Wordless Wednesday

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Ten on Tuesday

Do you wear glasses, contacts, or are you one of those perfect eyed people?
Perfect eyed person here!

What is the next item you are going to purchase?
Nothing planned. Odds are it will be diapers.

Have you ever watched Judge Judy or any other real court show?
Sadly, yes, I have watched them a time or two.

How do you feel about fake nails?
They look nice, but I don't have the time or money for upkeep.

What is your favorite sport to watch?
Football!

If you could create your own Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor, what would it be and what would it be named?
I don't know that you can improve on Ben & Jerry's. I would like to see a pumpkin flavor during the holidays.

Do you have any scars?
I have a chicken pox scar in the middle of my forehead.

Does your pet’s name fit them? Is there a more appropriate name?
I think it suits her. Sadie is the perfect name.

What is your favorite television show theme song?
There are so many to choose from - Dinasaur Train, Super Why, Curious George, Thomas the Tank Engine...we DVR most of our shows and fast-foward through the intros, so the only ones we watch are David's.

What was your favorite activity on the playground?
The swings. Those were my favorite.



Pinterest Projects

I am addicted to Pinterest. In case you don't have an account, it's a site that lets you bookmark things and organize them in folders with pictures. It's great! So much more organized than my old IE bookmarks.

Months ago, I started looking for some easy Christmas crafts. I found so many crafts to do for gifts and ornaments. I decided that I needed to move beyond just pinning the projects and needed to actually do one.

I started by making my winter wreath. Materials needed were: straw or styrofoam wreath, yarn, white felt, a small stuffed snowman, glue gun, glue sticks, scissors , and ribbon to hang.

This was my inspiration:

Here is what mine looks like on my door:

I think it turned out pretty well.  I did learn that you shouldn't trace with a pen onto white felt, so I had to remake some of the flowers. I think I made about 75 of them to complete this. Time consuming, but easy and I love it!

Next up were some ornaments. I started making these glitter ones.

These were pretty easy to make, though did get slightly messy with the glitter. To make you need: glass ornaments, Mop 'n Glow (I used the one with the blue lid) and glitter (I used the mega pack from Wal-Mart). All you do is swish the Mop 'n Glow in the ball, empty out all of the extra liquid, pour glitter in, shake it all around, and dump out the extra glitter. Super easy and fast to make. You can see a picture tutorial here. Here are what mine looked like when I was done :

Last up was the snow globe ornament. Here is the inspiration:

To make, you need glass ornaments, epsom salt, sticker letters, and ribbon.  You add the salt into the ornament to just less than 1/2 full. Put the top back on. Use a sticker letter (or cut a letter out - I used my Cricut and some sticker paper) and place firmly on the ornament. Add some ribbon, and you're done! Here are mine:

There you have it. I think I will be making some more ornaments to give as gifts. They were so easy and fun to make!

Wordless Wednesday

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Ten on Tuesday

What are you doing for Thanksgiving this year?
Putting up my Christmas tree. We already did a big family Thanksgiving, so the actual day is pretty low key.

What are you most thankful for this year?
I have so many things in my life to be thankful for. See here, here, here, and here.

Do you have any traditions on Thanksgiving? The parade? Football? Long naps?
PJ day!

Is it called stuffing or dressing? Is it in the bird or a separate dish?
Doesn't matter to me. I don't eat it  either way.

Do you cook?
Yes, but not turkey.

What is your favorite dish?
So many....sweet potatoes, corn casserole...

What is your dessert preference?
Cheesecake

What is your favorite Thanksgiving memory?
Could be my sister's mashed potato mill, or it could be the food fight we had one year. Hard to say.

Do you plan to shop on Black Friday?
Not this year. Midnight? Are you kidding me? I need to sleep before I shop,

What are you most dreading about Thanksgiving this year?
I'm not dreading anything. I love good, quality family time with my boys, and that is what I shall have.

Grateful, Grateful, duly Grateful

In youth group this week we had a worship service. It is always interesting to see how youth worship with no other adults around. :) As part of the service, our fearless leader read a book as part of her sermon titled Grateful, a Song of Giving Thanks by John Bucchino. I had never heard of the book, but was instantly in love when she finished reading. I think this is a book that everyone should own and read to their children. It is a book of thanks and faith, with beautiful illustrations.

There was one page of the book that struck me more than any other page. It read:

"In a world that can bring pain,

I will still take each chance-

For I believe that whatever the terrain

Our feet can learn to dance."

Tomorrow it will have been 1 year since our first miscarriage. Everyone told me that if I made it through the due date, that I would be okay. I think they were wrong. In the weeks leading up to tomorrow, I have been a mess. I'm not sure why this date seems to be harder for me, but it has. Maybe it's the time of year, or the fact that I have several people in my life pregnant now, some of whom are due the time I would be due if we hadn't lost a second baby. Maybe it's a day that I have to get through once, and then things will be easier.

I know that the service was supossed to be for the youth, but I believe that God was talking to me during the service when Nancy read that book. I think it was something that I needed to hear, something that I had been waiting to hear.

Of course, the main idea of the sermon was not for me, or what I needed to hear, but about how we don't thank God enough for what we have. We say "thank you" to people all of the time, but when was the last time we counted our gifts from God? If we woke up tomorrow with only the things that we had thanked God for today, would we have anything?

She asked us to do an acitivity where we wrote down 5 things that we were thankful for.  It took me a while to think of things, not individual people, I was thankful for, but by the time she said done, I had my list. She asked us to keep the list somewhere where we could see it and help to remind us to say thank you for those things everyday. Here is my list:

Five Things I am Thankful For

1. Faith in God

2. Unconditional Love of Family

3. Fellowship with Friends

4. Support of Church Family

5. Hope for a better tomorrow

These are the five things that I will be thanking God for every night. I will count my blessings instead of sheep.  I will learn to dance, no matter what the terrian.

Thanksgiving Thanks, Things

I am thankful for many things:

My iPod. I love it. It plays music when I need it, keeps tracks of appointments, and holds movies to occupy David when I need to go to the grocery store. It's an amazing little device that, even though I could live without, makes some things so much easier. I am now also in love with my iPhone!

Thomas the Tank Engine. If you have a boy, you know how cool Thomas is. He lets me get cleaning done, laundry started, and dinner finished. He does not cause confusion and delay in our house, and we are never cross when he is on.

My washer and dryer. They make things easier and are very effective in what they do. The same can be said for my dishwasher. Modern conveniences that I have come to love and adore.

My car. It was the first major purchase I made after I got my first job post grad school. It's cute and reliable. Plus, I have a great dad who helps do all of the routine maintence on it.

My microwave. Some nights we wouldn't have dinner without it. That is horrible to say, since there is nothing keeping me from cooking, but we all have nights that Bagle Bites just sound good.

Modern medicine. Sometimes I take for granted that, expensive as it may be, I have access to great health care.

I'm thankful for technology. Sometimes I think it's a curse, but other times I don't know what I would do without it. Just making a phone call, or sending a text, Skyping, a quick email.

Wordless Wednesday

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Ten on Tuesday

What are your pantry staples?
Pasta, pasta sauce, cream of everything soups, stocks

What are your refrigerator staples?
Milk, cheese, eggs, yogurt

You already look like Heidi Klum (or your favorite supermodel). Now, what are the top three non-physical things you would change about yourself?
Be more extroverted, work on my craftiness, and cooking skills

What’s holding you back from your dream job? (If you already have your dream job, how did you get there?)
I love my job. I got here by dropping out of pharmacy school, majoring in psychology, knowing that I could do nothing with that and that I was not ready to be an adult, going to grad school, moving to the middle of no where for two years, and then having the best interview ever. It was cake. :)

You have $500 to spend but it has to be on one item only. Go.
Easy, iPad

What is something that you are embarrassed to admit you buy on a regular basis?
Ben and Jerry's ice cream, so not good for you, but so good!

What’s in/on your bed every night?
4 pillows and me

What is a non-necessity item that, no matter how expensive it gets or how tight your budget if, you will always find room for it?
Starbucks

What is the weirdest sandwich you’ve ever made?
I've been told that my fluffernutter sandwiches are weird. Who doesn't love peanut butter and marshmallow?

Would you rather: Be banned from Pinterest forever, but gain a million captive Twitter followers; or, never get on Facebook again but gain five thousand blog readers?
Neither. I happen to very much enjoy Facebook and Pinterest. I don't write my blog for thousands to read, just the cool people. :)

Thankgiving Thanks, People and Places

I am thankful for my friends. Most of my friends have been around for years. They saw me through the awkward middle school years, high school, college...I'm going on decades with some of these wonderful people. We may not talk all of the time, but we always pick up right where we left off.

I am also so thankful for my "internet" friends, as Nate calls them. I'm in a group with 11 other May '09 mommies and even though we have never met in real life, I know that they are amazing women. We chat daily about any and everything. I love my May mommies!

I am thankful for my co-workers. I love my job. I am so lucky and blessed to have gotten into such a wonderful building (thanks Mr. Beresford!). There is not a day that goes by that I don't remember how lucky I am to be here at the river. I love this place!

