Hippity Hoppty Bloggy Blog Hop!

Are you guys ready?
For the BIGGEST reveal of the month?
That's right it's time for CMK Blog hop reveal!!!!

Check it out!!!!!!
Here is my reveal layout for you all to see!!
The kit is totally yummy and fun!!!


I really loved working with this kit it was totally fabulous!
Make sure you check out the fun CMK Blog Hop! You'll be inspired by what everyone did!

Sewing and the job.

The other night while A was at youth group
I sundered over to JoAnn's.
I try not to go in there too much, because I
normally end up spending money!!!
But as I was looking around just trying to
waste time, I started walking towards the fabric
section. I never go over there, I normally head over to
the scrapping isle.
But for some reason I was drawn
to the fabrics.
You guys know from previous posts, I don't sew.
Of course I know how to quilt and have made
them before and all.
But flat out sewing?
Not so much.
But I was walking around looking at all the
pretty fabric and got the sudden idea
of how much I'd like to sew something.
Yeah.. I know right?
Little ole' me...

When I suddenly got an idea to
find those sewing books
where you can look at a pattern
and then pick it out
and then buy the pattern and make it?



These were the two shirts I was really drawn too.
As I started looking through the books
I was reminded of my mom.
She and I used to go to the store and look
through those books, because she could sew.
And sew really well, she could!
And as I sat there I realized
how cool it would have been if she had been
there with me, because I could of
actually bought one of these patterns
and actually attempted it with her helping me.
But I dared not.
I just stared at them and drooled over them.
Cause you see if I could sew
then I could actually make shirts that
accented the right parts of my body!!
And clothes would actually fit.
But...
Like I said, I was dreaming.
I left with a heavy sigh.
I don't know the first thing about following a pattern
and even more than that, I don't "read"
directions very well.
I never have been a good direction reader.
So these cute tops?
Out.
I simply couldn't make anything like these.
I don't know the first thing about sewing.

And the home education class I took as a wheel class
in middle school?
Hmmm.
My pillow didn't turn out and I burned
the English muffin pizza.
Need I say more?

So I ended up walking away with two albums.
For my scrapping pages.
Cause I really needed them.
I need a whole lot of them...

But I was a tad sad.
Cause it would have been so cool to actually sew a shirt.
Especially these two cute one's!
Oh well.

I found out I got the job on Friday!!!
I was pretty excited and honestly, the
excitement of waiting made anxious for
the call! I knew I was going to get one
either if I had gotten it or not. So hearing
my bosses' voice and then have him tell
me that he choose me, was really cool!
So it's official!! I am a supervisor at Starbucks!
Thank you for your prayers and well wishes about the job
I really appreciate all of them!

My grateful list:

1. For breakfast with just Dayv to sit and enjoy each other.
2. Late nights in bed with Alyssa reading the old testament.
3. Texting cause it's fun and if you cannot talk,
its a great way to still talk without really talking.
4. Good memories of my mom.
5. Being creative.
6. God showing me about my blog and my scrapping
and how he wants me to glorify him more through it.
7. Days off from work because they refresh me.
8. Finding treasures where you least expect them.
9. For smell goods that make your home smell all pretty!
10. Showers. They are delicious as my mom used to say!

I hope that you enjoy your family this weekend. Cherish those moments with them.

Fantastic!!!

Welcome to Friday!
What a glorious week it was and now we
are moving into the weekend.
You know what that means?

That means I can show you my weekly
sketch with TTS!

I really like this one! I loved using the elements in my Studio Calico kit
along with some other stuff in my stash.
I just found a photo of the siren {Starbucks logo thingy}
online and then printed it out on paper to use
for the theme of this layout.
It just talks about how I like being a barista, it's a cool job!
The neat part for me here on this one, was I didn't use a photo!
Sometimes just adding an element such as the siren is enough
of a picture to understand what this layout is all about!

Today's plans are work. It was hard getting up this AM
as A and I went to bed kind of late. I showed her a bunch
of Michael Jackson videos from back in the day and
we sat and talked about them together.
So very sad. He was a very interesting guy
to say the least, but he could dance and sing like no other.
I always had wished I could go to one of his concerts
cause I am sure it would have been a really good one!

A's got her showcase today for her theater camp. I am really
excited to see this as it will be the 2nd time we actually have
seen her act! She's doing really well with it thus far! This time
I am going to take my camera!!!

You guys have a rockin' day and remember it's Friday
so smile through it cause the weekend will be here before you know it!!

Throttling Thursday

Dinner is made for tonight.
I still need to make tomorrow nights dinner
but I will get to that.
House is clean.
Scrapping area finally straightened up.
Took A to her theater class.
D&I went to breakfast, it was SO nice
to just hang out with the two of us.
Just to sit there and relax was really fun
and the food was good too!

It's our first night without anything to do
in the evening and I am totally stoked!

I wanted to share some photos I took
last night. Alyssa bridged up to Cadette's
with her troop!! She was so cute and
it was an informal one on someone's farm
which was kind of cool. They have this bridge on
their property and the girls used that to walk
across and bridge.






