January 30, 2009

Snow Days

School has been out all week due to snow and ice. It has been nice to sleep a little longer. Tim even got a couple of days off due to the weather. I was torn if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Pros were he took the kids outside so that I did not have to. They mainly stayed upstairs with him and played video games. Cons were that he was worse than the kids. "I'm hungry. Are you going to make anything to eat?", He can make a bigger mess than all three kids put together. When they came inside from outside all the gear went right in the middle of the floor. He said he was drying it out. It is still there 3 days later. I did enjoy getting some lovey time on really cold days.
All bundled up and ready to go out
Practicing making snow angels insideEli just kept running to the road. Recognize the snow suit Widney Woman?

The next day we took the kids to McDonald so they could get out of the house. They have a great playground and because we were the only crazy ones to go out in it, it was pretty much to ourselves. This was a nice change and helped them and us get over feeling so cooped up.

January 29, 2009

Thankful Thursday- Parent Style

I have been told by my favorite bloggers, Widney Woman and The Fairy Blog Mother, that naming what you are thankful for can increase your happiness by 25%. Here is a shout out to all the number one parents in my life...

I am thankful for the number one daddy in the world. My Husband. He is amazing. He has the patience that I do not have. He takes the kids every night for at least an hour and reads or plays with them so I can just have a moment to breath. He is also the one that took the kids to play outside yesterday so that I did not have to. He is my baby sitter when I want to go out with the girls just by myself. Never tells me no or complains. He is my BEST est friend and always lets me vent and always takes my side. (Even when I am in the wrong and know it. But that is not important at the moment) Love you Babe.

I am thankful for my Step Dad John who is just so great. It took me a long time to warm up to John. Even though I did not want my parents to be together (check previous blog on faithful Friday father) I was not ready for my mom to get remarried. Never the less, John was amazing to my mom and was truly a God send. They were only married for 8 years before she died but those were the happiest years that I ever saw her. For that I am so so grateful. Not to mention just how thoughtful he is. He is always taking us to dinner, he is great with my kids, he is always there for every holiday, birthday, sporting event, etc. He is always wearing a smile and in a cheerful mood. I am so thankful that he came into our lives.

I am thankful for my real dad. He is instrumental for making me the strong, confident, self-respecting and hard working person that I am. He is a good boss. (Well I am the boss. Don't tell him he needs to think that he is in control of things. = P ) He is always there when I have a blow out or my battery dies or when my husband doesn't change the brakes and they fall out while you are driving down the road. ( Yeah that happened before) He is always there.

Now to my most favorite set of parents in the world. Tim's parents. They have been my support ever sense I have met Sarah in 1995. They gave me a place to live when I got kicked out by my dad. Dad gave me a job and never said anything about me picking fights with the guys and having rubber band fights. He helped me get my first car. I loved that car. He took us all over the US to places that I had never been to before and probably wouldn't have if it wasn't for him. Best part was they were business trips so we did not pay for most of it. Even our honeymoon. Most people would probably complain about spending part of their honeymoon with there in-laws but I loved having them there. He flew us in a helicopter over Kema, FL at night. We tried to push him in the fountains and I got sprayed right up the crouch instead. It was so much fun!
My mother in law is just my mom. She has taught me so much. How to expand my cooking comfort level. She has always been there to talk to and listen when you need her. She is just my most favorite person. I remember thinking when my mom died that I would be okay because I still have Donna Momma. Not to mention they are both my kids most favorite people. They ask me every day if we are going to see mama and papa. They know they love them unconditionally.