My house. I love my house. It's small, but perfect. It provides us with what we need and has so many wonderful memories attached to it. I bought it as a single woman. Nate told me he loved me for the first time there. I came home to it after my honeymoon with my husband. We found out we were pregnant there and brought home our baby boy there. We watched him sit, crawl, and walk in that house. Even though I know that we won't always be there, I will always love our first house.

Starbucks, any location. I am a $4 a cup kind of gal every week. I have my favorites  - Iced Chai, Hot Chai, Passion Tea Lemonade, Pumpkin Spice, Salted Caramel Mocha...all depends on my mood. And don't get me started on the Cranberry-Orange Scones...

Wordless Wednesday

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Ten on Tuesday

What’s your favorite television show  for each day of the week?
Monday: 2 Broke Girls, Hart of Dixie (DVR'd)
Tuesday: 90210, Parenthood (DVR'd)
Wednesday: DVR'd episode of NCIS or House
Thursday: DVR'd episode of what I didn't watch last night
Friday:  Movie night, if we're home
Saturday:  Movie night, again, if we're home
Sunday: Desparet Housewives (DVR'd)

How many times do you wear your jeans before you watch them?
Two to three times, depending on what I was doing the days I wore them.

What is your favorite pasta shape?
The spiral kind - hold more sauce.

Do you read newspapers?
Nope, never was a big paper reader.

Do you sleep in socks?
No, I get to hot.

Favorite genre of movies?
Romantic comedies

How do you feel about wrestling?
I like the uniforms?

Should men pluck their eyebrows?
Maybe not pluck, but shape, yes. No one wants to see a unibrow.

Do you have dimples?
Nope

Do you like to camp?
Yes. We haven't gone since David was born though. We need to do that again. Fun, family times.

Thanksgiving Thanks, Faith and Family

Many people are posting what they are thankful for each day on Facebook. I'm horrible at updating my status daily, so I thought I would share things I am thankful for here. I have so many things to be thankful for. My life is full of blessings!

I am thankful for my faith. Without it, I don't know how I would get through the day. My faith has grown and changed a lot over the years. Through the change, my love for God has not wavered. There were days that I might not have liked him, but my love remained. As I grow older, I know that it will continue to grow and change, but the constant of love for God will always be there.

I am thankful for my parents. I have parents who have always supported me, no matter what. Dad always made special pancakes for big occasions, and even let me have ice cream for breakfast the first day of my senior year. Mom has always done everything she could to make sure we had what we needed, and most of the time, what we wanted. Raising 3 girls can't be easy, but they did it, and I think they did a pretty good job.

I have an amazing husband - I mean amazing. He is my best friend and stands by my side. We may not have been married as long as some of my friends, but we've been through our share of heartache. We have grown closer and become a stronger couple with what we have been through, and we will continue to do so.

My sisters drive me crazy. We hardly ever agree on anything, and trying to make a decision on what to do or how to do something becomes a huge ordeal. We didn't get along, at all, living under one roof, but now that we all have our own lives, we get along better. Still, we drive each other nuts. I wouldn't have it any other way. Despite how crazy they can make me, I love them both and am thankful that we are as close as we are.

David. Does he even need more explanation? He is truly a miracle and gift from God. I am thankful for him, every dirty, smelly, sticky little boy inch of him. Even on the days that he is driving me nuts, I have to stop and thank God that I have a little boy to drive me nuts.

My church. I have been going to the same church for (20) years. Some of the same people I grew up with are still there. These people watched me grow up and have supported me in my faith for so long - Dave Courtright, Angie Weiser, Helen and Rob, Kevin and Carol. Robin Wildman...I could go on. We've also met so many new people who support Nate and I in our role as parents, and who allow us to work with the youth group. It may not be the biggest church, or the most contemporary, but it's comfortable and some place that I want to bring David up in.

This ends the first installment of thanks.

Wordless Wednesday

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Ten on Tuesday

What is your favorite month?
That's a hard one. I like lots of months. I'll go with October. It's my birthday and all of the leaves change color.

What is the best candy to get while trick or treating?
Heath, but no one gives those out.

What kind of pen do you use?
Bic Gel pen - .5

You go to a new Italian restaurant, what is your go-to order?
Chicken Parm - Yum-o!!

If you could choose to have any celebrity’s hair, who’s would you choose?
Lucy Hale - I love her hair. Can I have her body too?

What’s your favorite board game?
Does Apples to Apples count? I dig that game.

Do you know how to play poker?
No so much.

What do you think about Old Navy commercials?
They can be annoying, but cute.

What hurts worse- a stubbed toe or a paper cut?
Paper cut - that hurts!

What’s your favorite kind of pie?
Cherry