.18 for the penny item and doubled coupons, $32.11 in advertised specials, and $0.40 in advantage buy savings.

Visit Sarah @ fiddledeedee, to see how everyone else did at Publix this week!

Christmas shopping deals

Well, I really haven't posted much lately about shopping. That doesn't mean that I haven't done a lot of it though. Thanksgiving weekend I got online a did a ton of my Christmas shopping. I did everything through ebates so I have earned a little cash back on all of my purchases. Some of the highlights of my shopping venture:
NY&Co:
I bought 2 sweaters and a watch for $45.xx. $10 of that was the shipping charges, but I think that's pretty good for what I bought. Especially since it equalled 2 people checked off my list.
Lucky Brand:
On their website everything was 40% off. I bought a pair of earrings and a bracelet for $45. My husbands family loves some Lucky Brand jewelry and for two pieces, I would've paid over $60 in the store. One more checked off the list.
Sephora:
My 14yr old niece wanted some good makeup brushes, so Sephora had emailed me a $15/30 purchase. Through ebates, I got a code for free shipping and a makeup case with 15 free samples. I bought her a set of brushes, gold glitter eye shadow, a huge sephora brand makeup palette, plus the normal 3 free samples with an online purchase and the 15 other ones-all for $55.xx-Another checkmark!
Victorias Secret:
Everything was 20% off, so I bought 3 sweaters and a pair of pants for $84.xx. I must admit that the pants and one sweater will be mine, but I LOVE their Boucle sweaters!!! Plus the other 2 sweaters checked 2 more people off of the list. I do feel somewhat guilty now though. I spoke to my friend Jennifer a little while ago, and she bought the same sweater I did and when she received her package, found out that they were out of stock and the sweater had been canceled. I just received my box-I must've gotten the last one. Sorry!!! If it makes you feel any better, I tried it on and need to loose about 5 lbs before wearing it in public. I immediately grabbed a bottle of water, put on my tennis shoes and walked around my neighborhood.

I did several other transactions and my checklist for Christmas only has about 4 more people left. Mostly the men in my life. It is always so much harder to shop for men to me. I do however have Kent done. Not too shabby for a weekend of shopping.

Wish List

The other day Trina posted about some of her wishlist items. So today, while my hubs is at a meeting, I thought I would indulge myself with my list. Most of these things, I will definitely keep on wishing for since they are a little pricey. But that is okay. We can dream right!?!

1. The Kindle-It's like an ipod for books. This is amazing and expensive.

2. Uggs-I bought a pair a couple of years ago. I love them! They are the most comfortable shoes that I own and I love these sweater boots! Kent thinks they are UGGly!!! But I love them!

3. The DVD set of Planet Earth-It's really amazing to watch and I would love to be able to watch the entire season.

4. This coat-It's gorgeous and my favorite color!

5. This shirt-I saw it at Christmas Village and wish now that I would've bought it.

6.This shirt-You can never have too many white shirts!

Well, that's all I will showcase today. There are many other items, but I don't want to look too greedy. :)

Today...

So I finally started putting up my Christmas tree today. I am pretty excited! I have it together and all fluffed out ready for the ornament. I haven't been able to get everything out of the attic I need, since I don't really want to break my neck. I was able to get a few things out though. So I can at least get started. I did all of the decorations on our floor at work for Christmas, so I was feeling a little overwhelmed with all of it. I finished at work on Monday night. I did the tree, hung icicles and snowflakes from the ceiling and decorated the bulletin board. A few of the icicles had already fallen before I left on Tues morning so I hope no one gets injured. Anyway, I finished up my Christmas cards yesterday and plan to mail them out on Monday. I think that they turned out great! All were hand made by me so that makes them so very special. Tonight we are suppose to be going to Kent's family Thanksgiving. Trying to coordinate all of our different schedules has proved to be quite difficult. I think that I may develop an ulcer trying to figure out Christmas. Anyway, I am about to go and make an apple pie. I had to go to WalMart and get a few things before I got started. Well, they now have a coinstar machine. I took my big bag of change that totaled $34.30. My total for what I bought was $39.xx for the stuff to make the apple pie, squash casserole, brownies for a Christmas party tomorrow night, and a few other things. I was pretty excited. Especially since I left my debit card sitting on the table. YEAH!

STOP!!! Go to these links ASAP!!!

