Happy Late Halloween

...by about four days. Sorry about that!



I kept putting off my halloween post, for good reason! I did not want to post without pictures.

Alas. No pictures. Forgive me.



We spent Friday night out on a "date". Basically, we grabbed pizza and rented a movie. We also made a quick stop at Walmart, where we picked up halloween candy. I wanted, so badly, to buy a wig and fake eye lashes. I refrained from it. We had no halloween party plans, no reason to play dress up...so I put the lashes back and decided I would stay a brunette for the evening. Saturday morning we woke up and went for a ride in Enoree. We met Jonathan there and spent a few hours dodging trees and mud holes, it had rained the entire week before, so the trails were muddy and slick!

Sev and I came home and cleaned out the garage! I know, it doesn't sound exciting, but it was exciting for me. I. love. organization! Have I said that before?? I've got a mild case of self diagnosed OCD, ha. We found spots for all of our riding gear. Most of the gear is now hanging from nails, on the walls of the garage. I labeled all of my rubbermaid boxes and I made room to add more if need be (I'm always organizing and finding things to put in a rubbermaid box!). Sev started complaining of a toothache around the time it was getting dark. I finished the last bit of operation garage organization solo. As I was walking inside, it started...trick or treating! From that moment on, the door bell kept ringing and Sev got in a bit of exercising. If you count getting up-sitting down-getting up-sitting down and getting up from the couch, exercise. He was sooooo cute with the kiddos. He would comment on all of the costumes (I have to admit, I hope parents didn't think he was a freak when he told the little girls in "princess" costumes that they were "just precious"! haha) He would squat down, you know-to get on their level, when little kiddos walked up. It never failed, no matter what gender the kid under the costume was, he would say "Hey there buddy!". I'm just glad he refrained from patting them on the head. He also waved at every parent after he handed their kid candy. lol. I thought he was sweet, I hope parents didn't think he was a nut! I guess I'll know if we don't get trick-or-treaters next year ;-) I did take a picture or two of Sev at the door, I'll try and share those later.
Okay-here is the sad part...we actually ran out of candy!! and here is the funny/embarrassing part...I had candy left over from past holidays...like....past holidays over the past couple of years. I KNOW!! sooooo, Sev wasn't ready to stop passing out candy, so into the back of our pantry I go. I pulled out two giant bags of candy (past holiday candy) and gave them to Sev. He proceeds to pull out all of the candy canes, valentine suckers, and Easter peeps (I said I KNOW!) and dumps the rest into his bucket. However, while he's deciding what candy is suitable (as if ANY past holiday candy is REALLY suitable) he holds up a cough drop "Hey, babe!...can I give out Halls cough drops??"...**sigh**.
Yeah. We probably won't get trick-or-treaters next year.

Well, that was our 2009 Halloween weekend!
I hope that you all had a Happy Halloween and didn't find any Halls cough drops in your halloween candy(unless, of course, you have a cough...and then it might come in handy! but still, that's just weird) ;-)

Roughin' and Ridin'

Severyn and I spent the weekend in Georgia, durhamtown GA to be exact. They call it a motorsports resort...I'm not sure how anyone else would define "resort", but I would think fluffy pillows, overstuffed chairs, 5 star dining and marble bathrooms.

We stayed in this:

It's called Motel 8, because technically, it could sleep 8. IF...you don't mind sharing a bed with someone and/or sleeping in a bed that you can't sit up in, without fear of knocking yourself silly on the ceiling.

(This was the room Sev and I stayed in, we did not have one of the ceiling high bunk beds)

Lucky for us, there was only 6 of us. The cabin consisted of one big room, with two picnic tables, one chair, one couch, one gas fireplace, a small fridge, and three shelves (one for a TV, one for a VCR and one above the fridge where we stored a bit of food). It had three rooms off of the main room, each room had a set of bunk-beds. The bathroom was in fact, not marble, but it was a bathroom...so no complaints. The minute we entered the cabin I was reminded of my summer camp days at camp La'Vida. The floors slanted and one of the rooms had paper towels stuffed between the ceiling and the walls (my guess is as good as yours...perhaps "hard rain, leak prevention" I dunno). On the first night, Christopher woke up with a roach in his bed...I wish I could tell the story of how he discovered his unwanted bed partner, but it just wouldn't do the story justice. I will say... Chris survived, the bug did not.

We woke early Saturday morning and headed down to the main lodge to grab a bite to eat. The boys had eggs, grits, bacon, and biscuits. I'm not a breakfast person, at least not before 9am, so I had a cup of coffee. The lodge itself was rather interesting. You purchased a meal ticket at the front counter, proceeded into the dining hall and made your way into the line...cafeteria style. After you waited in line, you waited for your plate to be loaded up, grabbed your plastic fork (if you were lucky, if you were not...you figured out how to eat your entire meal with a spoon) and made your way to a picnic table to eat.

These pictures are actually from dinner on Saturday night, but this was the lodge "grab some grub" spot:
I will say, the dinner on Saturday was actually REALLY REALLY REALLY good!!...really!

Saturday was filled with riding. We rode and rode and rode...we stopped for lunch and then... rode some more.

We tend to stick to the "two by two" rule. You always have a partner and you never leave your partner behind (military style, you know, for safety). If you happen to loose your partner in the woods, you should always leave a note, you know, so they know where you are.

Directions: use small rocks and twigs to spell out the direction you take. (Does anyone else thing this looks like it says "Lady"....it's suppose to say "Lodge")

On Saturday night, we seriously, saw the cutest little motocross racers...ever. I was floored by the skills these little tikes showed. I realize you can not see from the dark picture below, but these little guys (and GIRLS!!! gotta represent!) were so flippin' cute and TINY!! The youngest riders were 4!! Four years old!! We stood around and watched a number of races and at one point dad and I started to pick the little tike we thought would win. The funniest part of the race...watching the parents!! Wow! How involved these parents get!!

On Sunday, we geared up and rode again! I had a blast! I paid the price Monday, when my body was sore and tired. However, I can't wait to ride again!!

I'm slowly falling for fall...

I'm coming to terms with the fact that it is really fall, the leaves are really changing colors, the cool air is not a figment of my imagination and my coffee creamer is now gingerbread flavor. It took a few posts, but I finally decided to share my fallish decorations.....


The cute "Happy Halloween" place mats mom gave me:

I actually got this candle a month or so ago, when my cousin spent the weekend with me, I tried to pick out a "fall" fragrance and MAN DOES THIS SMELL GOOD!!! Sev even comments on this candle every time I light it!