Standing there with her and realizing how quickly the
time has passed since she was a Daisy Girl Scout!
Then I remembered me being in GS myself....
We aren't sure if she is going to keep doing it though
so it's kind of sad because she has so much
going on next year we aren't sure and she isn't
sure she wants to start a whole new troop.
So we'll see! But I am proud of her for making
it this far!!! Go Alyssa!

Well I am going to go get some scrap on
before I go outside and do the yard work
with D!!!

I hope your day isn't too busy and you
are able to really stop and enjoy Thursday
for another breath and day that the Lord has
given us!

Just a few...

Hi there!

The weather here has been really weird. So for two day I sported a sinus headache like no .
I finally had to start taking the big gun pills and one day ended up in bed at 8pm! I slept all the way until 5 something this morning!!! I thought that would be it,
but I've had to pop the non-drowsy stuff today too, but they don't work as well.... Finally today I've had relief, no headache!

I got the new CMK kit and let me just share with you that it's pretty amazing!!!! I am currently working on making projects with it as I write this, SO much stuff in the kit and it's TOTALLY colorful too! I am planning on scrapping a lot tomorrow since I don't have to work!!

I've had several bites on the stuff I'm sellin' and some finally made an offer on something, which was a cool praise! I also got an interesting email though through it! Someone wrote to tell me that she had to sell her Cricut recently, and that she thought my price for the entire bundle was a good one!!! LOL. I thought that was pretty nifty of her!

This past weekend while doing nothing {well that isn't really true, we played Wii Star Wars} I was sitting on the couch just hanging out. Jake was laying with me. We don't allow them on the couch all the time but he got to lay with me this day. He doesn't like laying on the floor actually. So he tries all the time to get up on the couch or lays on his blanket. He was so cute though! He rarely just lays with me. Normally he wants me to pet him or have my hands on him touching him. It's weird but he's always been that way. If he lays on our bed, he's got to be touching something. Even if it's just a toe.. So I grabbed my camera and took a photo. Of course he didn't stay still. Funny thing is when I pull out my camera he instantly gets up and starts getting excited. I dunno why, but he does. So this is him in mid movement so it's not a very good photo. And even though he's not really scared of the camera, he always puts his ears back when I take a photo... Oh well. He's such a cutie anyway!

Oh! The other day while grocery shopping I took my trainers advice and bought plain yogurt.
Now the cheap in me, didn't buy the stuff she suggested because it was an entire 1.20 more
than just plain yogurt {even though the stuff she suggested is calorie and fat free I just couldn't do it} so I got the plain yogurt. My mom loved plain yogurt. I was never sure why, it's pretty
disgusting. But I was more than willing to try it. I added a drop of vanilla, splenda, and some
granola she suggested also. It was quite tasty. What I liked about it the most was that it wasn't
as sweet as regular yogurt, which is a good thing! And it really wasn't that bad. I might try the stuff she suggested soon just cause it will be completely free but for now this stuff is working!

Thank you for praying for me for the job. I had my interview the other day. It was pretty
informal kind of an interview. Mostly the questions were about my leadership skills.
There are 6 of us going for the job. 3 peeps work at Starbucks and 3 others work within
AAFES. Part of me really feels like I got the job. All things are leading to that and pointing
to that, but there is a part of me that isn't so sure either. What I do know is that I will eventually
if not this time around get a supervisors position. That much I do know and it's not cause I am
being a snot, it just cause that is what the Lord showed me. I think that he did the interviews
yesterday and today. He's got the day off tomorrow and I think they are making their decision
by Friday. The only strike against me is that I cannot and will not work nights. But other than that, I am in the running for the job. So if you would keep praying for the right person to get the job, and also for it to completely work with my family and their schedules.

Well folks.. The longer I sit here the more tired I get and I've got some stuff to do!!! Have a great night!

Monday Musings.

1. Being cheap doesn't mean I look it. It just means I can take 20 bucks and instead of buying one shirt, I can buy five and no one knows the difference!

2. I think it's interesting how peeps who come over and visit always think that my house is more modern. Hmm... For one day, I'd like to see outside of myself and be able to look at me and see what others see.

3. Don't do it! The chicken selects from McDonald's are not better for you than the regular one's they've had since the begin of time!

4. Honestly I am going to share my opinion about Jon & Kate plus 8. Fight for your marriage people! It is worth fighting for because it is. It does matter and it should matter. End the show, get the cameras out of your life and focus upon each other and your children. Oh yeah, and seek God, that's pretty important.

5. I keep telling myself I am going to start buying albums and page protectors to actually get all of my layouts organized and into albums. But please tell me when I am going to honestly do that?

6. Seriously I'd love to have every single photo I take look like hers. I only happen by chance every now and then to get a photo like that, and it's not often.

7. I want to do these things to our home in the next 3 years: Get french doors for our sliding glass doors; A new front door; and wood floors in our den and hall way.