I don't know what you are doing, but you need to stop whatever you are doing, and go to these links and check out these awesome chip in giveaways!!!
The first is from Lianna. I have posted about Lianna before, but this is huge!!! She is a young woman struggling with infertility. Her and her husband are raising money to go toward their third IVF attempt. She has an anonymous friend who donated a Kindle for her next giveaway. OMG!!! Have you seen this thing!?! It's like an Ipod for books! It retails for over $300. There are specific rules in order to get your name in the hat, so please read the steps carefully!
Next we have MckMama. If you have never read her blog before, you will totally be amazed!!! A quick summary, she was told early in her recent pregnancy that her baby would not make it. She was hospitalized for quite a bit of her pregnancy. None of the doctors thought that she would give birth to a baby that would survive. Guess what? She gave birth to a healthy full term baby boy! She is raffling off a Canon Digital Rebel package! It's an awesome prize package! Each ticket is $10 and all of the proceeds benefit 3 different organizations that are detailed in the post. I also added the link on the top right for more 411.
So like I said, Stop whatever you are doing and take a few minutes to read about the chip in giveaways and do what you can! These are some amazing ladies!!!!!

Craftin' & Cookin'

Last week, when I was off, I got out the sewing machine for a couple of days and finished Aubrey's snowflake pants. They turned out really cute! I can't wait to share a pic of her actually wearing them.
I also went to Hobby Lobby and Big Lots searching for new Christmas decorations for her tree. We couldn't find any stockings that matched the decor, so we went to Hancock and found some fabric and I whipped these up that evening.
They looked a lot better after I ironed them, but I think they turned out really cute!!
I also went to Publix and they had their turkeys on sale for $0.69/lb. I bought a 12 pounder and roasted it this past weekend and it was ooohhh so yummy!!! And we had plenty for leftover sandwiches. I love my roasting pan, it makes me feel like I have accomplished a lot when I use it.

Great Pic

I just thought that this picture was the cutest ever! My husband playing in the floor with our niece. How cute!!! Even though we don't feel like we are at the point of having kids, watching him interact with her, makes me a little wishful...

Fun Times With Family

**Updated with pics**

Anway, this past Saturday was my mother in law's birthday. We had plans to meet up at Stix to eat at 6:30. I was ready way early because we had gone to see my father in law for lunch that day. Well, around 4, I was in our computer room and I over hear my husband talking on the phone. This is what is said, "Hey man, do you want to go bowling after we eat tonight?" The man has not mentioned ONE word to his wife anything about bowling. I continue to listen, "Yeah, I think it would be fun if we all went. I am going to call Traci." Really!?! Would you like for me to tell you the last time I went bowling. It would have to be more than 8 years ago while I was in high school. Kent and I have been together for 4 years and not once have we gone bowling or even talked about the possibility. I walked into the den as he finishes up his conversation and asked, "Are you asking people if they want to go bowling?" Anyway I told him that it would've been nice to hear about this before he asked everyone else, but MY husband is inviting people to go and do something. If you don't know my husband, he is not exactly the most social person, and for him to be making plans with several people, in my opinion is a success.
Well, we went out to dinner and had a great time with some great family and then some of us went bowling. I of course color coordinated with my bowling ball and sweater, had many a gutter balls and never broke 100. I don't think that they will be calling me to join the bowling league, but we had a great time!!!

I would like to have some to take home please, size 9 with a can of Lysol please!

Color coordination at its best!

