cmas shopping

well, i blew it!!! i said that i was going to stick to my limits and budget and lets just say that lasted all of......the first day of shopping! we have three children and i usually spend @ $200-$250 on each child. when you think about it that doesn't get you very far! like the year both of the girls wanted game boys. that was $100 on one gift and was well worth it b/c they took those things everywhere. this year they are getting one of the latest game systems and they want more of the electronic stuff... which aint cheap! i am not complaining about what they want just about my budget idea. it never last and i never stick to it. so why do i set one for myself? now, don't get me wrong, i don't go waaaay over. i think i set a goal as a guide. so, that when i reach it i think, okay, do they reallllly need this?
does anyone else run into the same problem?

starting over

have you ever gone against the grain? did things that you knew were wrong but did it anyway? felt like a failure and a disappointment? i have done and felt all of this! but i am finding that through all of my disappointments and failures god is still there and has grace and mercy like no other could ever have. i will admit i have messed up and don't deserve this kind of love but god doesn't look at it that way and i am so glad! god has given me peace and i know that through him everything will be okay!
several weeks ago i decided that i was going to make some changes and church was one them. i have attended this church since i was about 14 but i feel as though it is time for something new. so, i have been visiting this one church and i really like it but i would like to visit a few more before i make any definite decisions. while this decision was hard and yet sad, i feel it was best for my family. i have renewed strength and i know that god will lead us to the right place. i haven't felt this great about church in quite some time!
please pray for my family as we embark on this journey. starting over is never easy but i must admit that i am very excited and anxious to see what god has in store!

just a few days behind

in my previous posting i said i wanted to be done with all of my projects by oct.15th...i was not thinking. clearly. although i have made great progress i still have not painted the kids bathroom; however, with the help of my husband i have completed painting the kitchen, alas! it looks great and very funky! my mom n law and i went fabric shopping this afternoon and i got some great fabric that my m~n~m is going to work her magic on and do me up some great valances. as soon as this is done i will post pics!
travis has been working outside all week trimming bushes, decapitating my trees, and putting halloween stuff out. along side of working, i feel like travis and i have been super duper busy! alexandra has a huge science project due thursday (which i have had to help with, alot) and both of the girls have field trips friday, and we are having a halloween party friday night. yet again, another very busy week ahead.
i am just looking forward to some family time. i feel like between work, the kids school, and just plain everyday tasks i never have enough time for family time. this is something that i really want to work on and do better at. i love my kids so much but do they ever feel secondary to all of the other before mentioned things? i am challenging myself to sit down and talk to my kids more and play more games with them and just be together.

whew!!!!

i have had several things on my "to-do list" for the fall. you know, when the weather cools down i can do such and such. well, on my to do list i need to paint the kids bathroom, just to give it a new look. i also would like to paint my kitchen. i am tired of yellow and would like to make it more my style so i am going w/ red and this kind of lime green. i know it sounds a little weird but its going to look great and i will post some pics as soon as i am done. last on my list was to clean out my laundry room and organize it and all of the closets.
well, today with the help of my mom n law i got my laundry room done, the kids closets, and a truckload of yard sale stuff. now, i still have to do mine & Travis's' closet and go through our filing cabinet and file a huge stack of paperwork away; which i am hoping to get done in the morning so that Wednesday i can start painting the kitchen. i have a personal deadline for all of my little projects to be completed by and that is October 15th. i am trying to get all of the small tedious ones done first so that all i will have left is the painting.
i feel better already just blogging about my progress and my "list". right now my living room is in total chaos b/c i have totes stacked up ready to go back in the attic and some have mine & Travis's fall/winter clothes in it, and the others are clothes that we have all outgrown or just don't want anymore. i will feel much better after i get these all put away or rid of! i am hoping that tomorrow i will finish this as well.
wish me luck!