8. My vision for my scrapping space is MUCH different than what was in my mind. But I love it.
But honestly my closet? Well.. It needs some organization. I should have that listed with #7 and the things I want to do in this house...

9. How come my dogs are so excited for me to get up everyday and when I do they just get comfy and go back to sleep? Weird.

10. I realized while sitting here writing this, that I am wearing some Winnie The Pooh pj's, and a really cute pink robe.. My mom bought both of them for me to take with me for my surgery so that I'd have new comfortable stuff to wear after it. I'll never get rid of them. Sometimes the things in life are more than just things... They are wonderful pieces of stuff we can hang on to because that is all we have left of those that are gone....

11. My trainer says that eating non-fat cottage cheese is the bomb. Now I like cottage cheese a lot. But non-fat? Hmm. We shall see about that. She also eats a plain yogurt with splenda a drop of vanilla and any and all fruits she can think of to make a parfait. I am going to try it.

12. I love make-up. I truly do it can make anyone look great, including myself. But there is nothing like going around naked without it. Who cares that it makes me look tired, old, or sick looking in the face? Not wearing make-up is really freeing sometimes!

13. I think I'm a challenge junkie. They really get me going with scrapping as of late, I really love them a lot!

14. So I am trying to sell this:




I've got it on Craig's List and have had inquiries about it, but no bits. I took Marcee's thoughts and decided to sell my stuff too. Honestly I know that this machine does a lot, but I don't do a lot with it so it's time for it to go to someone who will actually use it. I am an old school scrapper! I can cut that stuff myself... Hopefully I can sell it so I can use the money for my trip to go see Kellie! That's my goal anyway.

15. Why do we always blame a bad start to the week cause of Monday's? Like peeps come in and get coffee and say they need it, it's Monday? I know it's cause its the first day after the weekend but honestly do it have to be a bad day just cause it is?

Well peeps I am off for a fun-filled adventure of a week! Hopefully yours will be just as fun and more!

Just doing nothing..

I love weekends where
we do nothing...
We just hang out. I so look forward to those
each weekend when we can have them!

So what are you doing this weekend?

I've been a scrapping fool this weekend! Here are a few
sneaks that I can show ya that will be coming up in the
coming weeks! These three layouts are for Dream Girls
challenges! So fun!!! I am still working on some more of them too!




My workout on Friday morning went
really well actually.
I did a whole new set of training and
of course it kicked my butt! While I am
going through it all I can think about is
how sore I am, but I push myself because
I know the end results. I like pushing myself
these exercises are challenging me. I like that.
The interesting thing? I did the stair master
too and normally I wouldn't cause of my knees
but so far so good. She wants me to focus on the
two set of circuit training and either run
or do the stair master. I would expect that my
fanny should be less giggly soon! LOL.

I got a really cool email that led to a phone call,
that led to some really COOL news!! Which I'll share
in a little bit....

I am grateful this week for:

1. Rain because I love thunderstorms.
2. Challenges that really get you going.
3. Doing nothing.
4. My incredible family!
5. God meeting on my couch daily in the early AM.
6. My friendship with Lori.
7. Being able to talk to Alyssa more and her getting it.
8. A routine because I function better with one.
9. Clean clothes.
10. Quiet.

Oh!

Okay so still doing the whole temporary supervisor thingy.
I applied for the RPT position the other day.
The temporary? It's really only temporary as in temporary..
As in just this week.
So no extra buckage, but I've been learning a lot!
It's pretty easy running that store.

The job closes out on the 19th.
They will hold interviews on the 22nd & 23rd.

Would you mind praying for me?
Thanks.

I'd like prayers for the job.
For open and closed doors.
For everyone's hearts to be opened.
For God to place the right person in the job, even if that isn't me.
For the hours and other supervisors to understand my situation and time issues.
For my interview to be good and my strengths to really shine!

Well enjoy your Saturday!

Today is the 19th!

I'm hangin' with a girl from work
that's become my friend.
We are going shopping and eating lunch out too.
I am a firm believer in everyone needing girlie time!
I am excited about today!

So I've got some work to show ya!
This week's sketch from
TTS is one I REALLY love.
Something about this photo really spoke to me, I like it a lot.
And of course I love playing with Teresa Collins stuff too!
I think the elements to totally well with the photo...


I'm on for another round of DTin' with DreamGirls! I am pretty excited about
it cause their challenges always get me going!!! We've got
some new girls on the team, a Flickr account to post too, two teams, and
really COOL challenges!!!
I am busy working on the new stuff so stay tuned for that!
Go check them out!

I am doing much better today.
Thank you for your kind words.

Today at the crack of dawn I will be in the gym with said trainer.
Am I happy? Not really cause it's at 6am.
Remember I'm not working so it would of been so cool
not to of had to get up or go out of the house so early.
Oh well. It's worth it, I know that.
I've made it through a week of having a trainer!
Yeah me!

Well folks I am off to start my day!
I hope that yours is a blessed one!

Expression.