Thankful

Today really makes you think of all the good things going on in your life no matter what bad things are going on. I love my family. No we are not perfect, we don't get along all of the time, but I never doubt the fact that we will always be there for each other. This year has had many ups and downs. One grandmother being diagnosed with breast cancer, having a masectomy, then starting chemo. Loosing her hair, being depressed because you are confined to your house, getting shots or bloodwork everyday. Doesn't sound like a lot of fun does it. My other grandmother being 89 and having another stroke that has taken part of her memory, being depressed because she is now dependent on someone to take care of her. Telling my parents to take her to the nursing home because she doesn't want to be a burden on anyone. My father-in-law having a severe stroke in April that left him paralyzed on the left side, living in a nursing home with his memory faded and no will to try to become better. Being hospitalized last week for pneumonia and knowing that this may become a vicious cycle.
I know it sounds as though I am a little "Debbie Downer," but throughout all of these situations, they have all brought our families closer. And for that I am thankful! Seeing how many people visit, send cards, phone calls, food, etc. There are many things in these circumstances that we all should take the time to Thank God for! Mamaw Faye's tests came back negative for any spreading of the cancer. Her genetic testing was negative. She only has to take 4 rounds of chemo and will be done before Christmas. Praise God! Mamaw Ezma is remembering more and more every day. She is getting around the house with her walker without any problem. Praise God! My father in law was not really a part of our lives prior to the stroke and now we see him more and even though the relationship is still somewhat strained, it is building. Praise God!
Tonight we went to Cullman for my family Thanksgiving get together. What a wonderful time! Delicious food, great company, great conversations! Aubrey-my niece-is adorable. She is definitely dramatic! It's hilarious to see her face light up when Little Einsteins comes on and she acts out some of the songs. What a wonderful time of year!
What a crazy world that we live in these days. Amongst everything going on around us, we just need to stop, take in some deep breaths and be thankful that we are here. We are able to have an outlet, and we are able to meet other people who inspire us to become better. Even though we may go through hard times that make us ask God, "Why me? I don't think that I can handle any more." It's always easier said that done, but we must remember that He never leaves our side! He is always there and in every situation that we don't understand there is always a deeper meaning and lessen that we can learn.

Sign up!

For those of you that want to go to sips n strokes, sign up! I am signed up for Dec 2! It's at the Pelham location. Let me know! I can't wait!! I am on my way to spend the day with my grandmother! YEAH!!!

Invitation

I would like to send out an invite to see if anyone would be interested in getting together and going to sips n strokes. They have a new thing this Dec where you can paint on a plate. There is a class in Pelham on Dec 2 or a class at the location on 280 on Dec 16th. Let me know if you would like to go and which would be best for you.

Late Night Ramblings

So here I am at work in the middle of my off week. I guess that's what you get when you take off a night during your work week if you don't want to go broke. It was brought to my attention tonight that we only have two more paychecks until Christmas and that made me feel a lot better for being here. I have been really worried about the holidays this year. I don't know why. I think that I am still not used to trying to coordinate all of the family get togethers. It stresses me out! I don't know what will be going on with my grandmother. She is still in the hospital. They have done all different tests and procedures on her to check her brain/heart/stomach. Hopefully she will be able to come home soon. I think that we are just waiting on the neurologist to come up with a plan for some preventative measures so hopefully she won't have to go through this again. I really don't think that she is enjoying the hospital food very much. She can't have salt. OMG!! I would go bananas! I work at a hospital and I know that food is just about as bland as it can be. My other grandmother started her chemo last week and hasn't had the best of weeks. She has already gone way too low on her white blood cell count so she is having to go back and forth to the hospital to get shots to boost those, then get more and more bloodwork. I think she's just really down about the whole thing. Especially since it's getting close to the holidays and she needs to do her Christmas shopping.
On a lighter note, I am going to start making my Christmas cards tonight if I can ever stop looking at random blogs. I went to Hobby Lobby the other day and got a really good deal on my paper!!! I am pretty excited about what I am planning to do. I just hope it turns out as good on paper as it looks in my head. I guess we will see. I will keep you posted.

Game Day

So today, Kent and i went to the GA/Auburn game with some of his friends. Like I have stated before, I am an Alabama fan, but my husband is a GA fan. I am a GA fan, as long as they are not playing AL! We had a really great time! Kent had boiled shrimp last night for us to eat at the tailgating spot, so we had delicious shrimp for breakfast since the game started at 11:30am. Of course the outcome was great for us, so we had a great day. And to top it off, we came home and watched the Alabama game and we won too!!!

My older sis Ashley graduated from Auburn and now lives in Auburn, so she always has season tickets to the home games. We met up for a couple of minutes, so we had to get a pic:

Of course I had to take a few pics of the field before kickoff.

And please say a little prayer for my grandmother. While we were at the game, I got a call that my grandmother had a stroke this morning. This is not the same one that was just diagnosed with breast cancer though. This is my dad's mom. She is in her 80s and has had one before, and has had episodes of "mini strokes" in the past. They did a cat scan and all kinds of labwork and they said everything looked good. They are keeping her overnight to see how everything goes. I just pray for knowledge for the doctors and nurses and peace for my grandmother, she gets very anxious during these episodes. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!!!