See...I DID put my scarecrow out!! I also purchased some baby pumpkins to accompany my front door greeter. Sev brought home the beautiful, purple, HUGE mum :)

(please pay no mind to the small, furry, wide eyed, long tongued creature behind the glass door ;) )

Love Letters

I rushed home last Thursday afternoon, fully prepared to change clothes, let the dog out and rush right back out the door. I ran through the kitchen and was headed to the back door, to let Ali out, when I noticed the stack of mail on the kitchen table.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw this:

I don't remember if I let Ali out before or after I ripped into the envelope. I was beside myself with excitement.

It only consisted of 14 sentences, but those 14 sentences were more precious than gold. The letter was written in french/creole, by Love's mother. Come to find out, Love actually goes by her middle name, Woodshaina. She is a twin, loves God, enjoys math, french and social science. Her father died when she was younger. She lives with her mom, grandma and sister. I'm not sure how I can express what acrobatic move my heart made when I read the words "She promises you to pray for you. She asks you to pray for her. Woodshaina and her family really loves you. She hopes that God Bless you." ......she hopes that God blesses me!?! How do you say "My dear, dear, precious Love, God has blessed me more with your words, than with anything I could ever ask for." to a 5 year old and expect them to understand?? I don't think you can, but if you could, those would be my words to her. I realize that technically, those words could have been her mothers, but still they have the same effect on my heart. I can not wait for the day that Woodshaina is able to write a letter, to me, herself.

I am SO BLESSED!!!

Introducing

Iliana Georgina Rivera

Isn't she precious!?! She is 9 years old and lives with her mom and step father in El Salvador. I can't wait to get my first letter from her. One of her favorite activities is art...hello!! We were meant to be, haha. She is above average in her class! I sound like a proud mom, ha.

I'm excited to watch her grow and mature and see what all God has in store for her life!!

Feeling Festive

or maybe I was just bored.

What ever the reason, as you can see, I changed my background for the season.

I also (you will be proud Steph)...put my scarecrow out and...AND...hung a fall flag on my mailbox, courtesy of my sweet aunt. Sev also decided that I needed a mum, so he informed me that he will be picking one up today on his way home this afternoon.

I guess it's time to give up on summer and just welcome fall.
I mean, I guess since Halloween is NEXT week and the weather has been in the 40's (and YES that is COLD for me!!) every morning this week...I should just embrace it.

I received my packet of information for Iliana in the mail yesterday. She is just so precious. I will post a picture of her soon. I can't explain how much these little girls mean to me and I've never even met them. Yesterday I was having a pretty rough day at work and just wanted to crawl into my warm bed back home. I glanced at the pictures of both of my girls and just smiled. They are a constant reminder that I really don't have it all that bad. I cannot wait for the day I get to meet them. These little girls are changing my life and they don't even know it. Well, I guess it's not really them changing my life as much as it is God using them to change my life.

Used Text Books

I was cleaning our garage out, last night, when I discovered that it is high time I FINALLY find a new home for all of my old used text books!! I have books from my first year in college!! I don't know WHY I kept these books. I don't know if I really thought "10 years from now I may want to know the anatomy of a hook worm, or I may want to know how to figure out what xyz X yz(10) xy / 52 yyz - zy > 3 xyz + 4(10)zyx= is!!"....really?? I don't think so! It's time to give these old books up. However, when I go to just throw them away...it's funny, actually....but I can't help but see BIG $$$$ pop up and the sound of "cha ching, cha ching...flush". **sigh** They served a purpose, I graduated college...I don't need them anymore.


SO....does anyone out there know what I can do with over 200 lbs of text books, lol?? Do library's take them? I hate to just throw them out...what to do what to do?? Thanks for any suggestions!!!!!

PS. The thought of a big fire, roasted marshmellows and hot chocolate, did cross my mind...but the thought of throwing a perfectly good book into a fire makes me cringe....plus, I'm pretty sure it would cause a few teachers out there to have a heart attack.

Now...I wonder when I'll get up the nerve to toss all of my 3-ring binders, stuffed full of hand written notes, out??!!??

Read em' and weep

....these blogs:

http://boomama.net/to-africa-with-compassion/

My sweet cousin left a comment on my last post, informing me of two different bloggers that have made trips with Compassion. I had a few minutes of down time at work today (along with a cup of pumpkin spice latte-which makes for awesome reading!) and started reading the first one, by BOOMAMA.

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G

If you find the time, read some of these posts. My favorite ones are the ones during her trip and after. She found the words to express how I feel at times about my two girls, and to think, I've only sponsored them for a few short weeks. It brought tears to my eyes. Funny how God works.

**edited to add this link: http://boomama.net/2008/02/20/in-which-i-am-humbled-again-and-again/ If you don't get the chance to read any of the other posts that BooMama posted about Compassion, try and read this one...read the to the very bottom about the ladies in Uganda singing to the Compassion sponsors. THAT is what I felt when I heard the African Childrens Choir!! I did NOT read her post before I posted about the affect the choir had on me.

"When it's raining on Monday..."

okay, so it's Wednesday...but it rained Monday too. haha.

I wanted to come on here and copy a link to one of my favorite blogs I follow :)

http://blog.compassion.com/

I'm excited about this weekend, we're going camping!! I made the "camping grocery" run yesterday and our coolers are ready to go! I also picked up an extra fleece blanket...it's going to be cold!! There is something about sleeping in a tent, sitting around an open fire, and listening to the crickets that just says "peace" and "relax" to me! I'm so glad my parents got me into camping at an early age.
While picking up our camping groceries, I also made a stop at Hobby Lobby. The second I stepped inside the automatic doors I heard a crash. The crash was followed by immediate loud sobs. When I looked in the direction of the noise I saw a lady hunched over the floor at the check out counter, just bawling. She had a mess of change rolling around at her feet. She was seriously having a melt down because her change purse had dumped out all over the floor. At first I was a little bit shocked. I mean, really "you just dropped your change, its okay." However, as I went to stomp down on a coin that was spinning away on the floor, I realized she had something wrong with her. It was refreshing to see people gathering around to help her pick her change up. One lady kept saying "it's okay, see we're here to help". The lady that dropped her change grunted but never really said anything, she just kept crying. The reason I'm even telling you this story is because right before anyone got to the lady, to help her, a guy walked around the corner and just started laughing at her. I could tell he had no intention of helping her, I think he thought others would join in with his laughing. This is the cool part, I wish you could have seen his face when no one else laughed but instead went to the ladies rescue. I watched him and after a second, he too bent over and started catching the coins that were rolling away. I learned a valuable lesson...always do what you know is right and you just might change the way others think and act in the process.
I found the items I needed after the coin purse incident; Two little canvas bags, a few iron on patches and some puff paint. I'm going to decorate these two little bags and send them to my girls Love and Iliana. I wish that it didn't take so long for letters and packages to go between us, they probably won't receive their bags until Christmas! However, I won't complain, I'm just thankful that there are people that can translate my letters so that my spanish and creole speaking girls can understand my words...and how much I already care about them.