I am sitting here crying, aching, and just plain not understanding...
Who the heck would of thought growing up that you would be gone
by 64?
Certainly not me.
When I look at photos I think to myself, we don't ever think
about dying.
Or when a person dies.
We just think they will be around forever.
I ache for my mom.

So much so lately that all I can do is cry.
Cry.
And cry some more.
and it doesn't really change a thing.
Sure I let it out.
But it doesn't bring my mom back.
And today I hurt.
I want to talk to her.
Hug her.
Hear her laugh.
Have her visit.
Give me advice.
Give me a recipe.
Tell me its okay.
Share in our lives.
My life.
Alyssa's life.
Dayv's life.
Our home.
My job.
The direction and journey we are on.
I just want to hear her voice.
And yet there is silence.
And I know... I know where she is,
and while normally that is a joyful thing for me to know
today I want her here!
I want God to not of taken my mom so cotton pickin' soon.
Gut wrenching.

What brought this on?
Wind chimes.
A person's blog who's mom health is declining.
A layout that is beautiful about her, but causing me to shed tears.

I do not understand it.
And you think I would knowing what I know about
what the bible says.
I get it.
But today I don't want to get it, I want to be selfish and
I want my mommy back.

If only for today....
I think about all the things I'd say,
I'd do,
I'd share.
The laughs we'd have.
Together....

I think it sometimes hurts worse than when it all happened
Such a short 8 months ago....

I feel so selfish for wanting her back.
But not today.
Just for today.

I just don't get it.
And you know what?
Just for today
I don't like it.
And I don't care,
I don't want to get it.

Sleeves and jello

Hi there!
I hope your Tuesday is going great! :)
{I wished I could put an actual smiley in here}

Let's talk sleeves.


Yes these sleeves.
Of course you can tell they are Starbucks sleeves.
Today I want to talk about them.

There are requirements for some drinks, they have to have a sleeve.
That's because they are water base and are very hot.
The sleeve helps with your hands not frying off or getting burnt.
But I bet you guys know that.

However...
Did you know that over 90% of the peeps that come
into our store use a sleeve.
So I've been thinking about them you see
and the fact that over 90% use a sleeve just cuz.
But they don't really need one.
They just like to use one.
So it got me thinkin'.
I honestly think that those 90% of peeps that use them
like having the Starbucks logo to show the world they are
drinking Starbucks coffee.
Cause you see they don't really need the sleeve...
I find this really interesting.
So I think I am actually going to ask someone why they use a sleeve.
And when I find out, I'll let you know!

So moving on...
Jello.
It wiggles and jiggles.
Right?
Watch it wiggle, see it jiggle
cool and fruity
{sing it with me now!}
Jello brand gelatin...
So I'm on day 2 of new workout from the land of heck.
And I say that because even though I've been working out
not really. As you know this is a whole new ball game.
So it's day two.
Today I just did all cardio, cause the trainer workout
is only 3x's a week thank goodness.
But it's going good, just thought you'd like to know!
Today though I am pretty stoked.
I normally run 15 minutes.
I think this was always because even though I knew I could run farther,
I told myself I couldn't and ended up mind over matter thing and got
tired when I got close to the 15. So I always stopped there.
Not really pushing myself.
But today I decided to push myself further.
I ran 30 minutes today!
I did 2 increments of 15
and walked in between!
It felt great, but let me tell ya,
watch it wiggle.. See it giggle...
I am really hopin' any time soon my jello starts to
stand firm! Ha.

This is my newest layout with Dream Girls.
I am not too sure about it, seems rather flat to me!
But I LOVE these photos so that works, and these are some
of my all time favorite colors to work with! Go check out the site and
play along!



Well I am off to visit a friend while A & her friend go to our church youth!

I hope that your Tuesday made you smile!
And if you are a Starbucks drinker, tell me why ya use the
sleeve.. Tell me!

Ramblings from me.

So I ramble a lot and I like to ramble. That is how my mind works. I jump from subject to subject, and thought to thought all the time in my head. So I thought that every week I'd do that too. I think I'll keep it up, but the whole sharing music thing fell through too... I think with that it was because I was too busy feeling the music and didn't want to keep trying to rely what I was feeling! LOL. Oh well... Here are my weekly ramblings.

1. Seriously did you know that there were SO many muscles in your body? And that they can ache all at one time causing you not to be able to move at all. I am still sore and I have to do it again 3x this week. OMW!

2. Why do we hang on to things that we could get rid of and never miss? Because we think one day we "might" use them? We won't and we know it.

3. Honestly I love mornings {well not the one's where I hear the alarm and wake in a start to get out of bed and rush into work, although I do love my job.} where I can get up, tinker around the house, do a few chores, have quiet time, reflect, and feel the peace in our home all before my family wakes. I love that.

4. I don't understand why paying attention to what goes on at our house is fun for some people? Honestly we are boring people, seriously.

5. Having anything tempting in the house to eat isn't a good thing. So it's going back to not having it in the house, simple as that. Maybe I should follow that for #2? Although I am pretty good about purging stuff in our house that we do not use, but what is it about food?