January 27, 2009

My Favorite


I am very picky about my makeup. I really don't like spending a lot of money on it. Lately, though I have been on a Mary Kay kick because she comes to my house and lets me use all her samples to come up with new looks. Any way, I have been seeing the commercials for this new L'Oreal mascara. It is suppose to make tubes no the end of your lashes to lengthen them. Well curiosity got the best of me and I bought it. $10 dollars!!! If I had not been on a mission just for this I would not have spent that on mascara. I get my mascara when it goes on sale with Avon. I went home and tried it. LOVE IT!! It does just what it says. It makes my lashes so much longer and fuller. It looks like I have fake lashes on. The creepy thing about it is when you need to take it off you have to sock them with water. When I was taking a shower I just pulled them off. It feels like and looks like you are pulling your lashes off. Crazy. I highly recommend this if you are like me and have thin and short lashes. It is worth the $10.

January 26, 2009

A New Me...Hairstyle

I said that I was not going to cut for my hair for 1 year. Yeah right! Tim was wanting me to grow it out. I have not had long hair since high school. I am sorry but with three young kids it is difficult for me to have long hair. I like to take as little time as possible to get ready. I enjoy being able to just blow dry my hair and leave and it look like I spent a lot of time on myself. I actually went to just get a trim but I was left alone with my thoughts on the drive there. This is the result.

It is stacked in the back. It starts longer in the front and goes up to a shorter cut in the back.

My sister in law Sarah was so sweet to get up early and come over to watch the kids for me so I could go. My apt was at 8am because that was all my hair lady had. I left the diaper bag in the car so she had no diapers for the boys. Her only option was to put baby Wyatt's diapers on them till I got back. Baby Wyatt wears a size 1. The boys wear a size 4. It was so stinkin funny. It was like a little diaper speedo. He got some stickers for being good. They lasted for about 2 minutes.

Flash Back

Since I didn't get to show you a picture of my pretty little chicken last time, I thought I would get one before Tim gets home and rips into them. Aren't they pretty?

January 23, 2009

Women With Daughters

I have been looking online to purchase my 5 year old daughter some clothing since she has grown about 5 inches since school started. Everything she has is too short or too tight. I am shocked and want to know if I am alone on this. Reni loves dresses. In the summer it is all she will wear and to get her into pants now usually requires bribing her. One a more than one web page the dresses were way to old for her. For any young girl I think. They had tub top dresses and tops, Shorts that are way to short, Pants that are low rise and Mini Skirts. Maybe I am just being way to strict. I just want to keep her as innocent as I can for as long as I can. I think our youth is growing up way to fast now days. I was not allowed to wear stuff like this because according to my dad it insinuated something. If you pay attention we due stereotype people by their outward appearance. I just want her to respect herself and her body by not showing off all that shes got. What happened to leaving a little to the imagination? Plus times are much more dangerous than they were when I was young. I use to be able to walk myself to school and back at her age. It was only two blocks away also. Now I would never let her walk to school by herself or even if she was 12.
Maybe I am being over protective. Maybe I am over reacting since she is only 5. But it all starts somewhere. If I can teach her to respect herself at 5 then when she is 16 it will just be who she is. She will be a leader not a follower. She will be comfortable enough in her own skin not to follow the crowd and be okay with it. I don't know maybe it is just me. Let me know what you think. Am I over reacting?

Thankful Thursday Late Style

I wanted to post this yesterday and didn't have time. I am thankful that my job is picking back up and kept me busy for most of the day yesterday.

I am thankful for my husband. I am going to leave it at that because I am not happy with him right now. I have been telling him for two weeks the brakes on the car are squeaking. "Do you want me to take them somewhere and get them changed." "No I will do it." Yesterday it was sounding horrible and one of the pads actually feel out of the car somewhere!! Enough said.

I am thankful for my father-in-law who let us come to the airport and use his tools because my husband left his at work. He gave the kids candy and pop and helped me to keep them entertained for about an hour. Of course they were just glad to see him and cried because we had to leave.

I am most thankful for my sweetest ever step-dad John. He over heard me telling Tim that I wanted to go and see Oprah's The Color Purple while it was in town. He asked me the other day if he had gotten me tickets. I told him no and that he didn't really want to go. John went and bought us tickets!! It was so sweet. Not to mention the show was incredible. The audience got so into it. I cried and I laughed so hard. If you get the chance you must see it.