NFL game

This past Sunday, Kent and I went to the Saints vs Falcons game. They were tickets that I had given him for our anniversary. Kent is a big fan of the Saints. He used to work with Deuce McAllister's cousin and we met him last year. I think that makes him like them more since he has actually met him. We were on the 20 yd line on the lower level so our seats were great! We had a great time, unfortunately the Saints lost, but at least the Deuce scored a touchdown. I also found out this morning that we got tickets to the Auburn vs Georgia game this Sat. I am really excited! We didn't get to go to a game last year. Kent's a huge GA fan, so hopefully the game will go his way! I am still an AL fan though-so Roll Tide!!! The LSU game this past Sat was a big nail biter for me! I had a bought with nausea and heartburn during the 4th quarter and overtime, but it turned out for the best-for me, so all is well!

Here are some pics of our weekend:

Enjoying the game: (No alcohol, just Kent being dumb, oh well)

Really good view:Go Saints!!

New Hobby

Just thought that I would share some pics of my first creations of my new jewelry line. HaHa!!! I took these to show to my in laws the other night at my niece's pageant. And by the way, she looked magnificent and got Miss Photogenic and was in the top 8. Her BFF won so they were all excited!!! I also have a couple of orders to make some more like this when I get the beads. I made the full set of a necklace, bracelet and earrings. I think that they turned out really well. I am going to keep this set for the sheer nostalgia of it all since this was my first ones to make. Here is my first items:

And here are all the ladies of the family at the pageant: Isn't she gorgeous!!!

Thinking...

So tonight starts another week...of working. Blah, blah, blah. I have been up since 8 am, so I am really tired. I've been told tonight that I am a "walking dictionary for adjectives." I thought that was pretty funny. I've really been down on my life tonight. I think that I am to the point where I am tired of working night shift. I just want to be "normal" again. I don't want to do the flip flop schedule anymore. I said tonight, I feel like I need a life change. Really? I was really inspired this past weekend when I went to the Christmas village to start doing some crafting. I love going to these shows and getting ideas to come home and do. Not to toot my own horn, but I am a little crafty. If I don't know how to do something, I can look it up and figure it out. I have a sewing machine that I bought last year the day after Thankgiving and have used it once. I made a curtain. I whipped it out this morning and sewed up a pair of pants for my niece. When we were at the show, we found these really cute pants, but they were $36 for just the pants. I just can't pay that much for just a pair of pants. Therefore, I went to Hancock and bought some fabric to see if I can make some on the cheap. We'll see how they turn out. I also bought a bunch of beads at Hobby Lobby and have started making some jewelry. I think that this is a great idea for Christmas presents. I am really going to have to cut back on the buying this season of my life. I am BROKE! Our paychecks are now coming in 4 days later and this is the transition week. The fact that I missed 3 nights on my last paycheck makes for a pretty depressing balance in the checking account. I may have dipped in a little (lot) to our bedroom suite fund. No, we still haven't gotten that yet, but when your hubby has had 3 surgeries this summer, it makes for a lot of holding off on the new things. Anyway, the rest of the weekend was great! Our nephew's birthday party was Sat night, and we had a great time watching the game with the family, then roasting hot dogs out by the fire. Totally smelt like a smokestack and walked directly in the shower upon arriving home. I can't stand to smell my hair after being out by the campfire! Anywho, I must go chart and finish my admission. I guess I have rambled enough!

Chip In/Giveaway

Be Thou a Knight is having another Chip In/Giveaway! I posted about this blog a couple of days ago and wanted to let you know that she is going crazy with some Vera Bradley! Follow the link to read all about the rules. You can have up to 5 entries! Take the time to check it out and possibly donate some $$ if you can!

Great Savings!!!

I haven't really posted anything about my shopping trips lately, but this one I couldn't pass up. Especially since I saved 60%. I can't believe all of the good deals I got yesterday at Publix! I bought:
1 pkg Cottonelle
2 lg & 1 sm coffee creamers
4 pkg toll house cookies
4 pkg Pillsbury Savorings
1 Bertolli pasta dinner
1 cake mix
2 cake frostings
1 loaf bread
1 bag lettuce
1 pkg cherry tomatoes
2jars Ragu

4 cans Hunts diced tomatoes

1 Welch's grape juice

2 loreal cleansers

1 loreal cleansing wipes
1 soft scrub
1 lysol wipes
There was a $5/$35 in the Bruno's flyer that I used. Then I used $17.7 MFC and since Publix doubles coupons that are $0.50 & under that added another $8.45 discount. I saved $44.52 in advertised specials with a total savings of $70.67 and OOP cost $48.18. When my cashier was giving my receipt, she told me how much I saved and said, "pick me up off the floor, you saved $70!" It was funny and made me feel really good!!