6. It is hard to get motivated with colors that just aren't speaking to me. Normally I fly through a kit, but if its a hard one to work with I have to jump through hoops to work with it.

7. Color is important. It speaks to me. Bright. Bold. Energetic.

8. I have read up on soda so much this past weekend its scary. I am not a soda drinker by nature and I could live without the stuff honestly. But tell me why am I craving one?

9. I love it when it rains really, really hard. I miss that in Florida a lot.

10. I grow tired of trying to squeeze reading the bible into my day. I should be squeezing my day into the bible..

11. Why is it when you look at something on the hanger and then try it on it either looks good or horrible? Why can't it always look cute? See that's the problem, you love it but then try it on and it's not working. So I try on anything and everything now. Because my mom's motto: "you never know if it will look good on you and you cannot tell just by holding up the item on the hanger". She always says, "you can never judge how it looks on the hanger because even if it's ugly on the hanger it might look great on you." Always try on clothes, always. Because you think it might look good on you, and it might not. Or you think it won't look good on you and it does. My mom was a pretty wise person.

12. Speaking of trying on clothes. How comes technology hasn't come up with a way for us to just hold the clothing up to us, and then we look into the mirror, get a visual and actually see it on our bodies without actually trying it on? What a pain!

13. I want to make smores a food group.

14. I still think about Maple and miss her.

15. I want to go to Disney World so bad I can taste it. I am glad that as a kid I got to go all the time. We lived door to door two hours away. And you couldn't beat the whole Florida resident special they always had, we got in for dirt cheap. Now we are 1/2 a world away from DW...

16. Yes, I still miss my mom more than anything in the world. I broke down a couple of times last week. Wanted to call her and ask her for a recipe. Share with her that I was having friends over and needed help picking food out for that. I also wanted to talk to her about stuff. And of course to tell her I love her. I look forward to those little gentle reminders from her, that she is still here with me. The ache will never go away.

17. Somehow my honey-do list always gets pushed aside because we are too busy having family time and honestly I'm okay with that.

18. Why can't people be happy for you? Why do they always have to look within first, then walk away reflect, come back and apologize because they realized they weren't being right in the first place?

19. Can someone explain to me why there is a necessary feeling to cuss? And when someone finds out that you are offended by it because you've shared it why do they cuss more? Tell me why there is a need for it? Is it fruitful? I used to cuss like a sailor. Trust me when I tell you this, I did. Why did I do it? I was angry at the world and it felt good. Is that really the reason why peeps do it too? Sometimes I think some peeps do it on purpose because they know it bothers me...

20. Why is it that when we "feel" like God isn't there, its really usually because we aren't actually there?

21. I read Post Secret every Monday. I think I read it because people are very interesting. But I really read it because I find it fascinating that there is a place where people can post a secret and share it with the world, but would never probably tell someone close. Why do we sometimes feel safe in a sea of strangers?

22. As a Christian we are supposed to turn the other cheek. Well I truly feel the world and the Christians in it are turning so much that they have forgotten to really be real. It is okay to make a stand and honestly share your feelings.

23. Can someone please tell me why in the fridge they have these buttons to move for fruits and veggies that is supposed to help them last longer, and they never do?

24. I wished I could sew really well and make things.

25. Wal-Mart is a money sucking machine. I cannot go in there and not spend a 100 bucks. I kid you not. It's amazing to me! But it doesn't drive me nuts, I just keep going because it's the everything store! LOL.

26. How come your children tell you that doing nothing is great, but you mention that we're not doing anything and then they get bored? Speaking of that.. Growing up my mom used to tell me when I tell her I'm bored "what do you want me to do bring out the dancing girls?" HUH? I don't tell A that, I tell her well you can empty the dishwasher, clean the tub for me, or wash the dogs and suddenly she isn't bored anymore! LOL.

Well folks that's it from my peon brain today.
I hope your day is filled with wonderful answers to your questions!

Ouch.

So I got a wild hair.
I decided to get a personal trainer.
Yes I work out but I felt like I needed something more.
That maybe I wasn't targeting the "right" areas.

So I asked this chick that is in our gym
and trains everybody
known to man.
And she agreed.

We had a few bumps with getting together
but we finally
were able to yesterday.
Umm.

It's hard to put into words the workout.
But it literally and utterly kicked my tail.
It had me thinking about quitting,
and seriously I haven't worked that hard
since my drum corps days.
It was that hard.
And today?
I hurt all over and I can barely move!

I left and wanted to cry.
I don't know why I was so emotional but
honestly I felt like I have spent my years working
out not really working out.

And I got home and hardly could move, I kid you not.
My legs weren't too bad but my arms?
I don't normally work out what she
had me working my arms out
and honestly my legs either.
The only reason why I did okay
with my legs is that I run and lift 2 times a week
heavily on my legs.

But I felt like jello.
Will I go back?
Yes. Next Friday bright and early at 6am.
But I have to do the workout
2 more times before I see her.
And she wants me to do 5 days of cardio.

She said that she felt like
I would loose a good bit of weight and tone quickly
in the beginning cause I don't work my body
normally like that.
I was a tad embarrassed cause she's in the gym
all the time and I see her all the time.
And she assumed I worked myself like that all
the time. And well.. Although I work out hard,
it wasn't like that. Nor was I really pushing myself
and doing new things.
So I am glad that I hired a trainer and look
forward to the progression in that.
If I actually don't kill her first! Ha..
Just playin'...
It was hard, but I am up for the challenge no matter
how hard!

My grateful list this week is:

1. For my bible study group of girls. Even though we don't
meet anymore it is nice to get together, I miss them all.
2. For Dayv helping and lending a hand with things.
3. For my dogs because I truly love both of them a lot.
4. Alyssa finishing 6th grade with flying colors!
5. The new temp. supervisor job.
6. A clean home.
7. Computers.
8. Food in our fridge.
9. People who write me letters that hit me
between the running lights and convict me.
10. Hot water.

Well folks it's just A&I today again.
D's at a fishing tournament and so
we are going to hang out and relax
at A's request.
We might go into town and hit some of our local
favorite thrift stores too!
Tonight we are going to see Disney's Earth on base
for dirt cheap!

I hope that you find something today that makes you smile
and bubble from inside!

Hi there!

So it's Friday!
I am pretty stoked cause I am
having my bible study group
over today to hang out and see my house!
So D&I have been really busy this past
week getting ready!

And guess what?
That news I was praying about for work?
Well...
I am the new temporary supervisor for Starbucks.
I said temporary cause one of the supervisors
is leaving soon for another job.
So they needed someone to fill in.
They are going to open up her job
as a RPT soon and someone will get that job
{I plan on applying for that job as well}
and then I will take the 3rd supervisor
position for good. If I get the RPT then
someone else will just fill the role of the 3rd
supervisor. If I don't get it and the other guy
who is now a supervisor doesn't get it,
then I will just go back to being an employee.
Does that make sense? LOL.
So either way it's a win-win situation.
Right now I am a temporary supervisor,
if I get the permanent position then cool,
if not, then I will just go back to being a
regular employee! My hours will change yet again
and I will get more pay too. So it's all good!
Thank you for praying!

This weekend we are going to see
Disney's Earth. I am pretty excited about
it. I've heard mixed reviews on it. I think it
looked interesting so we shall see! And of course
we're going to see it on base, where it's dirt cheap
so that's another bonus!
Has anyone seen it?
Tell me about it, if it was bad/good.

This is my newest sketch with TTS!
Go check it out and follow along,
these sketches are fun and open
to interpretation!


It's just us hanging out in the park
having a good time as a family!
I like the funky paper that I cut
and the bright colors.
I have always loved bright colors!
It's hard for me to scrap muted colors.

This next photos are from A's 6th
grade graduation! It was so much fun
watching her graduate! We can hardly
believe we are going to have a 7th grader
in our house! Where does the time go.
It's baffling sometimes I think!



This is A's teacher, who is just wonderful!
And her entire class there too.
And then us!
What a fun day it was!

40 days until I see my friend Sarah, yeah!
69 days until I see my friend Kellie, yeah!
I am totally excited to be taking these girlie trips
and feel blessed to have a guy that is willing to allow
me to go as well! We are going to have a blast and
I am going to take a TON of photos on each trip!

We have invited some friends to church with us this
weekend. Please pray that they go with us!

Tomorrow is A's official last day of school! She is VERY
ready for it to be over! Here main desire, to sleep in!
LOL. But the funniest part is she doesn't really sleep in!
Oh well.. She's got 3 camps this year 1 in June and 2 in
July. She is pretty excited!

Well I am off. Having a wonderful day today!

I hope that your weekend is blessed beyond measures
and that you are able to find joy in all that you do!

The bible rocks!

All throughout the month of May and this last Sunday
We studied how the bible rocks.
The sermons were on reading it, getting into it, not being afraid of it,
and the fact that we find truth in it to live by.

This past Sunday was the last sermon on how the bible rocks.
It was very good, every single week.

But there were a couple of things that stuck out at me this time around.
I really thought some of these quotes that one of our pastors used rocked
and wanted to share them with you.

"God redeems our messes"

How totally true is this! LOL.
I make a mess.
All.
The.
Time.
I know that you do as well.
And thankfully God redeems us in those messes.
I cannot imagine trying to live it without him.
To muddle through those messes only to dig deeper messes
and then deeper so much so that I simply cannot get out.
But God always provides a way out..
This one made me smile a lot because I have foot in mouth syndrome and well
honestly He gets me out of them each and every time.
And tact. I have none of that too... Oh and my timing is always off..
I could go on and on, but you get the drift.