Yesterday...

all my troubles seemed so far away....and I would like to keep it that way :)

Severyn and I spent the weekend in the upstate with my family. On Saturday we took a trip up to Brushy Mtn. Motorsports Park and did a bit of trail riding in the mud. Good times!! I took a few spills and took home a few bruises, but it was a blast. We woke up before the sun was up and we didn't get back home until the sun had gone to bed.
On Sunday morning my mom and dad fixed a nice, big, hot breakfast! After breakfast we headed to church at NewSpring, in Greenville. Severyn and I have been attending the NewSpring here in Columbia and we did not want to miss this Sunday if we could help it. We were excited to have my mom and dad join us. Even better, our cousins joined in too. We got to hear a great message but I have to admit, my favorite part was when they had the African Children's Choir perform. I absolutely loved it. I could have listened to them sing on and on and on. It really made me think. Those children come from having nothing. I also heard that they were orphans, so they don't even have parents. Yet, I wish everyone could have heard them sing. They were full of joy and worship. Why can't we all be like that? It made me think about how much I have, to some it may not seem like a lot. However, to those children I would appear to be a very rich person. We are soooo blessed to live in America where we can worship freely, work freely, and speak freely. I often catch myself wishing I had a nicer car, a bigger home, finer clothes and...okay I'll even admit....a full time chef, hehe. Some of these children don't even have shoes to get from place to place. Their bed is on the dirt floor in their mud and stick house. They wear rags and those rags definitely do not match. I want a chef, they just want food.
I have been strongly convicted in the past couple of months. I have way more than I deserve and yet I complain. I've been talking about my sweet little Love that I sponsor through Compassion in previous posts. Maybe the childrens choir had such an affect on me because I have recently started getting a glimpse of life through Loves eyes. After the service on Sunday I decided I needed to do more. I made two firm decisions. The first, I decided to sponsor another child through compassion. I can not tell you how much this organization means to me. I have been working, researching, praying and talking to people with compassions over the month and a half that I have sponsored Love and I know that this organization is fully doing work for God. I realize that there are other organizations out there like compassion, but after doing the research none of them love God as much as the compassion staff. Compassion actually works with local churches in the poverty stricken areas and through those churches they form the projects that the children become a part of and ultimately sponsored out of. I prayed long and hard about this decision. I don't know why it was such a tough decision for me. Why is it that once you have money it's so hard to part with it? Even if it's for the glory of God? Anyways, I prayed and asked God to let me know if he wanted me to take on another child through compassion. I knew that it would be a tad difficult financially, not that we don't have the money but we are trying our hardest to become debt free and to save for our future. I decided to take a leap of faith, fully rely on God and sponsor another Child. Ultimately, all that I have is Gods, what he gives me he can take away. I may need money in the future in the event that our economy washes out and we loose our jobs, but I know that God knows what he is doing and I trust him. My new little child is from El Salvador, her name is Iliana and she is 9 years old.
My second decision, I will be taking a trip to a 3rd world country next year. I have not decided, exactly, which one yet. However, I know that it is between a mission trip with NewSpring to Kenya, or to El Salvador with Compassion to see Iliana or Haiti to visit Love. Every single penny that I make from cakes is going to my sponsorship with Compassion and the rest is being saved to take this trip.
I can not express how good God's love is for each of us. I pray that he keeps my eyes and heart open and does not let me take for granted all that he has given me. I am so far beyond blessed and I know that I owe everything to him...I pray he uses me to work in the lives of these two sweet girls that I am so very excited to get to know through Compassion. I also pray this is just the beginning of the work God wants me to do.
If anyone that reads my blog is in any way interested in sponsoring a child, let me know, I would love to talk to you about it :) I'll even share all of my research and contacts that I've made so far.
I hope everyone has a lovely week and if you get a chance, check out NewSprings service to see the childrens choir that had such an affect on me! The service will be uploaded on Tuesday and you can view the whole service if you want :)


As promised: Love Woodshaina Joseph

PS: You may have figured it out, or maybe you didn't...but I started my blog off w/ the title and song quote because yesterday, I realized just how small my troubles really are compared to the bigger picture. Think about it.

**sigh**

Now...I am the last person to talk about politics. I hate them. I hate hearing about them, I hate talking about them, I hate thinking about them and I hate reading about them. So usually, I shy away from them. As a matter of fact...many people might not even know what my political views are and that's how I like it.

However, after getting to work this morning and reading in the news that Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize I was a little bit sad.

Then I got into a discussion about it with some fellow facebookers. That is when I decided to throw a blurb in my blog about it.
A friend of mine posted her opinion in her "status update" box. She received a few "likes" and then a few comments in the other direction. At one point she apologized for offending anyone. I know where she was coming from, not wanting to step on toes. However, I don't care which "side" you're on.....please never apologize for voicing your opinion. We lost too many good Americans in wars that were fought to save our freedoms and speech is a freedom in America. If you feel strongly enough about something, VOICE IT! I understand that sometimes voicing your opinion can start fights or unwanted conflicts, if that's the case...stop talking. Smile. Back away. Turn the other cheek. Just don't apologize. Agree to disagree :)
Because I have freedom of speech, here are my quick thoughts:
Pulled from my facebook discussion.

ME: "Obama was given a prize for a promise basically...and if that's what its worth now, then the prize has just been made cheap. Heck, I promise to end world hunger, where is my prize??. America is turning into one big laughing stock. Really though, what can you do? Pray for our country and those that have to make decisions for it and then be glad you're a child of God and won't have to spend eternity here on earth with Obonzo as president...cause that would be hell ;)"
Peep on FB (friend of my FB friend): "Just to point out...Obama neither nominated nor awarded the prize to himself. You don't like him is one thing, but me, I will be proud to be in the USA and that some parts of the world see the potential good in that while some take it for granted. Voicing concern over issues is one thing. Rooting for our President to fail is another. And sadly that's what too many people are doing these days."
ME: "I will agree w/ what *** said :) Rooting for a president to fail is like rooting for America to fail and that is the last thing any American citizen should want. The case here is that a prize that was once a symbol for the good one DID just turned into a cheap prize for a promise :( and that's sad. Now...if all that was promised comes true...eh' then maybe it was well deserved...so maybe instead of getting upset that he was awarded the prize we should all just hope and pray he really earns it :) though *** is also right when he said he didn't nominate himself and that is why I said America is turning into a laughing stock."


and then I read this article and realized it summed up my thoughts on the whole situation:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20091009/us_time/08599192939500

The End, lol.

Slow Down Time!

Is it just me or does time seem to go by faster and faster each year?
Maybe that comes with age...who knows. I just know I don't think I like it!
It is ALREADY OCTOBER!!!! It is already considered "fall". Where did the summer go? Christmas will be here in a few short weeks! I know this because Walmart already has decorations out, along with Michael's and Hobby Lobby (my two favorite stores). I think I'm still in denial though. My cousin was spending the weekend w/ us, the weekend before last, and she saw my scarecrow decoration (something my mom finds necessary....holiday decorations) in the corner of my garage. She promptly asked me "WHY is your scarecrow not out?" My first response was "uhm, because its a SCARECROW! and its not fall yet!"...and then I realized it was the last weekend in September...it was FALL!! (side note: the scarecrow is still in my garage....I think that if I pretend its not fall, it won't get cold out...I said I was in denial!)
I woke up this morning and it was raining. It was dark out, cold, and raining! A perfect day to stay in bed! However, duty calls...and here I sit at work. My boss has a cold, therefore he's not in today, another yucky side of fall. burrrr!
I also find that I consume way more coffee (=caffeine) in the fall/winter months.
I didn't like living in Hawaii as much as some people would think they might like it...but I will say I miss the weather! I love snow. I love how everything looks so clean and peaceful when it snows....but the cold, wet weather that comes along before and after snow...yuck.

We have a camping trip planned for the weekend after next. I LOVE camping!! I love campfires, s'mores, the smell of the outdoors, the trees, lightening bugs, a clear sky, bright stars and the sound of a creek. I don't like trying to sleep in a tent when its cold outside! I'm already packing extra blankets, jackets and dry clothes! I've never tried making coffee over an open fire, but I'm going to learn! It never fails, during the cold months, when we're camping, I ALWAYS have to get up at least once in the middle of the night to use the ladies room (AKA: the tree farthest from camp, in the middle of the woods, that was scoped out before night fall and checked for bugs, snakes or poison ivy)!!! It is the worst feeling EVER...crawling out of a pile of sleeping bags, warming your hands with your breath, fumbling around for the zipper to the tent door, falling out of the tent into the pitch black night, feeling around on the wet grass for your shoes, finding your shoes, stuffing just your toes in your shoes, so that you can make your way away from the tent, but not actually putting your whole foot inside the shoe. THEN comes the worst part, trying to go to the bathroom, in the dark, in the woods, and its COLD! The last thing you want to do is remove ANY articles of clothing......this may be tmi, but its the one thing I fear when camping in the cold :) and yet...it never fails, nature WILL CALL in the middle of the night! **Sigh**

I guess fall isn't alllll that bad. It does give me a good excuse to pull out my 1928938910382 jackets. No, a person does NOT need 15 LLBean jackets, but I get that from my daddy. I love jackets! I also like driving to the upstate and seeing all of the pretty leaves. Boots don't bother me either, I do like a good pair of, warm, cute boots. I also like Christmas and Thanksgiving at my grandmas, so no complaints there. I'm looking forward to a good ski season!

Well, those are just a few of my random thoughts about the new season that is now upon us. Happy Fall fellow blog readers!! Here's to you nutty people that try and claim they like this crazy, cold, red nosed, windy, wet season!! Bring on the snow, let's hit the slopes and then I'll feel a bit better towards this cold weather!! ;)

I am the proud owner of...

The HOOD OF MY CAR!!! YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEE :) :)

Sounds crazy, I know. Maybe it is, but I'm thrilled to say I own the hood of my car and before much longer I'll own the whole durn thing ;) Yeah-I'll explain.


Last night NewSpring Online had financial speaker Joe Spangl, host an online workshop. He was great and really inspiring (to me at least). He spoke about how he and his wife became debt free in 14 months, and no he doesn't make a killing either. He spoke about why it's important to be debt free and how it can enrich your life. I've always had a fairly good handle on my finances. I get that from my daddy. He made sure to teach me about finances at an early age, which I appreciate, I think it's the reason I don't have more debt than I do now.


At the beginning of this year, you may recall, I made a new years resolution to get an even better handle on my finances. I did, to a certain extent. I have kept up with my worksheets and graphs that I made. I'm glad I did, because this actually made things easier for when I sat down with Joe's worksheets.


So, how exactly did I figure that I own the hood of my car??


Joe has a crafty, little, nifty spreadsheet that he designed:

Ta-Da...a car. This little car has 435 squares in it. You just take what you owe on your car and divide it by the number of squares, this then gives you a price that each square is worth. When you make a payment, you get to color in squares.

This may sound and look a bit silly, I realize this, but it's exciting for me...so just play along ;)

I colored in squares today and I am the proud owner of the entire hood of my car. haha.

Joe has numerous little graphs like this one, you can find them here if you want to make your own little "color in the debt" picture: http://nextsteps.iwasbrokenowimnot.com/tools/saving-spectaculars/

I've worked fairly hard to get Sev and I down to a car loan, truck loan, student loan and home loan. I realize that still sounds a bit hefty, but we're able to pay more than we owe each month, on each loan. I've decided to knock the car loans out asap, they are the highest interest.

I honestly want to be debt free. I don't want to owe ANYONE anything! I want to have financial stress relief. Now, luckily I don't have to stress much over money as it is, but I can't even explain how cool I think it would be to work each week, bring home a pay check and keep every single bit of it!!! (well, minus utilities...but that's life, and they aren't much. I could wait tables on the weekends and pay those).

I have a strong desire and urge to travel...far and for more than the typical "one week vacation a year"...how seriously boring is that?? "weeeee, it's the summer, we're hitting up the beach!! FUN...weeks over...see you next year....back to the grind" yuck. Nope, not for me. I want to go to Haiti and see my sponsored child. I want to go to other countries on mission trips. I want to drive across the USA. I hear Paris is nice. I wouldn't mind an authentic taco from Mexico ;) I also want to sponsor more children through compassion. I don't want to work a 8-5. I want to do whatever I feel like doing and having the freedom to do it. Why can't I?? I live in America. Well, I can't right now because I have debt. However...I won't have it forever...nope...because today...I already own the hood of my car!!!!!!

I got my child sponsorship packet today!!

I have already written Love twice, via the internet. Basically, you go to the Compassion website and send an "email" to your child. The email actually goes to the compassion team in Haiti (or wherever your child is located) and they translate the "email" into the childs language on a piece of paper and give it to your child. I was getting antsy, so I had to go ahead and write her. However, I got my official "child sponsor" packet this morning. It had little Loves picture in it (a hard copy, I already had one online). It also had a bit of information about her, what she likes to do, how she spends her free time, what chores she has(I say "has" because what kid "likes" to do chores-even in Haiti, I'm sure little Love does not like doing chores, ha!) to do, how many brothers and sisters she has, where exactly in Haiti she lives. The packet also included a "getting to know your sponsor" card. It asks you specific questions, questions that compassion has discovered the children like to know about their sponsors, like; your full name, your birthday, you spouses name, his/her birthday, what you like to do...etc. It also has a spot to attach your photo and then on the other side of the card, it is left blank (for the translator). I'm filling my card out today and will hopefully have it in the mail tomorrow.
I'm soooo excited to get to know Love. I have decided that I am going to visit her, when God tells me the time is right. I've also decided to dedicate my cake money to my sponsorship and hopefully future visit. I am really feeling called to do more work for others and specifically in poverty stricken countries. I will let you know as soon as I hear from Love, that is a day I'm anxiously waiting on :)

In other news-Sevy's b-day was yesterday!! His big 27th b-day. We spent the day with his parents at Table Rock national park. We went for a little boat ride on pinnacle lake and took a small hike around the base of Table Rock Mountain.

My love for God is growing stronger and stronger every day. I've been reading the book "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan and I've really been feeling a tug at my heart. My mother just purchased his second book for me...I'm excited to dive into that! Keep Severyn and I in your prayers, I really feel God working in us. We are excited to finally have found not one but actually a couple of places that we may be calling our church "home" in a couple of weeks. NewSpring has its official "first Sunday" on the 27th of this month and a preacher that actually preached at the Church that we LOVE in North Rock Hill is starting a Church here in Columbia, we hope to visit that Church this weekend. I'm excited...I can't wait to find my place in a Church home!!!!!
**edit to say: I don't mean that we're looking for more than one church, lol, I mean..we have more than one to visit and consider and try to find our place that God chooses for us :)


Oh-I'll post a pic of Love soon. I can't copy it from my online profile with compassion, so I'm going to actually have to take a photo of my photo to share on here. I will soon, promise.

A Child Named Love

So, I've started listening to 89.7, our family friendly Christian radio station, here in Columbia. Last week they were talking about sponsoring a child from Compassion. http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm

At first I thought nothing about the information provided, or the things that they were talking about on the radio. Honestly, I was hoping they would hurry up and stop talking and play some music!! I got to work on Monday morning. I got in my car for my lunch break later that day and here they were talking about it AGAIN! I started listening to the stories and the testimonies of the people who have sponsored children from this organization in the past. Something started to tug at my heart. If you know me...I'm not even a "kid" person. It would be more like me to bawl my eyes out at "Old Yeller" or "Where the Red Fern Grows" as opposed to any movie (see I can't even recall the names of any) about a poor, starving, sad child. SAD, I know!! However, I really started hurting for the children these people were talking about. I decided to do a bit of research about the organization. I asked a few people if they had heard about Compassion or if they had ever sponsored a child. I realized that Compassion was more than just a company that took monthly payments from people and then used a small percentage to give to the needy and then made a profit off of the rest. I looked them up on BBB and read all the information I could find. 85% of the monthly contribution goes directly to the child you sponsor (in the form of food, health care, clothes, school supplies and tuition). The other 15% does go to the organization, to keep it going...and after researching and praying, I have no problem with this, because these people are serving the Lord. I am very sceptical and tend to keep a guard up when it comes to spending my money and who gets my money.........notice I said "my". After really praying and listening all week to, the week long rally, the radio station was doing for Compassion...it suddenly hit me. It is NOT MY money!! Every single penny that I have in my bank account is God's. He provided me with what income I do have. It may not be much and at times it may seem like we're stretching pennies...but we've got all that we need and God has been sooo good to us! It also hit me that I've been blessed with a talent (that I may not always think I'm GREAT at, but others sure do!) making cakes. The more I thought about it and prayed about it, I knew this was something I wanted to do. I will use my cake profits to support a child!! I have been making cakes like crazy and I'm sure I can keep it up or at least make a cake a month that will help support my child.
I went home on Tuesday evening and told Severyn. I asked him what he thought and if we could support a child on our 5 year Anniversary. I didn't want to give gifts this year, I just wanted to do something for someone else and for God's glory. We prayed about it together. Severyn got online and actually found the little girl we decided to sponsor.
Here is the cool part (for me anyway): Our little girl is from Haiti. She is 5 years old (one year old for every year Sev and I have been married). Her name? Love. That's right, I couldn't make this up. Her name is Love Woodshaina K Joseph. We became sponsors of Love on our 5 year anniversary. Here is the thing I love about Compassion. They are Christ centered. They focus on not only getting the child out of poverty and giving them what they need but they focus on telling the child about God. They provide church activities and services for the child. They hold vacation bible school for the children in the area. They give the children bibles and make sure they have a way to church. Love will be able to hear the word of God because of a small monthly contribution that Severyn and I have decided to give. Severyn and I can even visit Love! We hope to do this on one of our anniversaries in the future. I promise you, after doing all of this research and praying, my heart was broken.
I highly suggest anyone to look into Compassion and consider sponsoring a child.
It is $38 a month and this is actually until the child turns 18 or 22 (depending on the program your child is in). You can cancel, if you need/want, at any time...but I have faith that God will provide a way for Severyn and I to continue sponsoring Love until she is out of the program.
You and your child will become pen pals, they will write to you and you will write back :) I am sooo excited to get my first letter from Love. You will get pictures and send pictures. You will also have a name and a face of someone that really needs your prayers. You will have a translator that will read your letters to your child and will translate the letters your child writes you. If you get the chance to visit your child, the translator will also be there to help you speak to your child. I guess some people do it because it is a tax write off, but I didn't find that out until after the fact.
If you decide to sponsor a child through Compassions, please let me know :) I would love to hear about your child!! I know it's not for everyone, but I just wanted to share our story and our anniversary gift to one another!!!

I will post a picture of Love as soon as I can, I currently have one but I need to upload it!! Feel free to keep Love in your prayers :) I will also update my blog when I hear from Love or receive information about her.

Where does the time go??

HAPPY 5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY SEVERYN!!!

That's right, Sevy and I have been married for FIVE years today! Wow. I won't sugar coat it, marriage can be soooo hard but man it can also be something pretty sweet. It doesn't feel like it's been five years. We still are not sure what we're going to do to celebrate our 5 years together. We do have exciting news though!!! We have decided to support a child in Haiti and this is something I am VERY excited about. I'm going to work on a post to blog more about that asap.

I love you Severyn Robert.

Why oh Why...

Do weekends have to fly??

Seriously, I think the work week clock moves at a much slower pace than the weekend clock!! Our weekends just zoom on by.
Severyn and I have decided we really want to find a Church home. We visited different churches while in Hawaii and we attempted to visit a local church here in Columbia. However, neither of us felt like we fit in anywhere and sadly, we stopped looking for a church all together. Oddly enough, we are rarely home on the weekend...we tend to travel all over SC visiting family and friends. This proved to also hold us back from finding a church home (love how the devil works, huh). We spend a good bit of time with our friends in Rock Hill and love their church (North Rock Hill Church). We decided this past weekend that we will just commit to driving to Rock Hill on Sundays until we find a church that we both agree suits us. I really enjoy NewSpring in Greenville and we were informed that they are finally opening a campus up here in Columbia the end of September. We're hoping we feel like we belong there, once we try it out on opening day!!
So this past weekend, while we planned to stay home and get some stuff done around the house, we actually ended up in Rock Hill Saturday night. We had originally decided to just drive to Rock Hill Sunday morning, but then we were invited to just stay the night with our friends, so we took them up on the offer. Friday night Sev and I tried a new little restaurant not far from our house. A little pizza joint. In the middle of NO WHEREville! It was pretty yummy. We've tried to go there twice before. Once we sat down, ordered our food and then were told we would have to leave b/c the oven had gone kaput and they would not be able to cook anymore food that evening (its a small, hole in the wall, middle of nowhere, joint I'm telling you). The second time they were already closed when we pulled up. It appears, third times a charm! We enjoyed a nice pizza on Friday night and then came home to hang out and watch TV together. Saturday morning I finished working on a cake that was due a little bit later and Sev left to go help a friend fix his boat. I delivered my Noah's Ark cake a bit later and then hit up Hobby Lobby for some cake stuff :) I came home and picked up the house a bit and started on another last minute cake until Sev got home. He mowed the yard and washed the truck. We then packed up and headed to Rock Hill. It was our friend Kennedi's B-day, so my last minute cake was actually a surprise cake for her! We were happy to celebrate her birthday with her. She and I ended up staying up way too late, having a nice chat at Starbucks (yummm). The guys went to watch the UFC fight. We all met back up a little later and talked until the wee hours of the morning. Sunday morning we all headed to church. Kennedi actually sings in the church band, we LOVE the Sundays she sings...it makes it that much better! God seriously blessed her with a wonderful voice. After church I had every intention of getting back home soon and getting my house organized and ready for the work week. Didn't happen. Nope. We ended up spending the day out on the lake, being lazy and enjoying fellowship with our friends. I can't complain, isn't that what weekends are for??
Sunday night came all toooo quickly and here it is...MONDAY! blah. Though, I can't complain, I have a NICE longggg weekend next weekend!!!.....but I have a feeling the sneaky, little, weekend clock will figure out my plans and speed the time up again **sigh**

PS. Severyn and I will have been married for 5...FIVE...years this Thursday!!!!!

So cute I can't help but Share :-)

We had the sweetest little visitor today!! Sev and I came to stay with mom and dad for the weekend, I had cakes to deliver!! We were outside this afternoon when the sweetest little guy stopped by for a surprise visit!! He was such a cutie. I thought I would share a short clip of one of his favorite words of the evening...."Aliiiiiiiiii". You will also hear him say "toe" "shoe" "lick" "penny" and "booboo" but he obviously loves Ali :) We can't blame him, we love him too!

Just some randomness...

I have been baking up a storm!! I, sadly, didn't get a pink fridge for my birthday. However, my current, one and only, fridge is stuffed to the brim with cake, icing and stuff to make both! I seriously wish I could just stay home and make cakes all day...one day maybe :) I'm loving this new creative outlet. At times I get tired, a bit a burnt out, frustrated and want to throw in the towel...not literally, but almost! Like last night when I was making a batch of icing and the kitchen towel that I was using to cover my mixer, to contain the mess (you wouldn't believe the cloud a bowl of powdered sugar can create with just the help of a mixer), actually got sucked into the mixer and I ended up with powdered sugar all over me, the floor and the counters...but I had a nice "mixed" towel in the bowl. HaHa. Don't worry, I was able to save the towel and it didn't hurt my mixer. Though, Ali was on a sugar high after he helped me clean the floors :) I decided that "throwing in the towel" just wasn't an option for me. I've been working on a price list for some time...in the process I have decided that some people are just plain CRAZY!! I mean, don't get me wrong, I would jump all over the offer to make a cake and be compensated over a grand for it, but good grief! I was astounded by some of the prices on cakes and the people actually willing to pay that much! I was floored when a girl told me over the weekend that I actually made her feel bad, like she was stealing from me, for the price I quoted her. Uhm...thanks....I think, LOL (and to think, I thought what I was quoting was HIGH). I guess when you really love doing something, you don't realize how much time you spend on something and how valuable your time really is. I could seriously let my house go to squat and work on my cakes all evening long. Good thing I have Sev to regulate :)

I was sooo sad while doing a bit of craigslist reading today. I ran across an ad for a guy asking for someone to do his Algebra homework. He stated that he would pay anyone to do his homework and turn it in for him. I'm guessing he was taking online classes. He said he just couldn't do it himself and paying someone was easier...well duh....but how sad is that?? I wanted to jump through the computer screen and yell at the kid "DON'T YOU KNOW NOTHING IN LIFE WORTH HAVING COMES EASY!!!!!" ahhhhh...what is our world coming to?? my generation just stinks! We've been handed sooo much and expect sooo much that we don't want to work for a thing! I get that every generation of parents just want the best for their kids...but slowly, they have ruined us, by giving us the best they have also made us entirely too lazy.

Uhmmm, that's about all of the randomness that I've got in my head right now, you're lucky...it didn't take up the entire screen today ;-) Happy Tuesday.

My quick trip to Raleigh...

I got to spend the night with Henry! Oh and Dobby too!!!...oh yeah, Keith and Mer as well ;-)

I decided Henry really was as cute as everyone said he was. I took a picture of the little guy, but I'll have to add it to this post later.
Yesterday, while at work, we realized we needed parts TODAY and there was no way we could have them shipped here in time. Then I heard that the parts were in Raleigh. Naturally, I thought "Henry!!!". Then, when my boss asked me to possibly drive half way to Raleigh and get our parts, I devised a plan. Why couldn't I just go the entire way to Raleigh and stay the night with Henrybebe. I quickly called Keith and got permission, then I pretended to be the BEST employee EVER and suggested "If you want, I guess I could go to Raleigh and pick the parts up, I can go tonight and come back with them in the morning." SCORE!! Not only was I now the employee of the month (just kidding, I dubbed myself that) but I got to meet Henry!!
I arrived in Durham a little after 9pm. I enjoyed a short visit with Meredith before she went to sleep. Keith and I stayed up with Henry until around 11:30pm. I got to feed Henry.....a lot actually, that is one hungry baby! He was so sweet and cuddly and he smelled good too! I asked Meredith if I could get up with him when he woke up for his middle of the night feeding. She said I could if I really wanted...I didn't know why she looked at me like I was crazy?! I fell asleep and what felt like only a few short hours later I heard the faintest cry. Henry!! I hurried to his nursery and found him in Moo's arms. Thinking it was around 1am, I said "can I stay up with him until he falls back asleep" she said "sure, I don't think he's hungry, he just ate at 3:30"...."3:30...WHAT time is it??" I looked at his clock and it was a little after 5:30am, had I really been sleeping that hard??!! I had not heard him cry for his middle of the night feeding! Oh well, I scooped him up and rocked him while Meredith went back to sleep. A short while later, after the sun had already started shining through the windows, Henry was fast asleep. I got ready to put him in his crib and realized I didn't want to. He is so tiny and he'll only be tiny for a short period of time. I'll never forget the first time I got to hold Perrin and Alexa. Now those two are toddlers and barely even want to be held. So I enjoyed a few hours of alone time Henry. Oddly enough, the time flew and before I knew it Keith and Dobby were up, playing a game of....well...."Keith chasing Dobby around and around, while Dobby zigged, zagged, ducked and dodged, trying to get him to go outside for his morning potty break". I reluctantly stood from the rocker and made my way downstairs with Henrybebe. I got to enjoy a few more minutes with my cousins and then it was off to Columbia for me. I don't think Henry liked that idea (hey, don't tell me otherwise! Humor me here) because when I went to hug him goodbye....he threw up on me, lol. I had to change my shirt and then give Henry another hug goodbye before I headed down the road. It was a very short visit, but I'm glad I got to see Henrybebe before he grew like a weed and turned quickly into a little boy that wanted nothing to do with being kissed and hugged by his cousin! Even though I just about lost a $50 bill to the pit of Dobby's belly (yes, I walked in to the guest room to find Dobby with my $50 bill hanging out of his mouth!!! LOL) it was a GREAT trip and I can't wait to see them all again :)



ps. I figured out why Moo looked at me like I was crazy when I asked to get up with him...I'm TIRED! Babies are a LOT of work!! hehe. I guess I should take this as another opportunity to thank my own mother for her countless nights of getting up with me, Thanks Mom!!

HOT! HOT! HOT!

It's over 100 degrees in good ole' Columbia, SC today! OVER 100!!!! Man oh man what I wouldn't give to have a pool right about now :-)

This past weekend was nice. Quiet, productive and nice. Friday evening Sev and I tried a new little restaurant in Lexington, SC. A lady that he works with also works there and told him about it. IT WAS SOO GOOD!! It was kind of a birthday dinner, since Sev and I really didn't celebrate my birthday with just the two of us. I had peach chicken and it was sooo tender and moist and had just the right amount of sweet peaches on it! I would have never thought to put peaches on chicken, but it worked!! After dinner we came home and watched TV until we fell fast asleep. Saturday morning, Sev woke up and left to go work with a friend of his from work. I got busy cleaning!!! With all of this cake baking, decorating and dirt bike riding...I hardly have time for my chores!! My poor house is suffering badly! I spent the entire morning, afternoon and part of the evening cleaning. I SCRUBBED our bathroom (I get that from my g-ma, I mean...hands and knees scrubbing base boards with Clorox and toothbrush!), I did 4+ loads of laundry, dried and folded! I cleaned under the washer and dryer in the laundry room. I cleaned under the fridge and stove in the kitchen. I vacuumed like a mad woman on a mission! I sat in our shower up to my feet in bubbles scrubbing the tub! I changed all of the linens. At this point, sev was back home, he washed Ali and I washed all of his bedding. We dusted up a storm! I cleaned out all of the closets and cabinets in our bathroom....and I mean purged! (my mother is now the proud owner of a dozen half used bottles of lotion, sprays, cleaners, face washes..etc. etc. hahaha). I then focused my attention outside and pulled a few weeds...this lasted all of about 20 minutes until I pulled up a weed and the biggest, ugliest, scariest, black widow spider I have EVER seen came crawling out at me!!! NO SIR! I don't do spiders!!! I ran to the garage and came back armed with spider killing ammunition. I chopped at the ground, with a shovel, until nothing was left un-chopped! Then I proceeded to spray the entire area (and I mean DRENCHING the entire area) with spider/bug spray!! I may have managed to kill every flower in my flower bed...but darn-it I got that spider!!! yuck...
After all of the cleaning and spider killing, I washed up and Sevy and I went to the movies :-) We saw "Funny People" with Adam Sandler. eh' not my favorite movie and it lasts wayyy tooo long, but I enjoyed my time with Sev.
Sunday morning we got up and did what else but....went riding!!! We met my dad, brother and Jonathan at Enoree. We rode and rode and then....I thought I was going to die! No kidding. It was sooo hot yesterday!! It is also VERY hard to ride in this weather, with all of MY HAIR! I imagine it to be the equivalent of riding in 100 degree weather with a fur jacket on and the fur collar flipped up around your neck! HOT! I started getting yucky feeling and I could feel a headache coming on. Dad and I took a break. I re hydrated and rested in the shade for bit. After our break, I was ready to GO! We took off and rode and rode some more! I had a blast, of course. No one fell...but Sev did manage to step in a yellow jackets nest!! Dad and I weren't there to witness that, but I hear it was rather comical. Don't worry, he wasn't stung! After the ride we headed back home. I had every intention of cleaning some more...but that never happened. I. could.not.keep.my.eyes.open. Could not! I was beyond exhausted. I slept the entire car ride home. I showered and fell fast asleep...all before 8pm!
What a weekend :-) I love productive weekends!!

Happy Birthday to meeeee!!!

I turned 22 yesterday!


mmmmk not really, but I have come up with the master plan of all plans!!! If I start NOW by telling people that I'm really 4-5 years younger than what I really am, then by the time I'm 40 people will think I'm only mid-30's! HA!

I had a GREAT Birthday Weekend!!! It started on Friday, when Sevy sent B-day flowers to my work :) Then I was allowed to leave work 30min early and I headed on home to pack for a weekend in the upstate. Friday night we had some yummy BBQ chicken and just spent time with my family. On Saturday Dad, Sev, Chris, Jonathan and I got up (early) and headed to Brown Mtn.. I wanted a longggg birthday ride! Dad surprised me Friday night with some NICE bark busters for my bike...uhm....basically some metal pieces that go over the handles and protect your hands from hitting trees, or rocks ,or briers ,or whatever while you're riding. I had the best time and was not ready to leave the trails! I'm fortunate enough to have my brother and father as teachers, so I think I'm getting better and better with every ride. I'm VERY proud to say I was the only one that didn't take a spill.........though I'm sure that's glory short lived! I'm GREAT at falling too :) I was asked (just last weekend) why I enjoyed dirt bikes so much. I don't really know why. Its a thrill but on top of that its a challenge and I like learning new skills and tactics to over come the challenges. Plus, I've always liked being outside!! We had a few scary moments out on the trail, but no casualties, lol. I think we'll all be back out there the next chance we get!! We got home around 8pm and rushed in to clean up and eat my Birthday dinner!! Mom made her famous lasagna and we had a lemon pound cake for dessert!! No, I did not make my own b-day cake ;-) I got to spend time with my family and just enjoy life :) We woke up Sunday morning (my actual b-day!!!) and I got to open some SWEET birthday gifts. Then we had a yummy brunch with my in-laws. After brunch, we packed up the cars, loaded the dogs and hit the trails for a 6 mile hike. Sev's parents had hiked the trail before and thought we would appreciate it. We all had a nice time and I enjoyed splashing around in the creek at the end of the trail. We got back to the cars just in time, right before the rain started. After a long ride on Saturday and then a fairly long hike on Sunday, I was beat! NAP TIME! I took a short nap on the couch while Sev hung out in the shop with my dad. We hit the road back to Columbia around 7:45pm. I was veryyyyyyyyyy sad my Birthday weekend was over :( Though I had a wonderful time!!!! Thank you family, for the gifts and the well wishes and the time I got to spend with each of you!!!!


26 years old....I know its not OLD OLD, but man does time fly!!!! (oops-well now you know my real age, lol).

WATCH OUT...I've been thinking....

Sooo I'm thinking about turning this blog private. I normally could care less what anyone reads (thinks) about me, haha. However, for the sake of my family and friends, that I post about often, I don't want the world reading this blog. I have begun to get a crazy amount of hits/views on my cake blog and if you go to my profile from that blog you can easily access this blog. If you agree and think this blog should be private, def. if you're a friend or family member that I post about from time to time, please let me know what you think!! I HATE having to log in to read others blogs...so I don't really know if I WANT to turn this private. I like my loving, sometimes funny, comments that everyone leaves and I don't want those to dwindle. So let me know what you think...let me know if privacy really should be an issue. If you're a lurker, well HELLLO and I would love to hear from you too!!! It's not that I think I'm so cool all of my stuff should be for the VIP only, hahahaha, it's just for sake of privacy.
So, if I turned my blog private would you still read it?

Love to all-Linds

Catch Up

Well, I've basically been baking like crazy. This leaves little time for other activities. Though I did manage to enjoy a dirt bike ride this past Saturday with my family. We celebrated my dads birthday on Friday and I baked his cake! (check it out on the cake blog) I also got to receive the wonderful news that mer had baby Henry on the 16th!! That's about all of the "news" from our little neck of the woods.

On Friday night, my brothers girlfriend was talking about spray tans and how her friend was not having much success with the spray tan she had received, it just wasn't sticking to her skin. I started to tell my family about the bad spray tan experience I had experienced. I told my family that I ended up looking like an umpalumpa and they looked at me like I had lost my mind, they didn't know what an umpalumpa was!! It didn't help that I tried to remind them of the WillyWonka movie by singing the "umpa lumpa dobidy do" song....my entire family thought I had really lost it at that moment, haha. So anyways, I went on to explain that an umpalumpa was a short, little, orange guy, with green hair in "WillyWonka and the Chocolate Factory". That was exactly what I looked like when I got my spray tan. It's funny now, but at the time is was NOT! I had gotten the tan for my cousins wedding and orange toned bridesmaids were NOT the look she was going for! The other problem that occured when I had my spray tan was when the horrible smelling and even worse tasting spray got into my mouth. When I exited the spray booth I spit (I know sooo unlady like!!) and then wiped my mouth......leaving a nice white ring around my mouth, much like a milk mustache. **sigh** I was something to see! Thankfully MAC does an amazing makeup job and the day was saved.
I'm telling this story because I actually ran across a picture of some umpalumpas today and wanted to post the picture so my mom and others would not think I was crazy when I referred to my bad spray tan experience as the day I was turned into an umpalumpa with a milk mustache!!

Happy Tuesday!!!

I may be in trouble for this....

but I ALWAYS knew she had horns!!

I struggled my entire childhood trying to prove this fact.

NO ONE, not one single soul, wanted to listen to my out cries, my pleas to just listen to me!!

"Now Lindsey, she is the sweetest lady. That is just silly."

"Lindsey, that is your mother you're talking about!!"

For twenty five years I have tried hard to capture proof. I wanted desperately to say "I Told You so!!"...I had almost given up hope.

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Until today.

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

My father, of all people, was able to capture the wild horned woman (only a handful of us have seen) in a photo:

She may be rare and she may be as mysterious as big foot himself...but...I TOLD YOU SOOOO!!!! SHE DOES EXIST!!!!!!!

hehehehe....I will admit she's a pretty sweet mom when she wants to be...but don't let that sweetness fool you. There are horns under that wild head of hair!!!

Love you Mom :-) and Thanks Dad ( hope I don't get you in trouble) ;-)

Lets talk about Me Babyyyy

So, the most important day of the year is about to be here!! Oh come on...what do you mean "what day??" Well now its only the very day my parents were blessed beyond words, the day angels sang and the sun was just a bit more brighter...... MY BIRTHDAY!!! geesh.

So to keep up the "ALL ABOUT ME ME ME" flow I've got going with this post...

Usually this time of year comes around and I get a few "what do you want for your birthday?" questions and my response is "uhm, I can't think of anything." Now, I don't want to sound greedy this year...but I had a few minutes to think about things I wanted, but would not buy for myself anytime soon. Eh' I don't expect any of this, truth be told I would actually prefer money to pay my stinkin' school loans off...but everyone can dream :)

Pandora Clip (I only need one more clip and my bracelet will be set as far as clips go):

Helllllloooo who doesn't want a pink fridge???? Mmmk, really (though I would DEFINITELY rock out a pink fridge) I really just want an old fridge for my garage, a girl needs an extra fridge when she bakes a lot of cakes!!



and seriously, if anyone ever runs across a used pink fridge...let me know, LOL, the more I look at this pic. the more I really "NEED" a pink fridge!!!!

Another Pandora clip...but this one has my birthstone on it...cool huh!?




A Pandora Birthstone charm!!!




I wouldn't mind a cute pair of Brighton earrings :)

While I already have a nice little camelback. I really could use a larger one...in both ways; large bladder for more H2O and a larger pack to carry more. This is how I stay hydrated on the dirt bike trails.

.......................Some things never change ;-)

"Dream on, Dream on, Dream until your dreams come trueeeeeeeeeee "(okay, mirrors are breaking)

Stay tuned (if you give a hoot and I KNOW you DO...its all about ME,lol, really I'm kidding folks) I may add more...Happy Friday!!!