it's been a while

while its been some time since i have blogged, i have been ultra busy! so , let me just take a moment to catch up before i get in to what i am blogging about. first, bryson is still getting into everything and then some and i am still loving my new job! i seriously have one of the best bosses ever and that alone makes any job worth going to. the girls at work and i decided we are goin to try to lose some poundage and hopefully some inchage (yeah, i made those up) so along side trying to eat better Travis and myself have been riding bikes with the kids @ the 'hood. its been 14 years since i rode a bike! and i will just go ahead and tell ya.... my butt hurts! i've got more cushion back there now so why don't i remember my butt hurting when i was a kid? anyhoo, life is great and i am making some positive changes that i hope i can divulge soon!

bryson's latest

well, last week was rather adventurous. to say the very least. you might had read previously where bryson tried to flood half of the house the week before. well, last friday as he laid down for his afternoon nap i decided that i would go ahead and shower. bryson lets me know he is indeed awake when he comes in the bathroom and is eating a sucker that he had to climb on the counter to get. (mind you travis is out of town. ) so i finish up and explain to bryson that he is not allowed to get things without asking. i had a sitter coming over to watch the kids while i went to work so i was going to order pizza. as i pick up my home phone it is pouring out; literally, liquid that is sticky. i am a little confused so i pick up my cell phone. it too was soaking wet. neither of them would turn on! as i notice what was my glass of diet coke on the table bryson announces speed boats mommy!! i realize then that he had turned the phones into boats! as i had previously found his little adventurous side funny and humorous.... this day i did not!! he did get a lil' spankin. so i was without any kind of phone!! i had to run to walmart and get a cheap phone to do until...and sat. i had to go and see if my cell phone was repairable. as it turns out neither of my phones were repairable and over $300 later i have new phones! my info in my phone could not be switched over either. so if i haven't been calling you don't take it personally as i don't have your #.

tag~ i'm it!

so, sarah tagged me, i guess that means it's my turn to tell 6 things about myself that you may or may not know.


1. i guess first things first. i really don't have a clue when it comes to blogging. i am new at it and i probably won't even do all this "tagging" right.


2. i have a favorite past time that some find very weird and some have said that hmm...maybe they would try it. and that is on any given afternoon or evening after a long hard day you very well may find me snuggled up on my bathroom floor w/a pillow and my hairdryer going and yes it must be blowing on me. i especially like to do this when it is cold outside. i find it to be great heat therapy; which is what we call it at my house. so, if you were to call & my kids say sorry my mom is busy she is doing her heat therapy, you'll know what they are talking about. btw } sometimes we make this a family time event and we will all get a book, pile up in my bathroom floor, and just relax with the hairdryer going.


3. now that you are totally freaked out by #2 i'm sure you're wanting to know what else is to this weirdo ?>? well, i really want a dog. like real bad. the only thing is i don't have the time right now to invest into an animal. heck, i am trying to get my 2 1/2 yr. old to use the potty. i don't have the energy to try and house train a dog too. when i do get the time i want a weimaraner.


4. i support our troops and i believe the war is necessary. i believe that America is a blessed country but i also believe that people have corrupted it by taking God out of our schools and our courtrooms.


5. if i could do anything career wise that i wanted to be it would be a forensic photographer for the FBI. maybe when i grow up that's what I'll be.


6. i would like to lose about 30 more lbs. and then go have liposuction on just about every area of my body and have a booty lift and some jugs installed.



so. now maybe you learned 6 new things about me. now it is my turn to do some tagging. i am tagging:

sonja~this means you can start a blog now

tracey j.

denise

austin

leslie~same thing. now you can start one too

i know this is only 5 but i don't know many that blog. *remember i am just starting! lol



THE RULES

1.LINK TO THE PERSON WHO TAGGED YOU

2.POST THE RULES TO YOUR BLOG

3.WRITE 6 RANDOM THINGS ABOUT YOURSELF

4.TAG 6 PEOPLE AT THE END OF YOUR POST AND LINK TO THEM

5.LET EACH PERSON YOU HAVE TAGGED KNOW BY LEAVING A COMMENT ON THEIR BLOG

6.LET THE TAGGER KNOW WHEN YOUR ENTRY IS POSTED

rainboots anyone?!?!?!

okay. so today has been a little bit of an adventure.... to say the least. as i am awakened by my angelic, innocent, loving and ever so cute 3 yr. old son, bryson this morning, i hear what sounds like running water.......