"Let God grow in you"

Can you imagine being stuck?
Like trying to walk or run and not get anywhere?
When you are a Christ follower, the Holy Spirit lives within us.
Which guides and directs us.
Can you imagine walking and not growing?
As easy as this sounds to have happen, a lot of time we get stuck.
We don't move. We feel lost. Lonely. And often feel
our most furthest away from God.
But if we are truly following him, we know that He is always there.
Which means that God grows in us.
No matter how far we want to run from it and the change that
occurs or when we get an inkling of things he shares with us it is
important to remember that God is at work in us. And each
day that we take another breath, he is gearing us up for something
else that we learn to build up his kingdom.
We simply cannot walk with God and not grow.
That is like stopping dead in our tracks and not following him as
he leads us. Running away, walking away, not listening or hearing,
won't help. If we truly seek God he will show us to grow us.
I for one, sometimes hate being shown things over and over.
But I know that God is gently trying to show me something
so that I can learn.
Learning means being able to apply it.
Applying it means that growth can and will happen.
And if we just allow it, no matter how painful or not,
God will grow us beautifully each and every time!

"Don't quit"

Such a simple phrase isn't it?
Yet we find ourselves trying to do just that many of times don't we?
Bottom line, don't do it.
You won't get anywhere in life by quitting.
And as much as you want to quit, and think you don't have enough strength
to dig deeper go further or learn more
you do. God never gives us more than we can handle.

I hope today you are encouraged.
The answers are in the bible.
The bible is truth.
And he can take anybody..
I mean anybody and pick them up,
and make them clean!

My prayer today is that if you don't read the bible, you will.
If you have a bible and its dusty that you get it out.
That you learn.
look within to dig deeper.
Change.
and most of all grow!

Just a few things.

This week I am stopping the napping.
That's right I am tired of taking a nap every day and wasting my day.

Work changes so much in a day I can hardly keep up.
Please pray, as there has been presented to me a different situation
and I want it to be God's will for my life.
I will probably know something by Friday
{what work presented me with and their decision}

I procrastinated on a teacher gift this year.
So I am doing a GC like everyone else who forgot.
But I am working on a baby gift for her, only that isn't going to be finished
until sometime next month.

I think it's really stupid that our garbage charges us for bags that
aren't in the can. They charged us full price and we had bags just sitting by
the can. So basically they charged us for another can.
What is up with that? On top of that, they don't "do"
recycling. Who in this world today doesn't recycle?
And another thing, we use small garbage cans. Not the big one's
like the city offers.
I just don't get it...

I am addicted to Raider's Of The Lost Ark Wii game.

Right now, my indulgence is samores.
We were using D's fire pit to cook them,
but I took to making them in the microwave
and they are yummy.
Definitely a treat for once in awhile but such a yummy one.

I am creating some cool things for Sarah and Kellie's family that
I am going to give each of them when I see them!
I am very excited!

I'd like to spend this up and coming weekend
here at home. Not leaving until Sunday for church.
We have a project list that I want to start tackling
and frankly any weekend spent around here hanging out with
my family doing family stuff and this list sounds wonderful!

These are A's new glasses, so totally sassy!




We actually got her two pair but the other one's aren't in yet.
She picked both pair out and we all love them on her!

Well I am off to eat lunch with D and spend some time with him
before he goes to work and me to the gym!
Hope your day is as fun as mine is!

Be blessed..

Maple.

On Sunday we went to church and afterwards went to a feed supply
store to talk to them about some bugs on my Grannie lilac.
While I was busy with the store clerk D&A went looking at animals.

I finally found them and didn't realize they had puppies in the store as well.
Much to my surprise they had more than puppies in there!
They had cats too.
But also..
Pigs.
Hens.
Roosters.
Ducks.
Turtles that were huge.
Snakes.
And birds too.

But we, as pet lovers really love dogs.
It's always so fun to go see the puppies they have there.

I wasn't really into them that much actually
until I saw Maple.
That's right I named the puppy.
It was a 1/2 Doxen 1/2 Yorkie mix and simply probably the cutest little puppy I had ever
seen! Instantly I connected with it and instantly I named her.
Maples.
She was the cutest little puppy.
I wanted her straight away.
Never mind you that not only do we have two dogs {still my puppy's}
at home, but Jake wouldn't like it too much.
But Maple looked at me with those loving eyes and I was sold.
I wanted her.
Dayv kept trying to pull me away and Alyssa was standing there
with me saying, Maples was a fitting name.
Then Dayv finally stood there too and watched her.
There were only two little one's in the cage,
and Maples had stolen our hearts.
But D urged us to go so that we didn't get attached.
Of course we looked at all the other animals too
after that, but we all came back to Maples each time.
I didn't care how much she cost.
It didn't matter to me really that we didn't know how Jake would do
either, I just knew that I connected with Maples.

And dog lovers know, that you know the dog that is supposed
to go with you...
I knew it. From the time I saw Maples.
But we left.

So we went out and ate lunch, got A's new glasses,
and sat in the park.
All the while we talked about Maples.
Seriously we were that close to buying Maples.