Thankful Thursdays was created by the Mommy Project (who I hear is having a baby today..Congrats!!). I do not have her linky but link over to Widney Woman to check out more Thankful Thursdays and to link over to Mommy Project.

January 21, 2009

What's Cooking Wednesdays-Roast Chicken

Tim has been wanting me to pack healthier lunches for him. So I thought that I would just get him the bag salad with all the accessories in them. Know what I mean? They come with the dressing, bacon pieces, croutons, etc already in the bag. Then I thought I would get him some of the Tyson chicken that all you have to do is heat up. Well when checking the prices at the store, I found that you can buy a whole chicken for $4.00 or you could buy this little bag of ready to eat and with only about 2 servings for around $6.00. Guess which I picked.

Here is the thing though. These little things terrify the hell out of me. I've never cooked a turkey either. I guess because there is so much involved in making sure it is cleaned out and I am always afraid that I am not going to get it cooked all the way and kill my family. I am not exaggerating. Well, like a sign from God, after I got home I was watching Food Network (I'm a junky) and Barefoot Contessa was cooking a roasted chicken!! I know!! I was in shock how easy it was. I was so motivated I got up and cooked that little chicken. It was simple, fast and tastes amazing. Not to mention it looked just as beautiful as the one that she made. I did not want to eat it. I was so proud of myself. I thought I would just share with you my success story and pass along the recipe. Enjoy!!

Easy Roasted Chicken

1 Roasted Chicken
lemons
potatoes
carrots
onion

In a medium roasting pan you layer your potatoes, carrots and onion. Rinse and pat dry your chicken and place on top of the veggies. Salt and pepper the inside of the chicken and place cut up lemon in the inside of the chicken. Then you want to some butter on the outside of your bird and then salt and pepper the outside.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes per pound of the chicken. Done when the juices run clear or you can remove a leg easily.

What I did different
I did not have potatoes or carrots so I just made a bed of onions. I also did not have lemons so I just salt and peppered the inside. I rubbed it down with olive oil butter and salt and peppered the outside. Cooked it like they said.

AMAZING!!

Tim loved it. I do not have a picture of it because after I took it out I was letting it sit for a while they suggest so the juices can redistribute. I was upstairs cleaning and Tim came home. He mutilated it. He said that it was amazing with his man grunting noises, not words. It made me feel so good inside. I divided the chicken all up in to smaller portions and he ate off of it for 5 days! Salads, chicken tacos, chicken sandwiches, etc. I got way more bang for my buck.

Now check out the star of What's Cooking Wednesdays the The Fairy Blog Mother .

January 20, 2009

Lil' Scavenger

He has learned so quickly. Serenity and Triston not so much. Tim and I are always telling them to sit down and eat. They do not listen and continue to run around and go back and forth to their dinner plate. I can not let them in the dinning room with us because it is carpeted and they like to spill their food. Eli has learned that they are going to get up. He stands quietly to the side and waits. Sure enough they get up and begin their running path through the living room, through the dinning room and then through the kitchen. While they are running he swoops in and eats as fast as he can before he gets caught and they take it away. I just can't help but smile. He is just so darn cute... and smart!!!





I also just want to add. I DO feed him. He sits in his little high chair with me and gets his own helping. He just does not ever seem to get full. Or, which I believe, he just likes the challenge and the adrenaline of getting caught. Not good when he becomes a teen.

January 16, 2009

Faithful Fridays - Father

I have started to blog about how my faith has gotten me through so many things I would not have gotten through otherwise. I was thinking last night where I wanted to go today. I was really wanting to tell the story of my husband but kept feeling led to blog about my father. This is still a little hard for me but hopefully it helps someone with the same issues.

Growing up I was NOT a daddy's girl. In fact I would have been happy if my dad had went away and never had come back. Actually I use to pray about it. He was probably one of the most horrible people that I knew. I know that is harsh but that is how I felt. My dad was filled with lots of anger when I was younger. We could not really play around with him like most daddy and kids did. We did not go and do things like most families did. My dad was a work alcoholic so there was not really much time. Then when he would get home he was tired and irritated and took that out on us and our mom.