Travis has been working nights but i thought, "why would he be taking a shower in the kids bathroom?" all the while bryson is telling me to "mere." which in his lingo means come here. i get to noticing that bryson is shimmering w/ glitter and then i get that panicky feeling. i jump out of bed, literally. as i come to the hallway i am looking at standing water. ummm, if were to guess i would say at least 4in. deep. not only is it in the hallway, it is in the bathroom and in the girls room! we have hardwood floors but i am immediately thinking omg my floors are going to be ruined and mind you water is still running full blast.

bryson had pulled a stool over to the sink and pulled up the stopper and turned on the water. i don't know i guess he thought since i was asleep he would just swim in the bathroom instead of me taking him outside to get in the pool. so i turn the water off and call my mom n law frantically and she tells me what i should do. it took 6 beach towels and the already soaked rug to get most of the water up. most of the stuff under the sink had to be thrown away. the girls floor is still wet (we don't have hardwoods in there). i had to get box fans to dry everything else out.

meanwhile bryson had to sit in time out and got a little lecture about playing in the water! i did find it all kind of funny and a little amusing. he's so cute. it's hard to get mad at him. i know you're wondering where i was during his playtime. he usually comes straight to my room when he wakes up if he gets up before me but not today and i never heard him! I'm not a heavy sleeper. i just have a very sneaky, curious 3 yr. old who loves adventure.

since you brought it up.....

do you think that it is wrong to flash your lights at on-coming to traffic to warn them of a speed trap ahead? while i know this is against the law, i don't find any harm or wrong in it. now, if someone were barreling past me going way over the speed limit i probably would not flash my lights at them. but for the " just 5 mph or so over kind of people, i would. i think that they should be warned to slow down. not that they are driving reckless or anything just going a few miles over the speed limit. i would like to be warned!
so i will just tell ya: i m a flasher. i will 9 times out 10 flash my lights to warn others of a speed trap.
i just want to know who else does this? or does not?!?

the few...

while i do still feel the same about my previous blog, i thought i should express gratitude for those that i have in my life that i cherish and could not imagine life without.



first and foremost, GOD. He has been there for me right through it all. even when i was all alone in an empty house or laying on a bathroom floor sobbing. He was there. i can feel His warmth come across my cold heart and body at times when i need Him the very most. when life has seemed to much to bear and when i felt i could go no further, it was God that was there. i know i have failed Him tremendously and my life is nowhere where it should or could be. this however; is between me and the Lord.



secondly, Travis my husband. honestly, it has taken a few Vallie's and storms in our relationship for me to realize just how important he is to me and how much i really do love him. whether Travis agrees with me or not he always has my back. i never question his support. he compliments me daily and reminds me of how much he loves me. this past year was a very difficult year for us and i look forward to new year and a new beginning.



next, my sister-in-law and best friend Stephanie. wow. there is no way to describe our relationship. we value each others differences and can appreciate one another for who we are. no matter what she has stood beside me and was a shoulder for me to lean on. i can always count on her honesty and support. i treasure her since of style ( which i taught her, lol),since of humor, and her sometimes messiness. i love that she is the only one i know who will drop something before the day is over or get something on her clothes, or even better can explode caramel all over the kitchen.



then there is Sonja. we met about 12 years ago. although, we have not been close this whole time, i completely value her friendship. her friendship is not the kind where we have to talk everyday. when we talk it's like we haven't missed a beat. i value her intelligence and wittiness. she has a great work ethic and is great at any thing she does. i swear she should have been a psychologist. she knows exactly what to say and when to say it. Sonja has a way of lighting up your day and just making you feel like there is nothing you can't do or conquer. she has played a huge role in my life over the last couple of years and i would like to say that I'm not sure where i would be without her. thanks Sonja. you're the best.



i have several other friends that i would like to mention there name who have been great and wonderful friends: sheree:i love you & appreciate all that you do and who you are. mark, Austin, Angie, brea, leslie, and Denise. thanks.

can i just vent????

i want to say that sorry if you find any of what you are about to read offensive but it's just the way i feel!

first i can't stand it when people get involved in other people's business that does not concern them in the least! this is a pet peeve of mine. and well, lets just say that i am a little irked right now. secondly, i am bothered by the fact that when these same people go and run there mouth about what they have "heard" or the way they "feel" concerning this other person and it gets back to the person they are talking about, they deny it and say that they didn't say it and all the sudden become the "miss holier than thou". pardon my expression but have you ever met someone like this? they just make me want to laugh in their face b/c quite frankly i find it funny. these kind of people are the very ones that have made more bad decisions to last a lifetime, who has done so much junk it would make a hooker blush; but yet, the very ones who will be the first to throw a stone at you and criticize you. i simply don't understand people like this.

and then what about the kind of people who have something to say but they won't come say it to you personally?!? very peculiar. instead they choose to send you a stupid msg. on my space (hahaha), or they will blog about you but "not about you", or they will just go run there mouth to everybody else about you. i tell ya, there are some strange lil' weirdo's out there!

oh! and what about this one i love it. it's my personal fave.! btw~*~ i am a christian....i am someone who does not have it all together and when you think you do i don't think you can call yourself a christian b/c i will always need the lord and as long as i am living in this messed up world with these messed up people i will never have it all together. i may not live up to your standards but guess what.. you're probably not living up to mine! with that being said, i love it when people claim to be living for god and professing that they are a christian walk around with a look of " i just ate a bowl full of lemons!"and then they size you up and wont speak. some of the very people that i am referring to think that just because they look a certain way or don't go to certain places or however you want to label it that they have it all together. i am sorry but this clearly does not make you a christian and the way you treat people goes a whole lot further than what you wear, where you go or don't go.

a note to self: be kind to others because you never know what they are going through and i don't want to be responsible for being the "straw that broke the camels back". and don't trust a coward! i only have a few true friends. just like my mother said i would! lol. i will choose to love them and never judge them.

new job!

so i am excited that i have a new job! to back track a bit, i must say that i wasn't initially looking for a job. i was happy staying home at home; at least for the summer. but i also wasn't closing off any opportunities if they came my way. which is exactly what happened. while working at the sale i met a new friend, Beckie. she asked me if i were looking for a job after she overheard someone ask me if i would be interested in this school job. while i explained to her that i wasn't necessarily looking, i would be open to something if the $ was good & the hrs. weren't bad. so she began to tell me that she was going to be opening a women's clothing store in the mall in h'ville and that she was going to need a part-time assis. manger.. seeing how most of my experience is in retail & some sort of mngmt. i thought this sounded great and it was PART-TIME! so i went for my interview and had 2 phone interviews w/the dm. and the gm. and alas i got the job!!!

the store opens 9/11. i am excited and am looking forward to a possible career opportunity. it will difficult managing the kids schedule and homework seeing i will be working mostly evenings. but i know that God will help us and work out all of the details.

as a sidebar here : Alexandra made the sound effects team at school{ chorale. and we couldn't be more excited about it! she has many concerts already scheduled and i am probably just as pumped about it as she is. Alexandra loves to sing and she is really great at it. i look forward to seeing what God does with her life!

well...

i did get a few things accomplished after all today. i mailed off some bills and went to the store to pick up a few things. i also managed to print off several pictures for natalies school project that is due next week; but i am happy to say will be turned in a week early! just as a sidebar here, why do kids have projects that they can't do on there on? on the directions for this one particular pjct. it said "parents feel free to help your child". well, of course it says that b/c they know she could not do it by herself!!!!!! urrgggg. just a little aggravating.

so, anyhoo, i also was able to schedule my wonderful mother in law to come clean my house from top to bottom tomorrow while i am at work for a very reasonable charge of $60. we will be gone a lot this weekend and the girls both will be gone most of the weekend so the house will stay clean. which by the way makes me very happy woman! i will also cook dinner tonight. thats right. i am cooking. it has been a few weeks since i have done this. my family will not know what to think! i am also doing a couple of loads of laundry.

i feel MUCH better about my day than i had previously stated. i may not conquered the world to day but i did however; manage to get some important things done. the most important spending some time w/my lil guy whom i haven't seen much of lately!

what do i do....

well, i have a day off today! no where to be, no appts., nothing! so, why i am meandering around? i am just bored. now, don't get me wrong it's nice to not have anything to do or rather anywhere to go. but i like being busy. back to things to do: i have plenty that i could be doing. i could be doing some laundry, dusting-because it looks as if we bought furry furniture, clean my bathrooms, and the list could simply go on. i have worked a lot hours in the past couple of weeks so cleaning my house just doesn't sound like fun right now. now, for those of you who really know me you know this is not typical behavior for me. i love to clean and get some sort of gratification from it. i just don't have it in me today. i want a massage, a vacation- tropical, a nice evening alone w/ my husband, i just want to get away. did i mention i wanted to go on a vacation......

so, that was i bunch of rambling i know but i really am trying to figure out what to do with my day. i feel guilty for sitting down and being on the computer and not doing something PRODUCTIVE ! i just cant muster up the energy. does anyone else ever do this or is it just my obsessive compulsiveness kicking in? i just want to know why i cant lay around and do nothing without feeling guilty and useless.

my house is really not that bad. Travis has done a great job staying on top of things while i have been MIA. it's just dusting and my bathrooms. maybe i could pay someone to come do that tomorrow while i am at work?

pay it forward

this morning was another crazy morning. i, of course, am running a few minutes behind. i drop bryson off at my in-laws (who have been so wonderful to keep bryson while i have been working at the sale), i had to run back home to get a shrug to put over my dress because i was uncomfortable, and by this point i am running about 15 mins. behind. well, i have to get something to eat because once i get to the sale i cant leave and you never know what will be for lunch. so, i go through hardees drive thru. i am getting a little irritated b/c its taking a few mins. longer than i expected and the guy in front of me keeps talking to the lady at the window....uurrrggghhh. doesn't he know that i am in a hurry?!!?! well, then this lady comes out the side door and brings me my food as the car in front of me is driving off...... she says have a nice day the man in front of you just bought your food! mind you, he was with who appeared to be his wife and another couple, so its not like he was hitting on me or anything. so i say omg why?!? that is sooo sweet. the lady then tells me that the man in front of them paid for their meal and so they wanted to pay for mine. well, i was soo excited and overwhelmed i drove off. i then got mad at myself b/c i should have paid for the car behind me. so i said to myself that the next person that i came in contact with i would give them the amount that my food cost. so, as i walked into the sale another lady was walking up and i stopped her and explained what had happened and that i just wanted to pay it forward. the ladies eyes filled with tears as she said well, praise the lord! i said thats exactly what i said.

i then felt great about what i had done but felt guilty for being irritated at the guy who i will probably never see again that bought my meal. what a great life lesson for me today. not to be greedy and do something for someone else other than myself. i will definitely tell the kids tomorrow about this and hope that they will want to go and do something for someone else this weekend. PAY IT FORWARD!

cvs

okay, tonight before church i attempted another cvs trip. i did not take a picture but here is a list of the things i purchased:
1.jumbo huggies diapers 6.box of decorative stickers
2.refill huggies wipes (large bag) 7.bag of dove chocolate
3.4 2 liter cokes 8.vicks cough syrup
4.posterboard
5.sharpie marker

well, after i used a $1 coupon & my $16 in reward bucks i only spent $21.52! this is pretty good considering the diapers & wipes alone were $17! and, i got $2 back in reward bucks and a coupon for a free bottle of hand sanitizer; which they went ahead and let me redeem. and another coupon for $1 off a 20 oz drink! so i would say that i did great on this trip!

wore out!

i finally have a moment to sit & get on the computer so i thought i would blog a bit. let's just say the past week has been very busy and exhausting! i have been working at my good friend brea's consignment sale ENCORES AND MORE NORTH in rivergate. i worked 88 hours in 8 days. this week will probably be about the same. unusually, i really don't mind because i absolutely love it.

i have missed my family though and i really missed my bryson! but there was lots of interesting things that kept me busy and definitely entertained while at the sale.

1. of course brea. she is seriously like the only person i know; other than my late grandfather, who has a story about everything! and they aren't boring. she is one of the funniest people i know. so we who work at the sale are constantly laughing.
2.brea and i had to clean up some old ladies "poo"!! the lady seriously had an accident on herself and we had to clean it up. we wore toilet paper around our faces and gagged and laughed the whole time.
3.on the not so funny side but some of the other wild things that happened...one of the workers little girls fell and had to get stitches right as we were opening for the public. it was very sad. brea's hubby was in a car accident. the car hit a telephone pole and went over rivergate pkwy. and hit another van! luckily, no one was hurt.
4.bryson had to get shots! so sad. he didn't even cry.

well, this has been my very eventful week. tune in for more later.
i will be posting pics. soon.

cvs trip

today i attempted my first cvs trip. i recently read a friend of mines blog where she was shopping at cvs and was saving crazy $$$$ by using mnfr. coupons and cvs reward bucks. well, i'm not sure if i did as great as she did but for my first trip i feel pretty good about it.

for starters i don't usually buy this much medicine but with winter coming up and i had some great coupons plus, cvs had them on sale; i couldn't resist. i wont go into full detail but i spent $113.00 and i got $16.00 back in reward bucks. i thought this was reasonable considering i got diapers, toilet paper, 4 toothbrushes, toothpaste, band aids, 2 diswashing soap, 2 hand soap pumps,flinstones vits., one a days for me, benadryl, listerine, lotion, baby powder, lysol, tylenol sinus, alieve, 4 cases of coke, 1 case of dasani water, and finally 2 boxes of light bulbs.

now at first i thought oh my lord! i spent too much! but after looking at everything i got i feel like i saved $$$. the things i bought are not things i have to buy weekly and most not even monthly. so for $113.00 for over a months worth of stuff i feel great about my purchase!

the ride

o-kay, i just went to Holiday World w/a group of married couples from church and we had a great time! the weather was hot and the lines were long but isn't that what amusement parks are all about?!



now to my story....



the last 9 months of my life have been a time of testing, trails, failures, regrets, and sadly a huge disappointment to God.



Themed around the classic Halloween story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Legend roller coaster is located in the hilly, wooded terrain of Holiday World's Halloween section.as The Legend races through the woods as if chased in terror by the relentless Headless Horseman. they warn the riders: Don't look back!The Legend features a series of dramatic drops, including three major drops of 113 feet and 64 feet, plus spiral drop of 77 feet, a double helix, and multiple crossovers with existing rides. The coaster also thunders through four tunnels, including an underground tunnel.



now all of that may seem like useless knowledge of an amusement park ride but it describes my life lately. as i was riding the before mentioned coaster these thoughts came to me. trucking up the long hill in anticipation of the unknown of whats ahead and what you are about to encounter. this was my life BEFORE the trail came. i was excited about life and living for God and working for His kingdom. and then i topped the hill. i could see the huge drop in front of me but it was too late before i could say no and get off the ride of life i was zooming down a hill that turned into a valley. in this valley there have been turns and more hills to climb just to plumitt back down again and dark tunnels that were so cold and lonely;i tried to pray during these times of traveling but i was weak, bruised, shaken up, and not to mention afraid. i had only hoped for a good friend to appear and hold my hand through this ride and say everything will be o-kay ...i will ride with you. i'm sure i had a few that offered to ride with me but because of my pride or possibly embarassment i chose to ride alone.



it has been long, hard, rough, bumpy, and scary ride. i am ready to get off of this ride now. i am ready to regain my life back. i am ready to have my new beginning. thank-you to my true friends who have had to sadly watch my life spin out of control but still stood by me. most of all, thank you Lord, for your endless mercy and grace.