And you know what we did?
We went to Petco and looked around.
They had numbers for animal shelters so we got them.
And you know what? We drove out to one and looked at the dogs there.
They were all huge as most of the dogs there are.
But there was one there that I could of taken home.
But we left and still talked about Maples.

We ran errands and by this time D&A were trying to get me
to go get Maples.
And by this time I came to my senses.
But honestly I wanted Maples as much as they did.
Maples was our puppy.
I knew it, I felt it.
And I wanted her.

But in the end I bought some bra's. LOL.
And we came home.
Still talking about Maples.

And you know what? We'll probably always talk about
Maples.
She was our dog.
And even though in the end we didn't buy Maples, I will always remember her
and that special look!

No I didn't take photos even though I had my camera with me.
I thought it best not to go there and have a visual memory of her
cause we really fell in love with her!

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Okay so at work we've got brewing machines.
They brew Pike's Place Roast daily.
It brews in fact every 30 minutes
so that's its fresh all day long.
There is regular and decaf.
And tons of peeps drink it.
However...

We brew it every 30 minutes like I said.
And we've got these little timers that tell us
when it's up and then they go off.
Annoyingly off.
Every.
30.
Minutes.
Isn't that annoying?
It is to me.
It's one of the biggest things I don't particularly care
about my job.
That thing is totally annoying.
And sometimes when we are busy we can't
always get to it straight away
so it beeps. And beeps. And beeps.
Until we're all frustrated and someone finally gets to it
to turn it off.
It's so bad, I hear beeping in my sleep.
*ARGH*

I created this layout using the new June kit from IAAS!
You should check it out!


It's pretty simple for me, but I liked how it turned out!
I always enjoy creating layouts about Dayv and
Alyssa and their relationship!
Their relationship is really tight.
Although Dayv mentioned to me just this
week that's its changing.
She's taken on a more of
an attitude with him as of late too.
Ah! The joys of teenage-hood.
I remember them all too well and what
I did to my mom.
I have been praying for years that it would
be a lot different with A & us!

I am peeling. Icky.
Serves me right though for thinking I was young again sitting out in the sun! Although I didn't mean to do that... But it's quite the interesting looking sunburned turned tan. LOL.

I took a little break this week and didn't work out but two days. I just didn't
feel like it. So I figured I'd start back up on Monday again.
And I am going to try to do the whole work out thing after work.
I know I feel as though I am on a roller coaster of not
being able to make up my mind...
It's driving me nuts just as much as it's driving you nuts by me
always talking about it! LOL.
But honestly this whole getting up at 3:50 in the AM is RIDICULOUS!
So I am pretty much over that
because it's just nuts.
Just stupid, it is.
While I didn't work out this week much, I slept in a little longer
and honestly it helped.
Although I am still napping for about an hour, at least I am
actually awake in the morning when I go into work!
I am really hoping to actually get into a routine that I can
stick with and works.

Well folks its off to enjoy the weekend with my family!
I hope that you find enjoyment in your weekend too!

Fun Friday!

It's my first Friday off, which is totally cool. I love it!

This is my new sketch layout for TTS!


It holds a special place in my heart, this one does!
I didn't say too much on my anniversary date of my surgery.
But I did do a layout about it and where I've come from in a year's time.
I am extremely blessed to see such a huge prayer of mine answered
and being able to experience it here on earth, right now.
I am truly amazed at God's grace...
I wanted to document this time in my life because physically I am
a new creation!
It's been an amazing year for me to say the least.
One of the things I appreciate the most is that my mom was a part of
this journey.
She was able to go to Seattle with us and experience it with me and my family.
I will never forget when we came back from after
I had my surgery.
She was standing in the hotel doorway and I locked eyes
with her, and we were both crying.
I am sure right then and there she couldn't "tell" a physical difference since I was
in a lot of pain, but we connected
and I was glad more than anything that she was there, and she was
glad she was there too. There were unspoken words
of love and understanding.
I feel blessed for that moment in time...

I felt like sharing today...

1. Being able to share my testimony and have it uplift others and touch them.
2. Cocoa butter.
3. The soap I use, Oil Olay.
4. Ice water. I normally am not an ice drinker with my drinks
but something about warmer weather makes me crave it, I am thankful for water and ice.
5. Woman's retreats to be uplifted.
6. Willing subjects that will sit in front of my camera.
7. For a job.
8. God showers of love and unexpected blessings.
9. Mr. Bear.
10. New pj's.

So I bought a pair of sunglasses.
Now that doesn't mean much to you, the reader
but you have to know me.
I don't like sunglasses.
But I noticed this year my eyes are bothered by the sun
and its so bright I couldn't take it anymore.
So I broke down and bought a pair of them.

At Wal-Mart. $10 bucks.
Thought you'd like to see me in them.
Dayv liked them on me, so I snagged them up.
And you know what? I am actually wearing them... Weird.
It's not the best photo, but you get the picture!

Well I am off for the weekend!

I sure hope that your cup gets refilled and you are accessible to others around
you that might need you.