When I was 9 years old I started to take care of me and my three younger brothers by myself. I was also responsible for making sure that dinner was cooked, laundry done and the house cleaned by the time that they got home. If it was not done, you paid the consequences. He was very physically and verbally abusive. I took the blunt of everything I think for two reasons. One because I believed if I went first then the boys would not get hit as hard and two I think he came after me first because I was the oldest. I don't know. I often took the blow for him and my mom fighting also. He never hit my mom. On occasion when they would get into it he would find some reason to corner me in my room or in my closet.

Like all other kids, all I could dream of was how I could not wait till I was 18 and I could move out of the house. When I became a teenager and could drive and work I did. It was a great way to stay out of the house. Much came with this age. This was the age that he and my mom got pregnant with me and got married. So of course I was going to do the same thing. If he even heard of me talking to a guy I was sleeping with them. I was a whore or a slut or what ever else. according to him I was doing it all. Even if I was not out with a guy this is what would meet me when I got home.

Separate from the abuse, I always resented him for always moving us around. We moved probably every two years. Just when me and my brothers would settle in and make friends, we would be moving again. He always had a plan to make more money or we would just do this for a little while and then we could have a bigger house. Yadda yadda. He never really had a job. He was self employed. What that meant was that my mom worked so hard to pay the bills by herself and everything that he did make went right back to his business. Because of his selfishness we struggled hard. To this day I have a hard time eating brown beans and sandwiches. I am not complaining though. Thank God we had something to eat!

I believe because my dad and mom were married so young my dad started to feel trapped. When I was pre-teen he started to come and go as he pleased. He had many girlfriends on and off. It threw my mom into a depression and she did not come out of her room much. Ever so often he would leave with the explanation of he just wanted to date for a while. Every time I would pray that he would just stay away. My mom would always take him back. I hated her for that. I hated how weak she was. She would always tell me that she could not raise us four by herself. I just could not understand.

I have really come down hard on my dad. But here is where I want to go with this. Now that I am the person that I am I can see where this all came into play. Because we moved so much I can adapt to any situation. I am very outgoing and never meet a stranger. Because I had to take care of my brothers I was not scared of my own children when they came along. I had been there and done that. Plus since there was three of them I can take care of many children at one time. I am great at multi-tasking. Because we did not have much food in the house, I am really good at making something out of nothing. My favorite thing from all of this, is that I have been able to minister to other youth that are going through the same thing.

You are probably wondering what my relationship is like with my dad now. He kicked me out of the house very shortly after I turned 18. For about 4 years after that we did not talk much. We did not see each other during holidays or nothing. He knew how I felt and gave me my space. He and my mom divorced right after I moved out. He became a totally different person. A 180 degree change. But I still could not forgive him. I carried that anger with me every where and used it for an excuse for everything. I took my anger out on every one that I could and even my husband. I just blamed it on how I was abused.

After my daughter was born we took a visit to see some of Tim's family in Florida. His uncle is an evangelist. He can read you like a book. We got into conversation and I began to spill my story. He asked me if I wanted to be delivered from it and I did not answer. I was not sure if I was ready to forgive him. It had become my identity. I was an abused person. It was who I was. Plus I did not think that he deserved my forgiveness. Especially when he had not even told me that he was sorry. Actually he would not admit to anything. Finally I relented. We prayed and prayed pretty much through the whole night. When it was all over I was healed. I was able to let it go. When we got back from that trip I slowly began to work my dad back into my life. We would go visit and show up on the holidays. Now I run a landscaping business with him and we talk daily. He still has never told me he is sorry but I am okay with that. I can see it in his eyes and in the way he does selfless things for me. I think he is not able to physically say it but I know that he is. I love him now. I actually thank him for shaping me in so many ways. I would not be the person that I am today had I not gone through all that I have been through. One of my favorite sayings is that there is always a rainbow at the end of the storm. Just keep looking for the rainbow, it's there.

January 15, 2009

Let it Snow


This is a shout out to my favorite blogger widneywoman . You are always getting to post pictures of your snow but I have not had any. BUT today! I got some snow too! Don't make too much fun. You were once from here remember? Amazingly school was not out.

I have a problem

Okay I am coming clean. I have an addiction. I have been trying to fight this addiction for quite a while. My mom had this same addiction for most of her life. We use to say that she kept them in business. I have been addicted for so long that now when I go a full day without it I actually get a headache! I wonder if they offer classes for it. Okay I'm going to come clean.......
Pepsi

I need help!

January 14, 2009

My Little Man

Eli has started the cutest thing. Every time he sees a blanket he goes and puts it to his face and then starts sucking his fingers. He usually only sucks his fingers when you put him in his bed for bedtime. It is so cute. I was getting a little bummed because he is getting so big. No more baby. Then he starts doing this and he is a baby all over again.

Catching up

I am already dropping my New Year goal of blogging everyday. I have learned though. I have a pretty uneventful life. I am just at home with the kids and we don't do much. Well a lot of yelling but other than that. So anyway I will catch you up on what we have been up to since Friday.


Me and my Whit



Saturday is always a busy day for us. We go to church on Saturday nights. I went to get groceries before church and Walmart was crazy! I swear everyone in Claremore was there at the same time. I only had a short to get the groceries before we needed to load up and head to church. I was doing great on time. I stuck to my list and was feeling pretty proud of myself. I got to the line, got all checked out and wouldn't you know it. I left my wallet at home! I was so embarrassed. There was a long line behind me. You can just imagine what they were thinking. So I had to leave the groceries, come back home and then I sent Tim back up there to pick them up. I could not face them. No not really. My feet were killing me!!! And he had not got one kid dressed. So while he went to get the groceries I got them ready.

Needless to say we did not make it to the 5 service which we usually attend and then we serve with the kids at the 630 service. It was okay though. Afterwards we decided to take the kids to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We got a gift card to there for Christmas. The kids had never been there before so they loved it. The food was great! I had ate there once before when it first open in Tulsa and it was not very good at all. We ordered them a $6 grilled cheese. Tim was like it better be lined in Gold or something to pay $6 for it. It was huge!! I am so glad that we decided to split between them. We told them if they ate it all they could have a piece of cake. Triston of course spent most of the evening under the table. (drives me crazy) Serenity ate all but the crust. I was so glad because I really wanted to get a piece. It was chocolate cake and cheesecake together. Again I am dropping the ball and got no pictures. Sorry


Sunday was a lot of fun. We went to a birthday party for Hadley. She belongs to Whit, one of the girls. It was at Pump it up. We had so much fun. I have not been able to play on the inflatables before because Eli was to little or I was pregnant. I trucked my big butt up the big slide and had a great time! I thought it would scare Eli but he had so much fun. He was Mr.Independent all that day. He spent the whole two hours just walking around and exploring, or trying to get out the door so he could walk down the hall. It was so great to spend more time with the girls and our kids.

Reni and ELi coming down the big slide



Birthday girl Hadley, Reni and Triston



Mr. Triston conquering the slide





Tim making the kids fly in the big jumper thing

Daddy and Mr Eli





Me and My Sam




Sam and Alan attend the 5 service on Sunday evenings. We decided since we missed our service we would tag along with them to church and then we would go and have dinner afterward. The service was heart wrenching but great of course. Check it out if you get a chance. http://www.lifechurch.tv/ Then we headed to Johnny Carino's. I love Carino's because you can get family pasta platters and only spend about $20 for your whole meal! Tim hates it because he does not like to share his food. I don't really care. We had a great visit with Sam and Alan. She is one of my favorite people. She is always good for a smile and a great listener. The kids did really well too. That is unusual for a restaurant.

January 9, 2009

Faithful Friday Child Style

I had a little bit of a bumpy road growing to be the whole 28 that I am. There was many times that I didn't know if I would make it here but I have. So much happens this year, 10 year class reunion, 10 year marriage anniversary and so on. It has really got me thinking deep. So I thought that I would add my own addition. Faithful Fridays. I will tell of how my faith has gotten me through things that I did not know I would make it through.

Topic #1 Children

I have three beautiful children. Serenity 5, Triston 2 (3 in Feb), and Elijah 1. If you would had asked me 10 years ago if I would have three children at this time, I would have told that I would have four. I wanted lots of children. I am the oldest of four so I love a big family. Then the journey began. Me and Tim were married when I was 19 and him 22. We had been married for three years when I started to have big medical problems. I had actually had girl problems since Aunt Flow had come to visit. It was just always diagnosed as ovarian cyst. Of course I did not question anything. I did not know any better. So 10 years from then, the problem was getting worse. So I found a New Doctor. I saw him one time and he said that he thought I had endometriosis. The only way to diagnosis this is to have surgery. A week later I was having surgery. I was eat up with it. Good news was that they think they got it all but bad news was to follow.
When I went in for the follow up I was given two choices. We could treat the endometriosis with a medicine that would put me into a type of menopause or we could try to get pregnant. Pregnancy is known to fix the problem in most cases. If we were to take the medication we would have a very slim chance of getting pregnant. It was already slim because of the endometriosis. So with my discussion with family and with each other and of course prayer, we decided to try to get pregnant. We had been talking about it anyway so it wasn't that hard of a decision. We just wanted to be married for 5 years before kids.
We tried on our own for 6 months. No child. My doctor put me on fertilization drug that I only took when I was ovulating. We did that for 6 months at a low dose. No child. I was getting so discouraged. I was falling into a depression. Not only that, but the drugs were making me hormone crazy. I was so up and down all the time. I could not control my emotions. My doctor then upped to the high dose. We did that for 6 months. No child. We went in to discuss the next step with the doctor. He said lets try it one more month and then if we do not have any luck we will continue with injections. I was not ready for that. So Tim and I decided that if we did not get pregnant this time we would wait till we were older to do the injections. We needed a break from all the disappointment and I needed to give my body a break.
You don't hear to much about what this kind of rejection does to a woman. You are raised to believe what your roll is. To grow up, get married and have children to live on your legacy. When you are told you can not have children or if you are not able to produce children you feel like a failure. That you are not fulfilling your destiny. I felt so empty. I felt like I was letting my husband down. I had wanted children my whole life. I wanted Lots of children! How could this be happening to me? Doesn't God give us the desires of our heart? Why me? Then my mom told me of a dream that she had. She was standing on the porch of a white house and I was walking down the sidewalk holding hands with a dark haired little girl. I knew than that I would have a little girl with dark hair.

So then we were getting ready to go to a wedding in FL. I was having breast tenderness so I took a test. Sure enough I was pregnant! I was so excited and so was Tim. We got to tell the whole family while we were in FL. Then I started to spot. I did not know what was going on. I called my doctor but there was not anything I could do while out of town. When we got back home I took another test. Negative. We went to doctor and he did the blood test. Negative. I had took with me the positive home test and showed them to him. He said that you can not have a false positive so I was pregnant but he did not know what had happened. I miscarried. You think that this would have discouraged me, but it didn't. I was pregnant so that meant that I could be pregnant again.
The very next month I started to have a lot of the same symptoms. I was working in a doctors office so my fellow nurse friend just took my blood and we sent it off. POSITIVE!! It was positive! I was so excited. I could not wait to tell Tim but I was afraid to tell him and did not want to until I was a little further along. I did not want to put him through that again. But my big mouth friend asked me in front of him if I had something I wanted to tell him. So I did. He was excited but like me afraid to get to attached so soon into the game. We told our mothers. They were so thrilled and supportive. I had a terrible pregnancy. But that is a whole other blog. If you want to hear about it comment me.
To make a already long story shorter. Three years go by and we start talking about having another one. Boom! Like magic we get pregnant with Triston. No drugs. Just fun. ; ) Then on Triston's first birthday we found out we were pregnant with Eli. I think our little problem is fixed. Now I have a IUD. No more kids! I love them all in different ways because they are such different little people. Life with out them would not be life at all. They were worth all the trouble and everything else we had to go through and are going through. All because we refused to give up and never lost our faith in God that He would give us what was in our hearts.
God is so Faithful!
Oh yeah this is my dark haired little girl.

Yumm-O

So I have just discovered the Fairy Blog Mother from my SIL widneywoman and she had a blog for Whats Cooking Wednesdays about a cheese ball. So I am posting this for her but try it if you like. I got it from my mother in law, who got it from a friend, who got it from a friend and so on. Every time I make this for my guest it is the first thing to go. They love it! If I don't make it, they really give me grief. Here is the best thing about it. It only takes like 5 minutes to make. Sooo easy. Sometimes when I am just scavenging the fridge I will make one and try not to eat it all by myself but it doesn't always end up like that.

Easy Cheesy Cheese ball
(That's not its name, but it is now =oP )

One Package of room temp cream cheese
4-5 green onions
1-2 tablespoons of garlic powder

Make into a ball and refrigerate until firm 20-30 minutes or so.
Then roll cheese ball around in black pepper.

Ready to serve.
I like to serve it with the Sun dried Tomato Wheat Thins. They are great with it.
You don't have to refrigerate if you don't want to. It just makes it easier to roll in pepper.
I also have to add. I hate black pepper. You really can not taste it. It is so weird how these flavors come together. You really can not keep from eating it.

If you try it out. Let me know what you think. Come back and comment me. Enjoy!

January 8, 2009

Knowing Me, Knowing You

So after reading the blog of widneywoman, I decided to play along. Fairy Blog mother is starting a new interview blog with some fun questions. Since I am having some blogger block and really don't do much since I am at home most of the time, I thought to myself "I'm game." If you would like to play along, check out their blogs and join the fun.

1.Making any New Year's resolutions this year or do you think the whole idea of resolutions is ridiculous?

I do not believe in New Year's resolutions. I do spend time every year going over the last year and thinking about what went good for me and what I think I could really work on. The first of the year is were I am the deepest in thought.

2.Read/Watched anything good?

Part of my new years goals to not watch so much TV, so I am not really watching anything. Oprah on the other hand has been great this week and really been getting me thinking. Got to love some Oprah.

I did watch the story with Patric Swayze last night with Barbara Walters. I sniffled my way through it. He is THE love of my life. My husband even knows he just can not compete. I hate what he is having to go through with the cancer and even more his poor wife. It was hard for a life long fan to watch. My prayers are with them.

3.Blog you can't stop reading...

I am kind of new to the Blogger world so there are not many that I read. I check in with widneywoman every day. That is my family and how I feel I keep in touch with them and their lives.

4.George Clooney and Brad Pitt are together on the cover of the French edition of GQ. You can check out the sexiness here. Quick question..... who's hotter?

I would have to say Brad Pitt here if these are my choices. George Clooney just reminds of like my best friends dad or something. Plus I am a fan of the chiseled jaw and proportionate face. Brad is just a good looking man. You know, what fantasies are made of.

5.When it comes to movies do you prefer the theater or dvd?

I would much rather watch movies at home. I am fairly tall so I don't really fit well in Theaters. I love to watch a movie curled up on the couch with a comfy blanky with all the leg room I need. Plus, when I get to go out with out kids, I want to enjoy the time reconnecting with my husband not watching a movie. It is really the only time we can have uninterrupted conversation. I value that time. Not sharing it with a movie.

So there you so. I am sure there will be more so check back. Also if you choose to play along, give a shout out to the Fairy Blog Mother.

January 5, 2009

A new Me

So I said that one of my New Years goals was to take better care of myself. Every Sunday evening me and the girls have a small group that we use to encourage each other. Mainly we complain about our husbands but it was formed to help encourage each other to stay motivated to lose weight. We met yesterday and had a great meeting. It was just Sam, Whit and Me. I told them that I was going to be blogging about my progress and that I was going to brutally honest about it. They just told me good luck and that I was brave. I think that blogging about it, I have to face it. No more lieing about it. I will just have to face it.

At this meeting we discussed our goals for 2009. I have already placed that in my Happy New year blog if you want to go back. As far as the taking better care of myself goals, I decided that I would make small goals every two weeks for now. My goals for this two weeks is to get off pop, to not eat out, and to walk at least three days a week for 20 minutes. Then I will set a new goal for the next two weeks. Baby steps. I also got my weight while I was there. 247. There it is, no more hiding. My first goal weight is to be 199. That would make me happy to just not see a 2 in the beginning. I was going to get my measurements but could not find a tape so I will have to post that next week. Any way that is were I am at and I will keep you posted on progress.

January 4, 2009

To My Sisters

Someone sent this to me and I don't think that I could say it any better. I know that I couldn't. Look who it is coming from. One of the greatest women to ever live. I am all about empowered women. I feel like this generation is way more interested in getting the guy than loving themselves. I makes my heart hurt when I hear about 12 year girls having sex and being in abusive relationships already! This is the time to enjoy your youth and not have to worry about such grown up things. This is why I WILL raise my girl the same way my mom raised me. To number one respect God and his plans for us but number two to love herself so much that no one will be able to disrespect her. I will raise to her to make up her mind things and not let anyone be able to change it. She will be strong, respectful, and God like in every way. She is already on that path. She is such a beautiful girl. Thank God for her and all my sisters. Pray for our future generation and set the right examples.

MAYA ANGELOU'S POEM FOR WOMEN
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
enough money within her control to move out
and rent a place of her own, even if she never
wants to or needs to...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
something perfect to wear if the employer,
or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .
a youth she's content to leave behind....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .
a past juicy enough that she's looking forward
to retelling it in her old age....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and...
a black lace bra...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..
one friend who always makes her laugh..
and one who lets her cry...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a good piece of furniture not previously
owned by anyone else in her family...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems,
and a recipe for a meal, that will make her
guests feel honored...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE
a feeling of control over her destiny..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to fall in love without losing herself..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to quit a job, break up with a lover,
and confront a friend, without ruining the friendship...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
when to try harder...
and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that she can't change the length of her calves,
the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that her childhood may not have been perfect...
but it's over.. .

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she would and wouldn't do...
for love or more...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW....
how to live alone...
even if she doesn't like it...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... .
whom she can trust, whom she can't,
and why she shouldn't take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
where to go... be it to her best friend's kitchen table..
or a charming Inn in the woods....
when her soul needs soothing...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW..
What she can and can't accomplish in a day... a month... and a year...

I need to frame this and put it where I can read it every day. I need to learn how to portray this to my daughter to help to be a strong and confident women. I believe that I can.

January 1, 2009

Happy New Year!

We spent the evening just the way I wanted to. With great friends and loved ones. Our lifegroup broke up over the summer because everyone was being lead else where. Although we are not a small group anymore we have all remained really great friends. For the last two years me and Tim have hosted the New Years/Christmas celebration for the group, so of course we did again this year. We had it at Momma Donna's this year. It was a lot less stressful. Everyone just brought finger foods and BYOB of course. We had a great time and great conversation. We played white elephant. There was some pretty creative gifts. Tim got hobo in a box. It was a bag of beans, bag of rice, two flat sheets and some other stuff like that. I told him it was his box house box. Everything to survive when he goes to the bog house. I got a fiber-optic Marilyn Monroe doll. VERY goddy but Serenity loves it. It's hers. We had a great time and could not have asked to spend it any other way.