Then I went to CVS and bought 2 Olay quench lotions, 1 Dawn and 2 big candy bars for OOP cost of $2.14 after coupons and ECBs. Not too bad!!

Chip In Give Away

I came across a blog while I was continually linking from blog to blog. I wanted to let you know about it. She is a married woman struggling with infertility. I personally know several people who have went through/are going through the same thing and it is heart wrenching. She is trying to raise $$ for her 3rd attempt at IVF. She is giving away a Coach purse. Here's the original post. Please take the time to visit her blog and maybe donate a couple of bucks! But most importantly pray for them while they go through this season of their life!

My night:

I HATE DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME WHEN I HAVE TO WORK!!

I've been tagged!

I was tagged by Susan @ Life in the Psych Ward
The Rules:
1.) Link back to the person who tagged you & share the rules on your blog.
2.) Share 7 random facts about yourself.
3.) Tag 7 people & list their links on your post.
4.) Tell those 7 people by commenting on their blogs

So 7 random facts about myself:
1.) I am not a big Thangsgiving food person. The smell of ham makes me nauseated, I hate sweet potatoes, and I'm not a big fan of dressing. I do love the holidays and getting together with my family though!
2.) I am a little vain in the fact that I love name brand items. I like to go in Saks and pretend that I can buy anything I want, when in reality I've bought one shirt from there I found on clearance for $40.
3.) I have been called Martha Stewart by some of my friends because I love to bake, I can crochet, sew, and I've made a quilt.
4.) My entire family is Auburn fans except me. Roll Tide!!
5.) When I was in middle school, I got a perm even though my hair is naturally curly. Gorgeous was I!!
6.) My first two dogs that I adopted from the pound ran away. I was still living with my parents so they were outside. They disappeared for a couple of days, then one came back. Two weeks later, the other disappeared for good too.
7.) I watch A LOT of TV. On the verge of ridiculous, but I'm okay with it.

The 7 people I am tagging:
Heather, Jillian, Courtney, Jennifer, Ashley, Brandy, & Dawn

Happy Halloween

Okay, I was at WalMart this morning because I needed to get some eggs. Well I decided to have a little fun too, and I thought that Kent would enjoy this. Gus and Frankie didn't really enjoy it all that much, but I got some good laughs from it and the police officer riding through the neighborhood stopped to chat about how cute they were.

Neither of them were liking the elastic straps around the back legs.

And finally, Frankie the Weenie...dog. HAHAHA!!!

Hangin' Tough with a Pocket Full of Sunshine!

OMG!!! Words cannot truly express how much fun I had last night at the concert. I had so much fun with Shannon, Erica and Brandy!! We met up around 1ish to leave for the ATL. We checked into our hotel and changed-thanks Shannon-for the Boys. Had to get a little glam :) We stopped and picked up some grub at the Wendy's across the street and when we walked in, we were amongst about 50 other ladies our ages going to the concert. It was at the Gwinnett Center right outside of ATL. What a nice venue! Anyway, the whole time we are stuck in traffic, we see all of these other vehicles with stuff written all over their cars. We had nothing, but found some things hilarious. Such as: My heart belongs to Donnie; NKOTB or Bust, ATL bound, We've been waiting 15 years for this, etc, etc. We got to our seats-7th row on the side lower level. WOW! There were some major '80s rejects there. I mean, I know that I am at this concert too, but I was wearing normal clothes with my hair fixed like it always is in 2008! We saw some homemade puff paint t-shirts, crimped hair, leg warmers, spandex, huge buttons and finally- my fave- the sequin headband with the side ponytail. CLASSIC!!! I took pics of some of these, but I will not post them to protect the innocent. Natasha Beddingfield opened first. She was amazing! She was only on stage for about 25 min, but she put on a great performance. I knew most everything that she sang too, which always makes it more fun. Then Lady GaGa performed. One word sums it up-weird! I could've stayed out in the lobby during her 20-30 min. Then on to the big show! After they played a short video of some old school pics and wording, they opened with a new song-Single. Great beginning to the show, very upbeat! They played all of the great vintage songs! We were jumping up and down, screaming every word like we were 12 again! They also came out to the floor like right in front of us on a revolving stage to sing a few songs, so we got an even closer look! But when Jordan busts out in his high voice singing in an open white shirt with the wind machine blowing on him-I really was 12 again! I was infatuated with him so many years ago! Such sweet memories! The show lasted about 3.5 hours and I didn't want it to end! When they left the stage the 1st time, the audience started singing the words to Hangin' Tough. Then they busted back out with Step by Step and Hangin' Tough to finish it off. It was definitely a night that I will never forget! Now I am 26 again and in the real world at work. It's really a bummer to have so much fun then get kicked back into reality. Maybe I will win the lottery, quit work and become a groupie-A girl can dream! Here are a few pics of our great night:

The beginning to the best concert ever!

I can't believe we are really here!

Crazy screaming mid 20s-30 year old ladies-What What!!!

Revolving stage in front of us:

Be Still My Heart:

Brandy & Erica:

Shannon and Yours Truly:

I think I may have shed a tear when it was over :(

Almost time-NKOTB!!!

At the begining of this year, one of my dreams came true. Some people can think that I am crazy and that is fine with me. When I was a wee child, I had a slight (maybe, huge) obsession with New Kids on the Block. I was completely in love with Jordan Knight. They were very important to me. I had the huge buttons, the sleeping bags, the t-shirts, the posters, etc. So when I found out they were getting back together and going on tour, I was super pumped. I know, I know, some people (my husband) think that I am absolutely absurd for being that excited about it. I am however, not the only one. Tomorrow night, I will be in ATL for the concert with 3 other girls from work. I can't believe that it is here. When they appeared on the Today show, I was sitting on my bed calling my older sister. Needless to say, she's not as big a fan as me, but I was singing every word to their medley of Hangin' Tough, Step by Step, Cover Girl, The Right Stuff, Please Don't Go Girl, the list could go on and on. Our tickets are on the 6th row since I bought them during the presale so I know that we will have a great view. I will be able to relive my tween years to the fullest! They have changed quite a bit and I am not so sure of the new music, but I will tell you that when they sing their vintage songs, I will be acting bananas!!!

Jamaica

Well, unfortunately, I am now back at work. Back to the same ol' routine. Back to reality! It has been a wonderful vacation!! I do believe that we wrote a new definition to the word lazy!!! We lived in the ocean for the first 2 days, just lounging around, soaking in the sun. It did rain everyday that we were there but it was mostly a short afternoon shower, except on Thurs and Fri. Those days, it rained about 4 hours each day. During the afternoon short showers, we chose to take an afternoon nap. :) Bliss!!! Then Wed, we took a sunset cruise from our hotel, went snorkeling and saw a huge stingray digging in the sand, an anchor and cannon from a sunken pirate ship, and tons of other sea creatures. It was really awesome. Then we went swimming through a cave and to Rick's Cafe. It was a restaurant on the edge of a cliff where there was an awesome view of the sunset. There was also a place to cliff jump. Which Kent nor I partook in. We really aren't the daredevil type. We just enjoyed watching other people try to gain the courage to jump off. We ate, then we were on our way back to the hotel. Then we spent the remainder of the days in the pool and lounging around. We did venture out off of the hotel grounds on Friday since it was our last day and we thought we would take in some of the local shops and ate at Margarittaville. Their shopping center was Times Square Shopping Mall. I've been to NYC 3 times and when I think of Times Square, that's what is on my mind. Nope!!

This was it. There were about 12-15 shops that had essentially the exact same items. i bought 2 photo albums, a pair of flip flops and Kent bought a hat. Then we had lunch:

Of course it started raining while we were there, and our taxi driver had a blow out on the way back making me think that he just took off with our $$ and souveniers. Alas, he came back and we spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool. On Sat, before we headed to the airport, Kent had made friends with our taxi driver and he was taking us on the west side to get some lobster. We had heard from other hotel guests that the lobster there was the best. So they were right!! It was the best lobster I have ever eaten!! Not too bad priced either!

Well, I guess I will leave you with some more of my pics. I only took about 100, but I will spare you and give you a glimpse:

The view from our balcony:
Our sunset pic:

One of the many towel arrangements we came back to: I loved this tree!:

I am really good at taking pics of ourselves: And finally, one of just the beautiful sunset: