The thoughts of a Texas Belle..

Thanksgiving - Day 12

2010-11-17T09:37:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving - Day 11

2010-11-16T08:34:00.002-06:00

I am super thankful for the rain even if it does make it hard to get out of the house and has a tendency to try and make a day gloomy!

Thanksgiving - Day 10

2010-11-16T08:33:00.000-06:00

I am so very thankful for the mess that is my house! Not only does it mean I have a house but it also means I have a daughter who loves to and is able to play and run around and create such a mess.

Thanksgiving - Day 9

2010-11-12T07:40:00.000-06:00

I am so super thankful for these two people. They are two of my closest friends and I don't know what I would do without them.

Thanksgiving - Day 8

2010-11-11T15:40:00.000-06:00

I am very thankful for my grandmother!!!

Thanksgiving - Day 7

2010-11-10T09:04:00.000-06:00

I am thankful for Ben's grandmother and for Mia's great-grandma! She is so sweet and caring.

Thanksgiving - Day 6

2010-11-09T08:21:00.000-06:00

I am very thankful for my beautiful sister-in-laws and super proud of all the have accomplished and are accomplishing!

Thanksgiving - Day 5

2010-11-08T08:32:00.000-06:00

I am so thankful for my wonderful in-laws!

Thanksgiving - Day 5

2010-11-07T07:24:00.000-06:00

I am super thankful for my awesome brothers and sisters. They have taught me a lot over the years and put up with "meanie ashley" more than they should have had to. LOL I love each and every one of them dearly and am so very proud of all they have accomplished!
(Yes, I know this picture is like 2 years old but unfortunately...it was the last one taken of all of us together - sad, i know)

Thanksgiving - Day 3

2010-11-06T11:25:00.003-05:00

I am so thankful for my sweet mother, SRS. She is a lovely lady with so many talents!

Thanksgiving - Day 2

2010-11-05T08:18:00.000-05:00

I am so thankful for my precious little girl. She is my sunshine and the most persistent teacher there is. LOL Her favorite lesson to teach is PATIENCE! One that I hope she herself will acquire soon. Mia is an absolute joy and I am so honored and humbled by the chance to teach her and raise her to succeed in this world.

Thanksgiving - Day 1

2010-11-04T09:40:00.000-05:00

I am super thankful for my amazing husband who challenges me every day to continue to question things in life and to grow from them. He is ever patient with me and I know even if he isn't right by my side he is with me.

November - The month to dwell on things you are thankful for

2010-11-04T09:38:00.000-05:00

Have you noticed how stores have started putting out Christmas decorations as early as the day after Halloween??? What ever happened to Thanksgiving? As a society we are so adept at dwelling on the negative isn't it even that much more important that we celebrate or at least think about Thanksgiving? To do my part I am going to (try) to post a picture every day this month showing something I'm thankful for. I encourage you to do the same! Let's take back Thanksgiving and let Christmas wait it's turn!

Reflections of Motherhood

2010-09-18T11:04:00.000-05:00

I would say: "Just breathe - no matter what it is you can do it!"

More Tie Dye

2010-09-13T13:52:00.000-05:00

Today's sewing project

2010-09-12T21:32:00.001-05:00

I started with a man's dress shirt (thrift store $2) and left over fabric from the dress (thrift store $8) I used to make Mia's halloween costume from:

and ended as a long shirt and pants set:

My beautiful little girl wearing it:

Tie Dye!!!

2010-09-12T19:44:00.001-05:00

Three shirts I did for Mia and I have three onesies processing...

Front and Back Bulls Eye Design:

Front and Back Line Design:

Front and Back Swirl Design:

Mia's 2010 Halloween Costume

2010-09-11T18:02:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine and I went thrift store shopping and I found this amazing dress for only $8.00 to use to make Mia's costume.

Here is what I began with:

So I decided to make her a fairy costume.

Here is the front and back of the bodice: It sits just off her shoulders without being constrictive:

Here is the skirt right after first fitting... since then I have added more flowers and cut the length in half:

Last but not least my very uncooperative model with her wings added on:

I will add more pics when I get her to put it on and model it for real - of course that might be halloween. LOL

Latest Sewing Projects

2010-08-30T15:49:00.000-05:00

I was finally able to get my sewing machine fixed and have become a bit obsessive with making Mia clothes. O:) Here are a couple of the ones that I have made.

Kimono and Shorts

Pillow Case Dress

Top and Pants

Pillow Case Dress

Why don't I blog as often anymore?

2010-08-15T09:55:00.002-05:00

This article is a great explanation! LOL

Latest Artwork

2010-07-27T18:56:00.000-05:00

Painting Finished

2010-07-09T15:07:00.001-05:00

My latest project

2010-07-09T12:51:00.000-05:00

I decided to try and teach myself to draw/paint. :) I have done two pieces so far...

I call it "stained glass window":

and the one I am currently working on for a friend (sketching, inking done, now I just have to paint it):

The Koi Fish one I drew by hand but used a picture to sort of go by - so it's not a totally original idea but it is an original drawing. :)

Got to love stress relieving art!!!

You know you are having a bad day when...

2010-06-22T13:10:00.002-05:00

you buy starbucks coffee and when trying to put the straw in it breaks which in turn makes you cry...

Outdoor Playdate Scare

2010-06-21T16:22:00.000-05:00

One of my mom's groups favorite places to take the kiddos is Bridgestreet and let them play in the fountains and then maybe get frozen yogurt or lunch afterward. Well, this last week we had a HUGE scare. More than ten of the kiddos got Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease and the only common denominator was the fountains. One of the other moms called Bridgestreet and asked a few key questions - "Is the water chlorinated?" and "How often are the fountains cleaned?"... The property manager's office could not answer these questions - the most they could say was "Yes, the water is chlorinated, but I'm not sure how often." Needless to say in my opinion those fountains are out for playdates. Thank goodness Mia was not one of the ones that got sick, but two of the kiddos ended up in the hospital. I was actually frustrated with Mia that day cuz she wouldn't play in the water and kept trying to run off... now I'm like HURRAY! I feel terrible for the other moms and their kiddos. So note to anyone with kids in the Huntsville area - be very leary about those fountains...

Mom's Group Drama

2010-06-15T12:23:00.000-05:00

I have mentioned that I have been taking Mia to playdates about 4 out of 5 days a week. It helps both of us - course it makes my cleaning/laundry schedule be constantly behind - but hey - isn't sanity more important than clean underwear? LOL
Anyways...since I joined this mom's group there are 3 moms in particular that I hang with several times a week - I'll call them the Rebel (she has the coolest tattoos on her ear), the Bookworm (she has a Phd) and the Sorority Girl (or Mean Girl or Gossip Girl - you know the type I'm referring to). Generally we have lots of fun together - now the Rebel just had a baby so she will be home for a while, so lately it's just been me, Bookworm (B) and Sorority Girl (SG). The more time I spend with B and SG I notice that SG in particular absolutely relishes gossip and drama. That's all she talks about and it's started getting on my nerves, mainly because I don't understand what you accomplish by talking about other people behind their backs. I haven't said anything about it - I just haven't been joining into those conversations. Well today SG completely snubbed me!!! Mia and I get to the playdate and I'm getting Mia into the fountain and I say hi to SG and she doesn't reply - I figure she just didn't hear me - a couple minutes later she says hi to Mia and I say hi back and she just ignores me. Then when we all went to get iced coffee and cool off she spent the whole time interrupting me, talking over me, etc. I was appalled. I'm not sure how to handle it. What I do know though is that I don't want to start any drama - I almost mentioned it to B when we were alone, but then I decided against it.
But hey - one bad experience out of the last 4 months - that's a pretty good record I would think. It will be interesting to see how the next playdate we are both at goes...

Woohoo!

2010-06-12T18:21:00.000-05:00

Today was an exceptional day! We got up, go ready and went shopping for our trips at the end of this month. Ben got most of what he needs and I tried on bathing suits and got some gel inserts for my tennis shoes! Having now looked at multiple placed and tried on several bathing suits I have pretty much decided against buying one. I want to be comfortable on the beach and at this point I haven't found a bathing suit I would be comfortable in so I think I'm just going to take cute dresses for while we are out and about and my shorts and some tank tops for the beach... Who says you HAVE to wear a suit? I'm not getting in the water so what does it matter? Comfort matter more - me, my book, maraleigh (my ipod) and an alcoholic beverage - that's all I need! Well, and my awesome friends who are going with me of course!
My mom and I hosted a graduation party for two of my sisters today (one high school and one college) and it went well. I am super proud of myself because I was exceptionally nice to my exstep-father and his wife! Score for me!!! The party went much better than I assumed all though because it was a bit last minute none of E's or A's friends were able to come, which was a big bummer. It was pretty much just family and a couple of their teachers.
Now to put the baby to bed, crack open a bottle of wine and relax!

Zumba

2010-06-11T14:45:00.000-05:00

Thanks to my awesome neighbor I have started taking Zumba classes. I had my first one last night and boy let me tell ya - it kicked my butt!!! It was awesome though! It is all different dances and is tons of fun! Ben and I have also been taking Mia hiking - we are hoping to go again tonight. Last time she lasted for 4 miles riding on her daddy's back! We got an amazing pack for her at Unclaimed Baggage for like 1/3 of the original price and she seems to enjoy it! I am really trying to get in the swing of exercising. As most girls complain - I can't stand the way I look - if I could shed some of this weight I would have tons of clothes to wear! LOL
Ben and I are both starting to gather things for our upcoming trips - 14 days!!! I went and braved the world of bathing suits today and was knocked out by the prices that the department stores charge! I did find a really cute one that I like and is 40% off (and get this - it's colorful - not my usual black!) but I want to check Target first...
Mia seems to be doing a little better with her tantrums - time out doesn't really seem to be working so I'm trying another approach - the hold and talk soothingly approach... wish me luck. I swear babies start a new phase every other day!!!
I'm hoping to get my house under control this weekend - between shopping for E and A's graduation party, setting up and hosting the grad party and zumba...oh and Mia. LOL Playdates are great but they are wrecking havoc on my cleaning/laundry schedule. Thankfully I have an amazing husband who understands - or at least makes me think he does. hahaha! I did manage to shovel out our bedroom yesterday so that helped my mood a lot.

Political Talk - Beware!

2010-06-02T07:37:00.001-05:00

And so I enter with my soap box in hand. I see the vast number of people on the web, I set my box down and step up on to it. "I will do my best to keep this brief," I say, "but there are a couple answers that I seek."

1. Why in the world did only 52,117 out of 319,510 (July 08) Madison County, AL residents take a few minutes to drive to their polling places and cast their vote?? I understand that this is just a primary, but did they not want a say in who will be in the final race in November? If the little old ladies who can barely walk can get on the bus from their nursing home and come vote - where were the other people?

2. Why can't there be a more fair balloting system. In this I mean because I declared democrat there were certain races (such as Sheriff of Madison County) that I did not get to vote on because there were only two republicans running. I should have been able to cast my vote! The only reason I declare dem is because you are required to declare something. I don't vote by party, I vote by candidate.

So there I have asked my questions and I wonder what response I will get if any... Politics are always a tricky and sometimes very irritating subject! LOL

What a weekend...

2010-06-01T12:08:00.001-05:00

This was one crazy but fun weekend! Last night was probably my favorite night. Ben worked on the speakers he is building while J and I sat down in the basement with him sipping wine and reading. Fabulous!
I am getting super excited about my beach trip at the end of this month. 3 days of sitting on the beach doing nothing! The same weekend Ben will be backpacking and Mia is going to stay with my mom. We will all have a blast!
We started time out training today... Mia liked the mat so much that when her 2 minutes were up she didn't want to leave it - instead she sat there trying to pick the flowers off. :-P

The moment a child is born,
the mother is also born.
She never existed before.
The woman existed, but the mother, never.
A mother is something absolutely new.
~Rajneesh

FISHIES!!!!

2010-05-30T07:17:00.004-05:00

Our trip to the Tennessee Aquarium was a total blast!!! We met two other families from my moms group there (our daughters are all about the same age) and made a day of it. We didn't get to take a bunch of pictures because it was just too crowded. Ben (being the amazing photo man he is) has a lens that is super fast and works great in darker places without needing a flash but it has no zoom. With all the people there it was impossible to get in position to get pictures. But oh well! In the end we just put the camera up and enjoyed Mia! She was amazing! We didn't make it all the way through both aquariums (they have a salt water one and a fresh water one) but it's okay - we have a membership now so we can go back any time!

I made Mia a time out mat last night. We have decided (I think I might have mentioned this earlier) that we are going to try time outs for tantrums. At this point I just can't logically spank her for them - I compare it to spanking a child for crying...however, if the mat doesn't work then we will be back to the drawing board. But that worry is for another time. I got an old fashion dial timer and we will begin today with the training. Somehow I have a feeling for the next week or so I'm going to spend a lot of time sitting on the floor in the dining room for 2 minute increments...

We have lots of fun playdates set up for this week including trying to take Mia to the movies for the first time. If you didn't know Monaco is doing free movies this summer for Moms and their kiddos. We are going to see the Bee Movie and see how she does. It should be interesting. :)

Today Ben starts training for his backpacking trip at the end of June. We are all going to go hiking up on Monte Sano with Mia in a pack on his back. Strength building for sure! LOL

It's not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can't tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it, myself. ~Joyce Maynard

Another day

2010-05-28T12:05:00.004-05:00

Okay, so I'm mostly over my break down the other night. :-P I have calmed down, found my center and am rolling with the punches - of course the process has completely exhausted me. LOL
We are talking about implementing "time out" for tantrums. I found out that you can get a "time out mat" online that shows the kids a timer, etc. It looks really cool - just waiting on daddy approval. :) Of course my creative side says - why don't I get a timer and a yoga mat and make one myself and let Mia help me decorate it. But then I thought that might be a little mean - "here Mia, let's do a craft. It's for your time outs." LOL
As for myself I am just going to have to learn to not let the little things bother me so much. Stress isn't good for me or Mia and it certainly doesn't help the situation!
In other news - we are taking Mia to the Tennessee Aquarium tomorrow!!! AND we get to get a year membership. Ridiculously enough it will only be $35 more to get the membership. As much as Mia loves fish I am sure we will go more than once - with the admission price we only have to go twice to have more than paid for the membership.
We are also thinking about starting an aquarium for her for birthday number two. We were at a playdate the other day and they had a small one and all Mia wanted to do was stand there and watch the fish! :)
HEY - idea! Maybe we could put the time out mat by the aquarium?!?

Being a mom...

2010-05-26T17:55:00.003-05:00

...is so hard some days. I mean it's hard most days just with all the "am I doing this right?" and other questions that you can't help but think. But some days are just so much harder than others. Days that make you (or at least me) want to just hide and cry until there are absolutely no more tears left.
Up until about 3 months ago Mia was the most laid back, cheerful baby in the universe. Some days she would play by herself for hours on end. But all that has changed especially these last two weeks. She has evidently hit the "terrible twos". That and I was sick/laid up for a month, her daddy has had an insane work schedule and hasn't usually home before her bedtime on top of "loosing" her paci.
Yesterday and today have been the hardest days yet. She has become obsessed with television - generally she gets to watch 30 minutes a day - so I can shower in peace. Well, while I was sick my little sis watched her and understandably so let her watch a lot more television than normal. Now I swear that is all she thinks about. So I have taken all of it away. Either way she throws a tantrum.
Up until now I have been very particular about discipline. I prefer to use words of praise, soft voices and then if necessary a stern voice when she doesn't obey. Which has worked. Now it doesn't do a blessed thing. But how far do I go with a new type of discipline? Is she just acting out because I was sick for such a long period of time or is this her new demeanor? I am completely at a loss and it causes all kinds of doubts in myself. Today I actually put her in her bed and shut her door and just let her scream. After fighting with her for 4 hours, (since 5 in the morning) I was done in. I had gone through the usual checklist even given her tylenol, tried carrying her around the house, tried sitting with her, tried playing with her - nothing made a difference she was still upset and would throw a tantrum about every little thing.
I finally took her to a playdate thinking - well, if she gets out of the house maybe that will help. HA!
I told one of the other mothers who asked if I was okay cuz I wasn't perky (LOL) that no - if it wasn't for the dosage of anti-depressants I am on I would be in hysterics. I was literally having to speak in a low tone just to keep myself in control.
I do not spank Mia for tantrums...I just don't see how logically she would put the two together. I do chastise her for "acting ugly". Now I'm having to rethink everything. I know discipline, schedule and the like are supposed to "roll with the punches" cuz our kids are constantly learning and maturing, but my goodness! Talk about being overwhelmed. Some days I just can't help but feel that I'm not cut out for this whole motherhood thing. Where is my grace? Where is dinner at 5:30? Where is my clean house? Where did my sweet little child go?
I keep reminding myself that this too is a phase - but you know - sometimes words just don't work.
All I can think right now is "Holy Cow if she is this strong willed at 21 months what will she be like at 16?? and how do I fix it now?!??

Playing in the Fountains

2010-05-25T13:40:00.002-05:00

I took Mia to Bridgestreet to meet some friends so the girls could play in the fountains today. We had fun. Of course neither of the girls would get in the water but it was still cute to watch them trying to interact with the other little kids. After a bit of time there we headed to the food court for some yummy sushi!!! I got Mia her first roll (a cucumber roll) which she wouldn't touch - the little stinker!!!
Joining a moms group is by far one of the best things I have done lately! Having the option to get out of the house each day (if i want) and be with other moms and their kids has been so wonderful. I have met some pretty awesome ladies and am super excited about all of it.
Life continues as crazy as always. Being a parent is hard - harder on some days then others! We are in the process of breaking Mia from her paci which is going pretty well actually. Although the whole separation anxiety thing isn't getting any better yet. I just keep reminding myself - this too will pass... One day I will look back wishing that she wanted me to hold her all the time. LOL
I finally met our neighbor across the street and she and I have been hanging out. We have been trying to go walk together every evening but it hasn't happened what with my being sick for a month. But now that I'm all better I hope the weather holds so we can start it up again!
Ben and I are both going on vacations next month!!! Ben is going with a guy friend backpacking for the three days that I will be on the beach with two of my best gals! We are both super excited! Mia is going to be staying with my mom and siblings - so I'm sure she will have a blast also!
Don't forget to check out Mia's blog - I'll be posting new pics!

New Photo Blog

2010-05-24T20:00:00.003-05:00

Hi! I have joined the best moms group in the world and we have started a photo club... completely amateur but it's a way to show our love for photography. Please check us out here. and leave comments!!! Each assignment is completely up for interpretation whether it be literal or whimsical! I hope you enjoy!!!

Coupons

2010-02-25T13:39:00.001-06:00

Today was my first time of serious grocery shopping after spending a week collecting coupons and planning our meals around them, etc. I saved $35.77!!!! Woohoo!!!

February 25, 2010

2010-02-25T07:50:00.004-06:00

Dear Blog:
Okay, so you know how I said yesterday that I still have some bad days. Well, this is trying to be one of them. So far my morning has sucked. I feel like crap. BUT all will be well, I'll kick it! :)

The pictures to the left are some of my latest artsy projects. Ben has lots of cutoffs from the wood working he has been doing so I picked them up and started painting them for Mia's room. :) The shelf is one that Ben built her for the precious moments figurines that my mom has been getting Mia. I also hand sewed a baby blanket yesterday. What would have taken about 30 minutes on my sewing machine took me about 4 hours of interrupted work. :) Mia kept trying to sit on my fabric. LOL I gave her the scrap pieces to try and distract her, but NOO she wanted what I was laying out, cutting, pinning and eventually sewing. It was too funny.

My baby bro spent the night with us last night so that he and Ben could continue working on the model car they are building. They got it completely put together so now all that is left is painting! Woohoo! Sam also came over last night and hung out with us for a while. All in all it was a fun night.

Sincerely,
Tex ~*~

February 24, 2010

2010-02-24T12:49:00.003-06:00

Dear Blog:

These last few weeks I have been doing some serious soul searching. However hard it was it was definitely worth it. I found out some things about myself that I certainly did not like and can't believe were buried in my psyche.

I realized that in my quest not to be a drama queen or a victim instead I was burying the feelings and rather than conquering them I was allowing them to sabotage very important areas in my life. I have always suffered from depression - since my teens and never have understood why I couldn't overcome it. My life was not bad - especially compared to some. I would take the meds for a while, start feeling better, go off of them, and start back all over. Same old song, different date.

In all my soul searching I realized that my M.O. was to take a situation that made me unhappy and exaggerate it - maybe to get pity, who knows - but that is how I was granting myself victim status subconsciously. I realized I am 51% strong, reliable, responsible Ashley and 49% victim, sabotaging Ashley. It's scary to realize that the things we think we are trying the hardest to conquer can be the ones that actually manifest themselves in our life another way until we look for it.

I can honestly say that even though it's really hard to realize this about myself in a way it has been freeing. Since I started this search I feel so much better mentally, emotionally and even physically (I do still have bad days, but they are so much easier to bounce back from). I'm not having a hard time getting out of bed. I have the energy to clean my house every day (thanks to my awesome cleaning schedule I have been able to maintain a clean house for 3 weeks now!). I don't resent the times when Mia doesn't take a nap (now don't get me wrong, it is still frustrating and stressful at times, but I have a different outlook on it).

Everything isn't fixed and my life is still far from perfect (what is perfect anyway? honestly, I'm fine with normal. HAHAHA). I have a lot more to work on and I doubt I will ever completely finish it, as it is something that will take a dedication to work on every day of my life. But knowing what is there and establishing the fact that I do indeed have to consciously work on it every day has brought a peace to my every day life that no medicine ever could.

I am so thankful every day for my kind, caring and understanding husband. Goodness knows I have (and will) put him through the ringer. Without him I would never have had the strength to do this.

Sincerely,
Tex ~*~

February 16, 2010

2010-02-16T09:56:00.002-06:00

Dear Blog:
Today is going to be a marvelous day! My morning has already been slightly productive with a lot more productivity to come. Due to some great suggestions on my HMMT message board I have been able to organize my housework in such a way that I don't get overwhelmed and the entire house is still cleaned. :)
I broke the house down by days of the week and then coordinated the laundry to go with the rooms that are being cleaned that day. This is only my second week of doing it and whereas I haven't mastered it yet it seems like it will work really well. The rooms that no one sees and therefore get cleaned rarely are in the line up - such as my bedroom. :)
Mia seems to be in a much better mood today which is positively lovely!
So back to my housework. Toodles!

February 15, 2010

2010-02-15T18:50:00.003-06:00

Dear Blog:
Remember me? Yeah, yeah I know it's been forever. But guess what?!? The housemate has moved out!!!! We now have our "office back"!!!

We have been doing tons of stuff in the basement. Ben has a veritable wood shop down there now and we are working on a "craft" area for me! Whoopi!!

I got to take Mia out and let her play in the snow this last week - it was adorable! Here is my favorite picture!

Valentine's was nice and low key. Ben and I aren't actually celebrating until the end of this month. Mia is going to stay with his parents for 3 days and 2 nights!!! Woohoo!!!

So that's about it for now. Toodles!

December 22, 2009

2009-12-23T18:35:00.002-06:00

Dear Blog:

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve!!!! We are going to have our little family Christmas tomorrow morning because we are going to Ben's parents for dinner and the Christmas service tomorrow night and then back over for brunch and presents Christmas morning. We are going to Arkansas with my family Sunday through Tuesday to celebrate Christmas with my grandmother. Needless to say the next few days will be quite busy.

Today was a pretty good day. Housemate, Mia and I drove Jamie to Birmingham so she could catch the train to her mom's for Christmas. It was a bit of a scary place!!! Poor Jamie ended up having to stay there alone for over an hour because her train ended up leaving really late.

Ben has Mia's big Christmas present playing music!!! Just a few more hours and it will be complete. I'm hoping to be able to paint it tomorrow night after we get back. We have so far loaded 6 Beatles songs, some Cowboy Mouth and various other musicians and random sounds. :)

I still need to bake cookies for Ben's sisters' boyfriends and reprint the pictures for Ben's grandparents and then I am all ready! woohoo!

Happy Holidays!

~Tex

December 22, 2009

2009-12-22T13:08:00.002-06:00

Dear Blog:

Yesterday was a fantastic day! I hosted my first HMMT event and one mom, "S", brought her adorable daughter, "A". We had a great time. I am very excited that I met her as she seems very down to earth and nice. I am hoping to be able to get together with her more - we seem to have compatible interests and she lives relatively close by! A was very shy and Mia didn't know what to do about that. She was so cute - going up to A trying to give her toys and hug her.

We are still working away on Mia's big christmas present - or I guess I should say Ben is. Bless his heart he was up 'til the wee hours of the morning working on the coding. Hopefully I will get to start painting tomorrow. Something really cool and unplanned happened with it - the screws Ben put in on the side are almost an outline of a butterfly!!!! So my painting plans have changed and I'm going to paint a large butterfly using the screw pattern on each side.

Today is going well. Very low key. My house is still clean from yesterday so I'm focusing on laundry. :)

Someone posted this as their facebook status and I had to include it cuz it is so perfect for me right now.
"i guess when it comes down to it everything happens for a reason, so smile through the tears, laugh at the pain, and love what you have not what you want."

Sincerely,
Tex ~*~

December 21, 2009

2009-12-21T08:31:00.001-06:00

Dear Blog:
It's going to be a great day!!!!

Sincerely,
Tex ~*~

December 19, 2009

2009-12-19T23:43:00.001-06:00

Dear Blog:

How is it that you can sit in a crowded room and still feel completely alone? How is it that you can set your mind to being positive and still get brought down by the stupidest of things? Is it that subconsciously I want drama in my life? That I want to be felt sorry for? That I want the people around me to notice and ask questions?

All this is buzzing around in my head. I had a fun afternoon. Went shopping with a girlfriend of mine that I hadn't seen in a long time and then I come home and am overcome by doubts. Explain this to me... Am I my own worst enemy?

I am so confused.

Sincerely,
Tex ~*~

December 18, 2009

2009-12-18T11:57:00.003-06:00

Dear Blog:
The last couple of days have been hard. On top of everything else I seem to have a sinus thing going on. Great, huh? LOL I am feeling much more positive though. One week until Christmas!!! Woohoo!!! Monday I am hosting an event at my house and have a ton to do beforehand, but it's okay - I'm not going to stress. I am going to enjoy getting ready for it - I'm determined! :) I am going out with a friend I haven't seen in a while tomorrow which I am really excited about. I am working on rolling with the punches and taking life for just that - life. Tough times come and go but your family is always there.

Sincerely,
Tex ~*~

December 15, 2009 - Post 2

2009-12-15T18:29:00.003-06:00

Dear Blog:

Today has been a really lonely and sad day. As you notice I deleted my ranting post earlier, not wanting to hurt any feelings any more than I already had. I haven't felt this bottomed out in a while and it totally started over my getting upset that someone else was upset about something I thought they didn't have a right to be upset about... wow! now that couldn't have been any more confusing, could it? I feel useless and like a failure. I stay at home all day and yet my house never feels like it is clean, the laundry never caught up. On days like today it is so hard to focus on the positive. I just want to crawl under the blankets and cry - but I have no tears left. I feel alone and like I'm in a dark cave that I can't find my way out of. Ben has been gone a lot lately and I know that's part of it, but if that is the case where is the independent person I used to pride myself in being?! Where have I gone? Am I so hidden that I can't even find a piece of me? My heart hurts. I feel as if I can't live up to anyone's expectations no matter how hard I try - not even my own. I wish for the days when I would go into work, sit down at my perfectly organized desk and be handed a "coreyized" document and could make sense of it and type it just right. I wish for the days when my other boss "L" would come to me, give me a file and I would know exactly what to do. I hate feeling so lost. I want "me" back. I want to feel confident. I want to feel like I know what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. I want to be a happy, chipper person... why don't I feel like that any more? As I type this the tears begin to fall. This is not me, this is not who I want to be - how do I find my way out of the darkness?

2009-12-15T09:18:00.003-06:00

December 14, 2009

2009-12-14T18:28:00.003-06:00

Dear Blog:

Mondays, mondays, mondays. They are always a long day for me. Ben is bowling tonight and I'm sitting here watching "Black Dahlia" and playing Mafia Wars. I got most of the presents wrapped and arranged under our Christmas shrub today. :) Yipee!!! Only 11 days until Christmas! I have the kiddos Wednesday and Thursday and then I'm off for two weeks. Ben has the entire week after christmas off! HURRAY! We head to Arkansas on the 27th for a couple days so Mia will finally meet her great-grandmother on my side. :) I can't wait for them to meet! I don't have much going on word wise today so I'm going to go ahead and sign off.

Sincerely,
Tex ~*~

December 12, 2009

2009-12-12T20:26:00.002-06:00

Dear Blog:
I'm sitting here playing on the computer as Ben and Housemate "kill zombies" also known as playing Left 4 Dead 2. Today was a pretty good day. Ben, Mia and I spent the day together just chilling. It is always a great day when the three of us can just be home together. It seems we are always soo incredibly busy. Tonight is going to be a late night as we are having game night! Everyone is coming over pretty late though... We are planning on learning how to play a new game called "Settlers of Catan" (i think that's what it is called). As always it ought to be full of laughs and goofy conversations.

Just a short conversation tonight. Remember - it's the little things in life that really count.

Sincerely,
Tex ~*~

December 11, 2009

2009-12-11T17:57:00.002-06:00

Dear Blog:
Happy Friday!!! Honestly, today has been a hard day. I have felt on edge just about the whole time. I was awake most of the night for no reason at all and then Mia decided she was going to get up and stay up at about 4:45 this morning. So of course she was completely off schedule all day. I did take her to a playdate and we had an okay time. I'm just not sure I fit in with the moms group that I joined... They all seem older than me and more stable or something. I go to the outings and I just feel like an outsider - I haven't really connected with anyone. Part of it is I am completely intimidated by them. They all seem so perfect, so well put together and all the houses I have visited can only be described one way - Grand. Interior Designer grand. I am actually hosting an event a week from Monday and all I can think about is how sad my house will look compared to theirs... Maybe I'll get lucky and the moms that come to my "event" will actually be down to earth... Because in all honesty I love my house. Yes, it's full of hand me down furniture and there is still tape on the walls from where we haven't finished painting and at the moment there are no pictures on the walls because of the painting, but it's my home. It's where I get to spend precious time with my husband and my baby girl. Where we laugh with friends, drink too much, get too loud, cook awesome food and just be... Above all it's Mine. No one helped us with it - we have worked for it and all that it holds...
I'm pretty sure my bad mood is caused mostly from just being exhausted - sometimes I feel like I will never be untired again. LOL
So I'm not going to stay on here and spread negativity. I have great hopes for the weekend... we are having a game night with some of our friends on Saturday night and Jamie is coming to hang out while Ben is at his parent's on Sunday.
For now, I'm going to drink my glass of wine and play Mafia Wars...

Sincerely,
Tex ~*~

December 9, 2009

2009-12-10T09:25:00.003-06:00

Dear Blog:

Today was a good day. HG was gracious enough to agree to babysit Mia for me today so Jamie and I could finish up some more Christmas shopping. Seth tagged along much to his dismay. LOL Our trip was quite successful! Seth even got hit on by a sweet elderly lady at Belk. Bless his heart his face turned red as a beet as she told him he was "just absolutely gorgeous!" It was quite adorable. I found Mia some really cool building blocks at Ross that are faux wood - actually made of foam so they can be played with virtually anywhere. So far she has enjoyed carrying the bag around by the handle the most. LOL At the mall they had an Alabama kiosk and I could just not resist getting Mia a little pink t-shirt that says "Touchdown Alabama!" on it... We have taught her to hold her arms up in the air when we say Touchdown! It is one of the most awesome things ever.

A really funny "it's a small world" moment happened while we were at Ross. We were checking out and somehow mustaches came up and the cashier mentioned that she loved mustaches. Jamie told her that I had found some awesome mustache fabric and had made pillows with it for my friend, Ariana because she likes them too. The cashier (we'll call her K) says - Ariana Turner? And I was like "yeah"! Come to find out K is married to someone from Ariana's past. BTW, Ariana - K said to tell you she doesn't think you are a psycho - he is. Message given. :) K was saying how she read Ariana's blog and I was like "well, I'm TexasBelle on her blog roll" and K goes "I've read your blog too then!!!" The whole conversation was too funny!!!!

Tonight HG, Jamie and I hung out and watched "Red Mist" which has our current favorite male actor, Andew-Lee Potts (Hatter in Alice), in it. It was a creepy movie for sure! Tomorrow it is just going to be Mia and me! Amongst tons of long over due housework we are going to have some awesome girl time!

Jamie and I couldn't resist going ahead and exchanging Christmas presents as I accidentally saw mine. She got me some amazing Texas Longhorn glasses and a fabulous long sleeve Iron Bowl Champions t-shirt. Yes, I am just a little obsessed with football. :) I got her some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sleep pants as she loved them when she was a wee kiddo.

I think I have concluded all the Christmas shopping except for getting some pictures developed and Ben getting his dad's present (whom he drew in the Dyer secret santa). Hurray! The building of Mia's table is going great. Ben worked on it more last night and the buttons came in too! We are almost to the putting it together stage then we will paint it and Ben will wire it all up. Cross your fingers for us - time is going fast!

Sincerely,
Tex ~*~

December 8, 2009

2009-12-08T22:29:00.002-06:00

Dear Blog:

Trivia!!! Housemate has an XBox 360 so we are sitting here playing 1 vs. 100. Multiple choice trivia is my favorite! We are doing pretty good.

Today was a bit of a trial. Mia had a burr in her diaper or something for sure. She was totally fine this morning and then she woke up from her afternoon nap and did nothing but fuss and throw fits. It definitely took every ounce of patience I had. I think one of the hardest parts of being a mom is knowing something is wrong but not being able to figure out what it is or how to fix it. :/

Ben spent the evening at his parents working on Mia's christmas present. He got all the pieces cut out and the top drilled. Her buttons should be here in the next couple of days! He has already finished soldering the board - he was able to do it at work on his lunch hour.

Tomorrow the kiddos will be here and J is hanging out here too since she is off work. I can't wait for the girls to see the second half of Alice. It ended fantastically!!! As soon as it comes out on DVD, provided it does, I am sooo buying it. We have it saved on the DVR and I have a feeling it won't be deleted for a while. Other than that I am just planning on spending as much time with Mia as possible to get her out of this funk, laundry and the usual housework.

Time to get back to trivia!!!

Adios,
Tex ~*~

December 7, 2009

2009-12-07T19:27:00.002-06:00

Dear Blog:

Wow! Today went by fast but it seemed to crawl! My day started a little slowly as a transformer in our neighborhood blew so I had NO COFFEE!!!! I had planned on getting up and starting immediately on housework, but I realized that my life revolves around electricity! No hot water (after showers) left for washing dishes, couldn't run the vaccuum, couldn't start the washer, etc... It was a bit mind boggling...

The kiddos were here and once the power came back on I gave them a "Home Ec" day so my house is very clean now!!! :) Ben and I bought the new Mario game for the Wii this last weekend and Seth and I played quite a bit of it. It is a great game - tons of fun. The girls and I watched Part 1 of the syfy show "Alice" - if you missed it I would suggest catching it on rerun - the second part is on tonight - it's a great adaptation of "The Looking Glass" and "Alice in Wonderland" syfy style.

Ben, Mia and I were supposed to go to HG and Seth's Christmas band concert tonight but Mia was extremely fussy and ended up falling asleep in her swing while we were getting ready so we didn't end up going. She stayed with Mom last night and evidently didn't sleep much so between that and the kiddos she was quite exhausted.

I have had an okay day mentally. I went in and out of the "irrational irritation" phase a bit more than usual, but I think I handled it okay. I have a doctor's appt. tomorrow to review my meds, but I don't think I want him to change anything.

Ben is downstairs measuring and finalizing the plans for Mia's amazing music table tonight. We are so excited about it. Did I mention that we ordered vintage arcade buttons for it??

Jamie is coming over tonight since she is off work tomorrow morning, so we will be hanging out. I think we are planning on having a "movies that ashley has never seen but should have" marathon. Things like "Top Gun"... LOL Sam came over a couple nights ago and we had a blast ... thankfully the chili that got Ben and Housemate sick didn't affect him!

All the christmas presents except for one that I ordered online have come in so it's time to start wrapping! WOOHOO!!! BTW - Dollar Tree has some REALLY cute wrapping paper this year and just like everything else in the store - it's only a dollar! LOL

So that about sums up my day. Now to just wait 'til Jamie gets off work... Time for facebook games!!!

Sincerely,
Tex

December 6, 2009

2009-12-06T20:10:00.002-06:00

Dear Blog:

Hurray for a new week and new adventures to come! This week is going to be pretty busy. I'll be keeping the kiddos three days this week and we have the CCA Christmas Band Concert tomorrow night with rehearsals beforehand. HG and Seth are both in bands this year so we are in for a long night. Considering that the CCA bands only meet once a week they are pretty good. My only complaint is that it is extremely long and with a one year old that gets a bit tedious. Last year Mia was only 4 months old so I was able to rock her to sleep and stand in the back and hear the kiddos play - this year I have a feeling I will be chasing her around the foyer of the church and listening through the sanctuary doors. LOL

Today has been okay. Ben evidently got food poisoning from his chili so we were up most of the night. Bless his heart - thankfully he is feeling better tonight. Unfortunately we didn't get to go to lunch with his family for Jane's birthday, but Mia still went to my moms. So Ben and I have just had a lazy day of watching football, the UFC Finale, etc. I am definitely looking forward to a whole nights sleep even if Mia and the kiddos will get here about 5 in the morning... Of course 5:30 is about the time Mia has been getting up in the morning anyway.

I am hoping to take Mia to a couple different play dates this month with the Huntsville Madison County Mom and Tots group that I joined. One of which is where we are going to help the little ones make Christmas cards for the elderly in a specific home here in town. We didn't get to go to any activities in November since we all took turns being sick for the month.

We are also planning on taking Mia shopping to pick up a toy for Toys for Tots... I had actually bought one on Saturday with the plan of taking her to the fire station down the street, but Mia loved the toy so much I couldn't resist giving it to her... Yes I'm a pushover. LOL

Well, it's a little after 8:00 now which I think is late enough to call bedtime. So off I go ... LOL

Sincerely,
Tex

December 5, 2009

2009-12-05T21:23:00.002-06:00

Dear Blog:

Guess what?! There was snow on the ground when we woke up this morning! Not quite an inch, but it was beautiful! They closed the parkway and the interstate, so we had a quiet morning at home. Thankfully the roads were reopened by the time the parade was supposed to start so we still took Mia. It was freezing cold! I don't remember the last time I saw snow on the ground after noon in Alabama. I trussed Mia up in as many layers as she could wear and still be buckled into her carseat. :) Ben said she looked like "Randie" from "The Christmas Story" ... Yes, I admit I totally went "first time mom" on her. :) The CCA band did a great job - even if it was the same cadence and song I have heard them play in the parade for the last 8 years... LOL

Today was a pretty good day over all. I had some moments of unreasonable irritability for no apparent reason but was able to will myself out of it relatively quickly. Mia was extremely fussy this morning and I let myself get stressed out by it. Crazy how the little things can get to you sometimes.

Ben made a HUGE pot of his delicious chili so after we got back from the parade we all three piled up and watched the SEC Championship game, Ben and I with chili and Mia with her popcorn chicken. :) ROLL TIDE! It was a fabulous game! Alabama definitely came out ready to win. I do feel bad for Tebow though - this was his last time to play in the SEC Championship as he is a senior and heading to the NFL next year. Mind you, he did prevail last year, but to have the championship game be the end of a 22 game winning streak definitely would suck! I was a bit surprised though when the camera scanning the field showed him sitting on the sidelines crying. A football player crying?! REALLY?!

Tomorrow we are going to lunch with Ben's family to celebrate his mom's birthday and then Mia is going to my mom's to spend the night! Since the housemate is working night shift, Ben and I will have the house to ourselves for a few hours! :)

We got the new Super Mario Brothers (for the Wii) today. It is loads of fun. I highly recommend it!

Well, that is all for tonight - Mia is asleep and I'm about to follow!

Sincerely,
Tex ~*~

December 4, 2009

2009-12-04T19:05:00.003-06:00

Dear Blog:

Happy 1st Birthday! Quite late for which I greatly apologize! Wow has this last year gone by fast. Just 27 short days left in it. I have decided to change your format and make this a little more personal - maybe more personal than some prefer which is totally fine, but you are going to be my sounding board - my journal per sae.

Not much has changed since I last posted. Thanksgiving was lovely. Much less stressed this year since we did Thanksgiving with my family a few days before actual Thanksgiving. It is a blessing to live in the same town as both of our families, but it sure makes the holidays INSANE! There aren't sweat pants big enough to hold me and two holiday dinners... LOL

Mia is doing amazing. It seems that every day she does something new. She is up and running, that's for sure. We are taking her to the Christmas Parade tomorrow to see her Aunt HG march with the CCA Band. Hopefully it won't be too very cold. I am sad to say she does not have any specific Christmas attire so I figure I'll dress her in Alabama wear as they are playing in the SEC Championship against Florida tomorrow. O:) I finally found some food that she would eat after many stressful weeks. She loves fish sticks and popcorn chicken - oh and bananas of course!

Ben and I are doing good. We celebrated our 5 year anniversary this year but it really seems like just yesterday that we met and fell in love. Each day is a new day and a new trial, but we are making it together.

We haven't worked on the house much lately, but we have started decorating for Christmas having done a "shrub" this year to avoid the whole 1 year old plus Christmas tree drama. :) The shrub proudly sits on our dining room table adorned with our most special ornaments.

Sunday Mia is staying with my mom so Ben and I are going to begin working on her main Christmas present. We are building her a music table. It is going to be way too cool and totally over engineered... LOL We have ordered arcade game buttons, a circuit board and speakers. It will have a clear top so she can see the wires, buttons and board. :) My contribution will simply be balancing out Ben, painting and decorating it.

I got to go shopping with my dear friend, J, on Black Friday and was able to get all the gifts except for 3!!!! As if that wasn't good enough I spent very little money! Woohoo!!!

Mentally I am doing much better. I feel that I am handling the stress of motherhood much better thanks to a wonderful husband and good medicine. LOL I still have my days, but I feel much more in control and back to my "normal" self.

I have really been thinking lately about how people treat each other. I have a friend who is in a dreadful situation with some of her friends and it makes me so angry with how they are treating her. She is a beautiful, sweet, caring, give you the shirt of her back if you asked kind of person and yet they treat her terribly. I don't understand why we don't consider others more. What is gained by back stabbing, being jealous, etc? All I can see that it does is cause more loneliness and pain for yourself while spreading those negative feelings to another person. It has really made me watch my thoughts and tongue more. Sometimes we don't realize that an offside joke or comment can truly hurt the person it was said too...

I think that's about it for now. More soon.

Sincerely,
The Writer

Vampire Masquerade Ball

2009-11-04T14:55:00.002-06:00

College Football!!!

2009-10-12T11:52:00.005-05:00

It's college football time!!! Woohoo!!!! As such I have no time available on Saturdays - unless you want to sit beside me on the couch, drink soda, eat football appropriate food and yell and scream at the referees. This last saturday there were some pretty good games and some pretty lame games. Alabama (Roll Tide!) positively SPANKED Ole Miss, Texas shut down Colorado (but just barely) and Florida handed LSU its first loss. Now Alabama is the only undefeated team in its division! Oh yeah - and Arkansas put the beat down on Auburn.... WOOHOO!!!

So that's probably enough of that... our weekend was fun and mostly low key (if you don't count my and roommate Eric's screaming, jumping and hollering at the television)... Ben made an AMAZING pot of chili and we took Mia out to eat for the first time. By first time I mean it was her first time to order something for herself - through me of course. LOL She had a delicious grilled cheese sandwich while her daddy and I drooled over our bar b que.

HG and I haven't started our costumes for the ball yet, but we are planning on beginning on Wednesday. I'm coming up with all kinds of good ideas - or so they seem - we'll just have to find out. As I mentioned we are making the costumes from duct tape, but they won't be completely duct tape. I am taking some old things I have and incorporating them also - so it will be fabric and duct tape. :) I went and looked at vampire teeth and man - the good ones are EXPENSIVE so we decided that our story would be that we were just coming to the library to check out some books and were attacked as we walked in - hence the wounds but no teeth yet... O:) Claire's has some awesomely fun halloween jewelry that we are going to get... I'll try and remember to post pics of the process. :)

I think I mentioned before (although it may have only been on Mia's blog) that my brother is living with us right now - well, he is still here and we have adopted another one too... We now have two guys living with us. The house seems extremely full, but I am more than happy to help them out during this rough spot. They both just got excellent jobs and will hopefully be back on their feet in no time.

Last ramble... I have finally decided on my tatoo!!! Now I just have to get Ben to decide on his so I can go and get it... I'm getting this symbol on the inside of my left wrist. It is the "Compass of the Heart" symbol. The picture is from an amazing jeweler on etsy who makes her stuff by hand.

Ok - so I think that about covers all my ramblings for today. I hope you have a super week!!!!

Funny Story

2009-10-05T15:33:00.002-05:00

So Saturday night Ben and I were sitting on the couch after putting Mia to bed and catching up on the day's football games. We kept hearing a cat meow and it sounded like it was right outside the window. I kept getting up and looking out the door (our front door was open letting in the lovely weather) but I never saw the cat. I was like "wow! that is one fast cat!" I figured it was just running off when I came to the door - but it kept "coming back". Well, after about 30 minutes of this I told Ben that it almost sounded like the cat was in our house... He looked around and then all the sudden he moved the couch and HELLO! there was a cat!!! She was hiding under our couch; having obviously come in the screen door (which is missing the glass in the middle part as my brother and his friend broke it)... We shooed her out of the house and I hope she made it home okay. She was obviously a house cat and was scared.

On other news my sis, HG and I are going to Huntsville Public Library's Vampire Masquerade Ball this month!!!! There is a costume contest, food and fun! We are making our costumes (i know - you are surprised) out of ... (ready for it???) DUCT TAPE!!!! No stealing my idea now!!! We figure no one else will be there with duct tape costumes... we shall see. We are both seriously excited about it. Wish us luck!!

My latest Window

2009-09-30T17:21:00.003-05:00

I finished my latest window project today. My little sis, HG, is currently redoing her room so what better present than a custom done window by me?! LOL Her birthday just passed so I decided to combine the two events and do a window. This window is totally different from any others I have done, but I still enjoyed it.

Other news - I'm off tomorrow! It will just be Mia and me! Tay (my bro that is living with us) has class and then work so it will just be the kiddo and me! We shall make use of our time wisely; I assure you. :) Lots of teas parties with apple juice flavored water (LOL) and whole grain oatmeal cookies. :)

Mia showed her cute little butt in public for the first time today. HG, Mia and I went grocery shopping and for some reason it just did not fit into Mia's time schedule. Generally when we go she is just fine... chattering away, playing with "dog" and munching on gold fish (i never leave the house without them!). Today was not "general" though... Oh well - she was adorable all the way through and lots of people were laughing - at least I didn't get any mean looks!

Let's see - what else can I ramble about? thinking, thinking - OH! I joined a local mom's group and have so far gone to 2 meetings... yes, I know - 2 isn't a lot ... I have meant to go to more, but either something comes up or I sike myself out. I'm really not good at meeting new people - in fact it pretty much terrifies me...but hey - I'm trying!!! Saturday Ben and I are taking Mia to the Madison City Festival to meet other families that are in the moms group - it should be great fun. They are also having a halloween carnival for the kiddos. Mia is going as a Ladybug (i know - big surprise...lol) and Ben and I are going as employees of "Dyers Cute Little Bug Catchers" .... LOL I am going to get us some painters suits and stencil that on the back. Hopefully they will turn out as cute as I see them in my mind. :) For actual halloween - Mia is going "trunk or treating" with her aunts and uncle and Ben and I are going out on our annual Halloween dinner with friends. We still haven't decided what we are going as. I am voting on Zeus and a Greek Goddess Zombies... hee hee hee - seems original to me... O:)

Well, I must sign off... I hope you have had a fabulous day!!!!

Children

2009-09-28T17:09:00.004-05:00

I grew up in a very large family. There are 7 children (6 of which were home - as my older sister is 11 years older than I am) and for about a year or so my 2 cousins lived with us. So needless to say I am used to being around lots of kids of different ages... although maybe I should restate that and say I used to be use to being around lots of kids of different ages. :)

Since resigning from my job to stay home with Mia I have felt kinda lost. I am used to earning my own way - bringing in money, etc. Not making any money is really weird to me. I feel like I should be contributing somehow. Of course through it all Ben said No - that's his job - he'll handle it - my contribution is now taking care of Mia, the house and finding ways to save money. :) I listened - I swear... but I must admit I jumped at the first viable opportunity to make money myself.

A friend of mine from high school has a daughter that is almost exactly 1 year older than Mia. She was having to go back to work and was looking for someone to keep her little one during the weeks that her husband is on day shift. I said ME!!! PICK ME!!! LOL

It never crossed my mind that I had gotten used to a quiet house and my own little schedule (what there was of one). But it is going fine - the girls are getting used to one another and are even beginning to play together.

Now my Mom has gotten a job and needs someone to watch my 3 younger siblings. She is working 12 hour shifts and doesn't want them home alone the whole time. Plus as they are homeschooled someone needs to monitor their schoolwork and be available for any questions...

So I have gone from my quiet little house "full" of just Mia, myself and the laundry to 4 additional kids.

You know how they say the grass is always greener on the other side? Yeah, my life is the epitome of that right now. Before I was so lonely and now I'm like AHHH!!! hahahaha.

I am absolutely loving the extra time I get to spend with my younger siblings, but I find myself getting stressed with all the noise. It's not like they are louder than normal - it's just the fact that there is noise outside of quiet music in the background and Mia's babbling.

New chore for myself - getting used to a lot of kids again! Wish me luck!!!!

Hi!

2009-09-25T15:36:00.002-05:00

First, I want to thank all my loyal readers. I know I haven't blogged much at all lately, but I appreciate you staying with me.

As I have mentioned, tons of stuff has been going on and I have been a bit on the negative side and didn't want to spread the negativity around, which is one of the reasons I haven't been blogging. Another reason is that my younger brother is living with us again and is residing in our office which is where our computer is... I get very little computer time.

I am currently on round three of experimental meds to try and get my issues under control which is one reason for my negativity. Nothing seems to be working and it is really hard not to get overwhelmed and upset. I am taking the meds as I am supposed to (9 pills a day) and on a special diet and yet am still in pain... I am now going so far as to quit drinking alcoholic beverages and am trying to quit smoking. Yes, I do smoke - not a ton, but I do. So far - not helping.... But at this point I will try anything. I go back to the doc in October... at that time we will discuss "other options" if it doesn't get any better. Don't you just love it when docs use the "other options" language on you... I don't think he could be any more ambiguous... LOL

On a happy note - it's college football season!!! WOOHOO!!!! I absolutely LOVE having DVR - get to watch multiple games - all on my own schedule.

I have started keeping a 2 year old and my younger siblings. It is extremely different not being home alone with Mia all the time. It is definitely taking some adjusting to having people around all the time. But the money is needed and it really is actually fun. I love getting to spend the extra time with my siblings too.

Ben and I are still on our "search". We haven't blogged about it lately, but we are being faithful in our research. I am currently reading "Godless" by Dan Barker. It's a hard read, but interesting.

So that kinda catches you up on what's going on. I hope all is well with you and you are having a lovely fall so far!

Mia is 1!!

2009-09-13T11:55:00.004-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post Mia has turned 1!!! So hard to believe that it has already been a year since she was born. She grows more precious every day. Her favorite toy is "dog" a stuffed dog that was at one time mine. LOL She takes dog with her everywhere. Her vocabulary consists of dog (including making the doggy noise), duck, mom, dada and night night. She loves to chatter and laugh and is of course everywhere and into everything always. LOL I absolutely love being a mom. Slobbery baby kisses are the best! My advice to others - don't blink... time flies by so incredibly fast - treasure every moment - even the ones that include disgusting baby food being thrown at you and getting all over the khakis that you just put on. :)

Update..

2009-09-11T10:53:00.003-05:00

Hi!!! It's been forever since I have blogged, I know. So much has been going on lately! Mia turned one and has started walking! She is growing up super fast! Ben and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary! Way too much to catch up on so I will just pick a funny story to tell.

Ben and I have (had now...lol) a tradition that on our even numbered wedding anniversaries we take a trip which involves going to a local winery. We buy wine and keep a bottle back for a "big" anniversary (i.e. 5 year, 10 year, etc.). So our 5 year came around and we pulled a bottle of wine we had bought on our honeymoon. We bought it at the Apple Barn winery in Severville, Tennessee (we spent our honeymoon in Gatlinburg, TN). We poured the wine, kissed, toasted each other and took a drink. The we promptly SPIT! The wine had gone bad!!! I described it as grape juice gone bad - Ben said it tasted like a bad mix of vinegar and apple juice. LOL Either way it was HORRIBLE! What makes it even funnier is that on our 1 year anniversary we pulled out the top layer of our wedding cake to eat (tradition!). It had been put in our freezer during our honeymoon and I hadn't thought to look at it since. So I pull it out all excited only to find that whoever wrapped it and put it in the box for us had left the fresh flowers on it. We were like - well, we should try it anyway. So we said pretty words, kissed, cut the cake, took a bite and promptly SPIT! Of course the flowers had fermented in the cake and it tasted HORRID! LOL

We still have a bottle of wine from our 2 year anniversary... I think we are going to crack it open and see if it's any good anymore - we are definitely NOT saving it for our 10 year anniversary!

Lessons learned! Funny stories to tell!!!

Things I've Come to Realize (edited version)

2009-09-08T18:53:00.005-05:00

RULES: Come ON!!! Copy and paste! People love to know this kind of stuff about each other. Just fill it out already!!!

1. I've come to realize that my job...
Is amazing but incredibly hard. Being a stay at home is the most amazing job ever - but it is definitely harder than anything I have ever done before.

2. I've come to realize that when I'm driving...
I tend to talk to other drivers - with a baby in the car I know have to watch my mouth.

3. I've come to realize that I need....
to value myself...

4. I've come to realize that I have lost...
my identity ... or what I thought was my identity. At the same time I'm learning that what I thought was my identity wasn't really it ... now I'm learning/searching for what it really is...

5. I've come to realize that I hate it when..
I let myself become overwhelmed by silly things

6. I've come to realize that money...
is ridiculous. HaHaHa No one will ever have enough... we have to learn to value what we have and be content.

7. I've come to realize that certain people...
don't understand

8. I've come to realize that I'll always ...
strive to be an individual

9. I've come to realize that my sibling(s)...
are amazing and I would never trade them for the world

10. I've come to realize that my mom...
did a pretty fantastic job considering everything.

11. I've come to realize that my cellphone....
has voicemail and I'm supposed to check it... who knew... LOL

12. I've come to realize that when I woke up this morning...
it's a fresh start - a new adventure - a new day to love - a new day to laugh

13. I've come to realize that last night before I went to sleep...
my last thoughts were about my husband and daughter - the two most precious people in the world to me.

14. I've come to realize that right now I am thinking...
I need to take more "me" time...

15. I've come to realize that when I get on Facebook...
I always play Mafia Wars - I'm addicted...

16. I've come to realize that today..
is another chance to do what I didn't yesterday...

17. I've come to realize that tomorrow...
is another day. :) no need to worry about it... but planning is good.

18. I've come to realize that I really want to...
go to college.

19. I've come to realize that the person who is most likely to repost this is...
awesome! lol

20. I've come to realize that life...
isn't fair, learning to deal with it happily is the trick.

21. I've come to realize that this weekend...
Will hopefully be productive AND peaceful

22. I've come to realize that marriage...
is what you make of it. The theme song to my marriage is - Alright by Darrius Rucker....

23. I've come to realize that my friends...
are few, but amazing.

24. I've come to realize that this year...
has brought countless ups, downs, and surprises, but not one thing I couldn't handle with the help of my husband, family and friends.

25. I've come to realize that maybe I should...
learn to give myself more credit - i am my worst critic...

26. I've come to realize that I love...
rare snatches of time with just my husband and daughter.

27. I've come to realize that I don't understand...
true relaxation and why m&ms are different colors yet taste the same.

28. I've come to realize my past...
is just that - a past - a history to learn from.

29. I've come to realize that...
The most important thing in life is family.

Question for my readers

2009-07-19T08:40:00.001-05:00

Quick question for everyone. I am trying to find dependable, trustworthy coupon printing sites online... Do you know of any? If so, please send them my way!!! Thanks so much!

Duct Tape Mania - Day 2

2009-07-16T14:40:00.006-05:00

Today's creation... O:)

Duct Tape Mania!

2009-07-15T16:10:00.003-05:00

HG and I got together today and made her a duct tape dress. We used an old maid of honor dress of mine - cut it to pieces and used it as the base... We then made duct tape flowers to decorate with!!! It was a complete blast!

My Happy for the Day

2009-06-09T12:36:00.002-05:00

I absolutely love organization. It gives me a great feeling inside when I figure out a way to organize something better. As you know I also love to do crafty things using normal items around the house. An organizational project that doesn't cost any money is even better!!!! Today I decided to try and organize all my sewing stuff. Mia drinks formula so I have tons of formula containers sitting around - I have been saving them because you never know what they might be useful for... Today I found a use!!! My sewing supplies. Out came my stamps, my scrapbooking paper and a little creativity.

Oh - and the pic in the upper lefthand corner - that's me and two of my siblings - I would be the one totally dressed 80's style with tights and frilly shorts... LOL :)

Hormones...

2009-06-08T15:01:00.003-05:00

This image came up when I did a google image search for the word "hormones"...it is quite fitting because that is what my insides feel like. I found out last Wednesday that an old issue has come back and in trying to avoid surgery my doc put me on a HUGE dose of hormones - he is pummeling my system. So not cool. As I have been frank and honest about my issues with depression I am sure you can understand why I say this is so not cool.... I feel weepy, prickly and antsy all at the same time - add bloated and swollen to that (effects of the meds) and I am one unhappy, crabby crab! My poor husband and daughter. So here's to keeping my chin up and hoping to not do any lasting harm during the next 6 weeks.... lol

I know I have posted this Non Sequitor comic before - but it was just too fitting to not post again... if only, right?

Humor is perhaps a sense of intellectual perspective: an awareness that some things are really important, others not; and that the two kinds are most oddly jumbled in everyday affairs. ~Christopher Morley

Religion Journey Continued Elsewhere

2009-06-07T09:42:00.003-05:00

Hi! Ben and I have decided to start a blog together to talk about our continuing journey. If you are interested in following it you can find it here. We have used our middle names as a precautionary measure. We want to be honest but we feel that we have to be careful because you don't know what kind of an effect this could have. Thank you all for your comments and return questions and I hope that you will continue to follow our search. Have a lovely weekend!

When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind. ~Seneca

A Break From Serious

2009-06-04T14:58:00.002-05:00

Mia and M.P. had a play date today and Mommy Attorney and I got to catch up. It was delightful! Mia and M.P. played together so good! It was adorable. However, Mia didn't have any qualms about letting me know when she was finished playing though - she looked at me starting rubbing her eyes and said "night night"... LOL it was too funny and absolutely one of the cutest things ever.

A baby is an angel whose wings decrease as his legs increase. ~Author Unknown

Continuing From Yesterday

2009-06-03T08:59:00.002-05:00

Okay peeps - Only two replies? I know this can be a touchy subject but PLEASE reply! I am truly interested in what everyone has to say!

Continuing on. One of the two (ah hum...lol) comments I received asked a very pointed question "when did [I] begin to doubt." Honestly when I read the comment I was excited. In all my thinking, reading, and talking to Ben I have never really asked myself this very pertinent question. When did I start doubting my faith? Did I actually start doubting (to lack confidence in) my faith or just questioning (to ask a question of or about / 2: to interrogate intensively) it?

I've been mulling over this question since reading David Walker's comment. My immediate response was "I have no idea." The more I thought (and think) on it I came to this conclusion. If I had to put a time frame on it I would have to say it would be when I moved out on my own.

I was 20 years old when I moved out of my parent's house. Things were very emotionally volatile at home as my step-father and I did not get along very well. I would have moved out earlier but the girl who was to be my roommate was a year younger and according to Alabama law you have to be 19 to sign an apartment lease. That summer RW and I began looking for an apartment in secret. Until then I had lived my life exactly as my parents expected and requested. I was never late for my 9:00 p.m. curfew, never went any where but where I told them I was going, etc. I did everything I could to fit their mold perfectly. My role in the house was as the second "mother" (using that term very loosely). My younger siblings were my responsbility while my parents worked. Yet I never felt as though my parents trusted me. When my husband and I started "courting" (per their rules) my relationship with my stepfather deteriorated even further to the point I just couldn't take it any longer. So secretly I talked to RW and we found an apartment we could afford. Two weeks before I was supposed to move I told my mom I had found an apartment and was moving out. It was then that I quit going to church regularly. When Ben and I got married we went occassionally but we usually stayed home because he was insanely busy with school and I worked crazy hours during the week. We have visited several churches during the last 5 years but have not found any where that we feel that we fit in. This essentially led us to getting out of the habit of going. During this period in our lives we have talked often about where we are going and what we believe. It is a constant search in our household. Being in limbo with any decision is taxing - but especially this one - and most definitely since both of our families are firmly planted in churches.

I don't think that it is necessarily that I started doubting my faith. I honestly think this quest began because I was put off by "organized religion." I was put off by the "holier than thou" attitudes and other things that are so obvious in church. I do wonder this though - if we hadn't gotten out of the habit of going to church would we be where we are now? Or would we still be unquestioningly immersed in it?

No man treats a motor car as foolishly as he treats another human being. When the car will not go, he does not attribute its annoying behavior to sin, he does not say, "You are a wicked motorcar, and I shall not give you any more petrol until you go." He attempts to find out what is wrong and set it right. ~Bertrand Russell, Has Religion Made Useful Contributions to Civilization?

Blog Poll

2009-06-02T10:20:00.005-05:00

Topic: Christian, Theist, Agnostic, Atheist, Unsure, Other

Questions:
1. What are your religious views?
2. Why do you believe them?
3. If someone who believes different than you were to debate you what would your concise argument be?

My answers:
1. Unsure (in all honesty probably somewhere between Theist and Agnostic)
Merriam Webster definitions
Christian: a: one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ b: (1): disciple 2 (2): a member of one of the Churches of Christ separating from the Disciples of Christ in 1906 (3): a member of the Christian denomination having part in the union of the United Church of Christ concluded in 19612: the hero in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress

Theist: belief in the existence of a god or gods ; specifically : belief in the existence of one God viewed as the creative source of the human race and the world who transcends yet is immanent in the world

Agnostic: 1: a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (as God) is unknown and probably unknowable ; broadly : one who is not committed to believing in either the existence or the nonexistence of God or a god / 2: a person unwilling to commit to an opinion about something

Athiest: one who believes that there is no deity

2. I was raised in an extremely conservative christian home. I am honestly thankful for the foundation this set although it has caused issues as I get older.
That sounds a little confusing I am sure. I will try and make it a little clearer.
Pros: Something to believe in. A great set of morals and principals instilled. An understanding of love, compassion and kindness learned.
Cons: A little too far right which I realized once I entered the world on my own. (Note: I do not mean any disrespect to my parents at all with this post.) I believe that part of becoming an adult is rethinking all that we have learned, questioning it and ultimately making our own decision about it. With that comes the responsibility of looking at all sides of the issue, doing relentless research and only then making the decision.

I realize that the above paragraph doesn't actually explain why I believe - Due to the fact that I am undecided/unsure/confused makes it a little hard to explain. I think I'll have to get back to you on this one. :)

3. My concise argument: (me concise? hahaha)
Honestly, I am still a baby in this area - I am unsure as to what I believe. I cannot say I do not believe in God. When I look at a little plant, a baby, a blue sky they all reflect Him in my opinion. Yes, I do know there are scientific reasons for all of the above - there doesn't have to be a "higher power." At the same time I think it is human nature which longs to believe in something higher and greater than ourselves. I really don't have an argument for what I think right now - I am as confused as I am probably making you. However, I do know this... I am not happy with the way that christian churches conduct themselves. I am not happy with the fact that if you debate a christian (not all christians - who am I to say that this pertains to all) you hear what has been told to them since they were a child. So many take what they learn and don't think it necessary to actually make it their own. Something else - the very fact that there are tons of denominations is ridiculous to me - it shows that man interprets "religion" as he wants and if the church he is with doesn't believe that then he will split off and make his own. I think that the Bible has a lot of good morals and principals in it, however - are these things that can be taught without pertaining to religion? Can we not teach our children that it is wrong to steal simply because it hurts others? Can we not teach them that they should treat others as they want to be treated simply because it is right?

I could go on and on all day as this issue is something that is constantly on my heart. My husband and I are in the middle of trying to decide what we believe - researching, talking, etc. I am really interested in what you have to say. Thanks to all who participate in this poll. Have a lovely Tuesday!

There's something in every atheist, itching to believe, and something in every believer, itching to doubt. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966

Our Garden

2009-06-01T20:05:00.004-05:00

This is a planter that Ben and I built together for my flowers. I currently have two very small morning glories planted in it that aren't doing so well. Wish them the best. LOL Behind it you can see my first attempt at making a flower bed at the top of our driveway ... unfortunately the day after I built it it started storming and didn't stop for over a week. During which I realized that our backyard drains in that direction due to the hill... so it washed my flower bed and most of the bulbs that I had planted away... I am hoping to revive it this coming weekend...making adjustments for said water.

And this is our lovely "square foot garden"... The fence around it is temporary. We are trying to find a way to keep small rodents, such as squirrels, chipmunks and bunnies, out of it... They have so far eaten seeds, uprooted little plants and nibbled leaves. We planted lots of veggies, but are waiting to see what survives. The tall t-pee looking thing is our own "eagle scout" (aka Ben) trellis for the tomatoes, snow peas and cucumbers...

How Time Does Fly...

2009-05-31T12:10:00.006-05:00

Today Mia is 10 months old. I can't believe it. Where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday I was coming home with her from the hospital. When we came home all she did was eat, sleep and create dirty diapers. Now she is crawling, laughing, talking, standing up, clapping, eating "human" food and lots of other things. Totally insane! Thinking about how fast time has already flown by really brings home the fact that we should take life by the horns and make the most of every moment we are blessed with.

But what minutes! Count them by sensation, and not by calendars, and each moment is a day. ~Benjamin Disraeli

A Successful Trip

2009-05-30T07:46:00.008-05:00

I'm back! My trip to Nashvegas was a success! I got to spend a couple hours with a wonderful friend while getting to know her fiance more. We visited the chapel where they are to be married in August. It is a lovely stone chapel in a park. Quite beautiful.

I took this picture from the doorway of the chapel.

Here is a closer pic of the happy couple. :) We spent the day sorting out what flowers were needed for the chapel and reception area, where to put the tent for the reception, etc. It was a great trip.

This is a close up of one of the stain glass windows.

Afterwards I came back to Huntsville to my wonderful hubby and adorable daughter and we had family time. All in all a great day.

You have to walk carefully in the beginning of love; the running across fields into your lover's arms can only come later when you're sure they won't laugh if you trip. ~Jonathan Carroll, "Outside the Dog Museum"

Nashvegas watch out - here comes trouble!

2009-05-29T08:50:00.005-05:00

Today I am heading to Nashville all by myself. I haven't taken a "trip" by myself since Ben was in school in Mississippi way back when. My mom was kind enough to offer to keep Mia for the day so I wouldn't have to make the drive by myself with a baby. I am heading up to Nashvegas to visit one of my oldest friends who is getting married in August. I am helping her with the planning of her wedding so we are going to check out her venues and shopping for all the supplies needed to do all the wedding flowers. It's going to be a lot of driving in one day. :) Wish me luck!

"We are here and it is now. Further than that all human knowledge is moonshine." ~Henry Mencken

The latest changes to our house

2009-05-28T11:13:00.004-05:00

As I mentioned a couple days ago, Ben and I spent the holiday weekend working on our house. We bought our house in August 2004. It was built in 1961 and had not ever been updated. I swear - the appliances in the kitchen were even original. I'm not kidding! So anyways - over the past couple of years we have been trying to update/remodel the house as time and money permits... This weekend we conquered our bedroom and master bath. We had never really "moved" into our bedroom. We had a bed and dressers in there but no pictures, nothing on the wall, etc. Mostly it was just clothes all over the place and a huge hot mess. Here is a glimpse of what it looks like now. This is my favorite part of the room:

As I also mentioned we worked on our master bathroom. For the last - oh about 9 months our bathroom has been unusable. Why you ask? Because there was no light! The light fixture was (like everything else) original to the house - so we couldn't buy a replacement bulb! Is this reminding anyone of the movie Money Pit? LOL Anyways...so for the bathroom we bought a new light fixture, a new mirror/cabinet, and a new facet for the sink! It looks totally different now! We hung stuff on the wall and I have my jewelry organized, a new linen closet aka the shower (the shower is unusable right now but that is a whole different story) and a bathroom that works!!! Pardon the tools in the picture, Ben is still working on the facet... evidently the water hasn't been turned off in there for a while (probably since 1961 - lol) so he is having issues....

It's the small things in life that make it worth it...

Sewing, sewing and more sewing.

2009-05-27T08:36:00.003-05:00

In light of being back, I'm going to try and get back into the swing of posting each day. I am in the middle of a bunch of sewing projects right now. My beautiful sister in laws just turned 21 and I am designing and making some purses for them - I have everything but the pattern paper to make the pattern. HaHa - Hopefully I'll make it to the store to get that this week and should have pics posted by the weekend. I'm also going to be working with one of my sisters today making her a dress - gotta love end of the school year projects. It shall be interesting. HaHa

I hope everyone has a lovely day. I'll leave you with this thought: The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. ~Hans Hofmann, Introduction to the Bootstrap, 1993

Remember Me?

2009-05-26T09:27:00.008-05:00

Hi, everyone! Guess what? I am finally out of my funk! Thanks to my wonderful husband who jerked me up by my bootstraps over this 3 day holiday weekend I am back to feeling like my old self.

Life is hard - as everyone knows. Is there a way to make it easier? Does happiness really exist? Is there a way to be truly content? These are the questions that I have been pondering and mulling over lately.

I think the way to make life easier is to take it for what it is. Stuff happens - you have to "roll with the punches" - realize that life is just that - life. Find a way to be happy in where you are and set goals to get to where you want to be. Easier said then done, right?

So that takes us to Happiness - If we are happy in our current life then I think that would make it easier to be satisfied with each day and take whatever comes at us. But how do we achieve happiness? The answer I have come up with for myself is to be content.

So what is Contentedness? Merriam Webster give the definition as "feeling or showing satisfaction with one's possessions, status, or situation" - to which I wonder - is that actually possible? We are constantly surrounded by people who have more than us...materially, financially and emotionally. How can we be satisfied when we are constantly reminded of what we don't have? My thoughts - Focus on what we do have rather than what we don't. Again, harder said than done. But in actuality is the other stuff really necessary for contentedness and in turn happiness? There we are - back to happiness.

So to make life easier we need to be happy, to be happy we need to be content and to be content we need to take life for what it is. Wow! It's a circle...

I have realized that is what my funk is... when I start letting life overwhelm me (such as every day things - Mia being fussy, therefore I can't get housework done, therefore I get behind on housework, therefore I have a messy house, therefore I get overwhelmed because I can't seem to catch back up) I forget to take life as it is - just life - just things - so I get unhappy which makes me think of all the things I don't have or wish I had and I lose sight of contentedness. An ugly circle which causes me to spiral further and further down.

So in realizing that I should know how to fix it right? I should know how to pull myself out of the funk because I know what causes it... How is it that we know the answer to our problems but it's just taking that first step to right them that is so incredibly hard? For instance, I know that if I would just get up and wash the dishes I would start to feel better, but because of the funk I don't have the energy so I don't. There is another circle... No energy, No progress, Funk spirals down further.

This weekend with Ben's help I was able to break the horrid circle. We worked all weekend on our house and it looks amazing! We have a bedroom that is finally (after 4 years) all our own. It is decorated, arranged and we have pictures arranged nicely. We remodeled our master bath and made it our own also. I have a shelf hanging on the wall, my jewelry is organized and everything in there is clean. Today? I feel fantastic - my funk is broken. Did I think or feel like I had the energy to accomplish all that this weekend? Absolutely not. Did Ben care? No - because he knew what I needed to break the circle.

So what makes life easier? Being happy. How can we be happy? By being content. How can we be content? By focusing on what we do have instead of what we don't.

My focus today? My amazing husband, my lovely daughter and my wonderful family and friends. And tomorrow? It's just another day.

Will I fall into another funk? Quite possibly. Next time - I'm going to take that first step - no matter how hard... Nothing that is worth it is easy.

My daughter and I

2009-05-14T21:20:00.002-05:00

There aren't sufficient words to describe the love between a mother and a daughter...

Oh Happy Days!

2009-05-13T18:12:00.003-05:00

Hello again, fellow bloggers. So I had an adorable video to post of Mia experiencing her first dum dum sucker, but unfortunately I can not get it to work at the moment.

I hope everyone's Mother's day was fantastic and all the moms out there were blessed. Mine was wonderful and relaxed. Everything around here is pretty normal at the moment. Normal of course being relative. I did have extremely exciting news last week! I found out that a girl I went to high school with, who is also a stay at home mom, lives just 7 minutes from me!!!! Her daughter is almost two and she and Mia get along beautifully!

Our garden is planted and we have little plants sprouting up every day - pictures will follow...eventually. :) We are growing a little bit of everything. We have also planted some flowers, azaleas, dahlias, morning glories and sweet peas... Unfortunately the last few weeks of storms washed all but the azaleas away. I was very sad. I love to see little plants making their way in the world and it hurts me when they are crushed. Yes, I know they are "just" plants - but they have had to struggle to get to where they are too.

Well, that's enough rambling for me... Thanks so much for reading!

I'll leave you with this thought - Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration. ~Lou Erickson

The latest "remodeling"

2009-05-09T19:22:00.004-05:00

Due to Mia's complete mobility we have now completed a new remodeling of the house. I believe it is called Baby Proofing. :) These fashionable baby gates can be found in not one but both of the doorways in our living room. Should they be left open Mia sprints towards the kitchen and tries to play with Daddy's wine bottles or Mommy's spices. We are in the process of other types of remodeling - mainly removing anything from lower shelves, making sure there are no shoes laying around (i think Mia was a puppy in a past life (HAHAHA) as she absolutely loves to try and chew on shoes) and no glasses with liquids in them on the floor - she loves coffee also. Wish us luck in our latest remodeling - Mia is a great consultant if you should find yourself doing this type of remodeling in the near future - just as I think I have it all just right she finds something I either missed or didn't consider!

Tomorrow will be my first official Mother's Day. :) Ben got me a beautiful mother's ring - it has his, mia's and my birthstones on it. We shall spend the day with our lovely mothers. Blessings to all the Moms out there - you are to be treasured!

Hi!!!

2009-05-08T13:36:00.003-05:00

Hello peeps! Did you think I had gone missing? Sorry for the long pause... too much to explain - excuses don't matter anyway. Let's start fresh. :)

I have lots to post over the next couple of days so be sure and check back.

Today short funny post. Mia said her 4th word today. Here is the background story.

My brother came to visit today and he hadn't seen her crawl yet. So I told him to go into the kitchen because anytime anyone goes in there she will follow. So I sat her down, he walked into the kitchen and ... yes, you guessed it... she just sat there. We laughed and I encouraged her... She still just sat there. Laughingly I said to her "You little butt!" which she immediately replied with "butt" CLEAR AS DAY!!! After we all died laughing I realized that my child is a mimicker and now I seriously have to watch my mouth. HaHaHa

So there is a laugh for the day... hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Until next time - toodles!

Another One Bites the Dust...

2009-04-27T15:51:00.001-05:00

Another item on my list is done #34 - learn to play Go. Ben taught me this weekend. It was fun ... it's a seriously hard strategy game - but I held my own - for like 5 minutes. HAHA

Mia and the Baby in the Mirror

2009-04-24T17:21:00.003-05:00

Some Mia Goodness

2009-04-24T10:13:00.002-05:00

Mia's first trip to the park....

Are you sure you want to read this?

2009-04-22T18:31:00.003-05:00

Great way to start a post, huh? LOL So I haven't posted since Heather's dreadful tag and for that I apologize. I have found myself stuck in a funk that I just can't seem to pop out of. It's times like these that it is really hard to find things to be thankful for - so I think about it even harder - I can't think of a better way to get my head above water. So here are some of the things on my list:

My husband: he is my number one. He is a terrific husband and a wonderful father - even if he is frustrating at time. ;)
My daughter: one little smile from her brightens the universe and hearing her say "momma" and having her crawl into my lap is even better.
My family: we've been through rough patches, great patches - you name it we have been there but we made it through - together.
My friends: always there with advice and opinions - gotta love 'em!
My blog: my venting venue - my window to the outside world
and finally
My creative side: the one true way I can relax ... when I take the time.

So there you have it - my silver linings - would anyone mind pounding them into my emotions? Even though my head and heart know about them my emotions are still awry...

I'll leave you with this thought - "Let's not forget that the little emotions are the great captains of our lives and we obey them without realizing it." ~Vincent Van Gogh, 1889

It's All Heather's Fault!

2009-04-17T14:08:00.002-05:00

Because Shannon made Heather do it now I have to do it...

The Rules:

Take a picture of yourself right now.

No primping or preparing.

Just snap a picture.

Load the picture onto your blog.

Tag some people to play along.

Evil, isn't it?

Yes, it looks kinda funny ... my arms aren't long enough to hold the camera out far enough for the lens to focus and get a pic of my whole face... but hey! i'm a trooper - i did it...
Now for my victims...

Hannah
Karie
Adriana
Leetid
Kait
Wendy
Kylie
Rebekah
Anna
Courtney
Emily
Laura
Megan

I didn't tag Ari, Heather or Shannon cuz they are already involved. Enjoy!!! HAHAHA!

Yes, I'm Addicted...

2009-04-14T11:37:00.004-05:00

Before I start this I warn you - you are probably going to laugh. And laugh hard. It's okay. I understand. :)
I have become 100% addicted to a new game hosted on facebook called Yoville. It's like a sims game - except you don't have to make your character go to the bathroom or sleep... You "earn" coins and spend them. It's an alter reality that is right up my alley. I get to spend coins on clothes and decorating my "apartment". How cool is that? LOL But enough about that.

I hope everyone had a fabulous easter! Ours was great. Definitely busy, but great. Saturday we planted some small bushes and Sunday we spent most of the day at Ben's parents. It was lovely. Mia wore the dress I made for her, and if I do say so myself, she looked adorable! Run over to her blog to see her pic.

Ben made it home from his Denver trip safely. He had a productive time and even had a chance to catch up with an old friend. Mia and I are very glad that he is home though.

That's it for now - I am off to do housework... I'll leave you with this thought: My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint. ~Erma Bombeck

Photo Craziness Revealed

2009-04-10T09:00:00.007-05:00

Is there anything left in there?

Oh! Hi, Mommy! You, ummm... caught me! O:)

Turtle Girl!!!

Hmm, I wonder if I will fit in here?

The end result...

Enough said....

Photo crazy

2009-04-09T22:08:00.001-05:00

Okay, so I might have gone a little photo crazy today. Mia started "army crawling" today and saying "da da" - of course since Ben is gone! I took 191 pictures... O:) She also found her toy box and figured out how to turn it over (it's just a wicker basket) and spread her toys out all over the place. I'll post pics tomorrow! :) Ben will be home in about 18 hours! Provided the weather stays as predicted in Denver and doesn't get hairy... Cross your fingers! Have a great night everyone!

Another day...

2009-04-08T11:12:00.002-05:00

So it's time for another emo post... my man is away and i'm feeling seriously lonely and lost. pitiful. upside is the weather is lovely... a wee bit cloudy but it's warming up... i have lots of house projects i intend to do to make the minutes fly...provided i can find the energy. Mia is holding up much better this time - she mostly slept through the night last night whereas last time neither of us slept much. Jamie came over to hang out last night and we had fun. i finally got to watch Twilight and 27 Dresses. both fantastic movies. Twilight is beautiful - you definitely can't compare it to the book though - the left out a TON and added some that was completely unnecessary. if you can separate the book from the movie then the movie is definitely enjoyable.

Food for thought: Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower. ~Hans Christian Anderson

And away he goes...

2009-04-06T08:32:00.003-05:00

We found out yesterday that Ben has to fly out to Denver on Tuesday... he'll be gone until Friday. Two business trips in two months - how unfair is that? I am going to try to be a big girl and stay by myself this time - we shall see how long that lasts. At least this time I know a little more of what to expect.

The rest of our weekend was fun. Ben worked on the yard all morning - so long, Mr. Fig Tree - you won't be missed. I took pictures of my dogwood and tulip trees and played with Mia. We also went to my mom's to celebrate my little brother and little sister's birthdays. It was quite a full day - but full of family time. Oh! and I got Ben to go shopping!!! Ariana and I went on Saturday as we both had to shop for Easter outfits and while out I picked Ben up some jeans. He has lost enough weight that his current jeans wad up around the waist line with a belt... Unfortunately the cut of the jeans I bought was all wrong so I convinced him to go with me yesterday to replace them... We actually had fun.

Today will be spent getting Ben's stuff ready for his trip and tonight will be date night... Wish me luck for this week!

The hubby and mountain biking

2009-04-05T09:00:00.011-05:00

It's spring (I think I have mentioned that before) so it's time to get outdoors!!! Ben decided to pick up an old hobby again - Mountain Biking! After weeks of research, contemplation, saving his pennies and borrowing a bike in the interim he got a new one of his very own. The guys went biking yesterday - after waiting 2 days after major rain - here is his brand new bike... He rated the ride at a 6 - on a scale of 1 - 10 of muddiness... Did I mention that it was brand spankin new before this ride? LOL It has now been initiated.

On another note - some of my dogwood blossoms survived the storm the other night. I was able to catch a couple pictures of the blossoms.

Well, I need to run and get ready for the crazy day ahead of us. Have a wonderful rest of the weekend everyone!!!

Oh - it only it was really this easy...

2009-04-03T10:00:00.002-05:00

All I can say is "HA!" If only life were really this easy.

It's spring in Alabama - with all its rainy, cloudy, tornadoie (yes, i did just make that word up) glory. Last night Mia was initiated into the Alabama world of tornado sirens. If there is the possibility of a tornado in any part of the county ALL of the sirens go off... regardless of where you are in the county. I don't quite understand this... seems like the only sirens to be activated would be the ones in the area in which the storm is. Last night the storm was totally on the other side of the county but our sirens continued to go off. At one point it was slightly (and i use that word loosly) close to us, so I got Mia, a bag of diapers, her diaper bag and my purse and we headed down into the basement. Only to realize we had no radio - if that doesn't tell you how used to Alabama weather Ben and I are then I don't know what will... I have to admit though - I did freak out just a little bit. I haven't been through the weather with a baby and Ben was still at work. Thankfully my brother had decided to drop by for a visit earlier in the day so he was with me. As soon as Ben got home I informed him that we needed a battery operated radio for the basement - he was a little confused as I generally do not freak out about weather - I am one that laughs at all the people that run to the store and buy all the bread and milk. I rarely even turn on the tv... Now if the sirens go off I will just to check - I don't want to be stupid. But come on - this is Alabama - we are in the "Tornado Alley" - it occurs ALL the time!!! But as with everything else - a baby changes EVERYTHING. Hence my slight freak out. I am proud that I thought of diapers (after I had her safely in the basement - at the back wall which is technically underground) ... I didn't however grab a bottle or formula... hmmm... clean bottom but empty tummy... I guess I probably ought to pack Mia a "if a tornado happens" bag to keep downstairs just in case... She might appreciate it.

Another Item Down...

2009-04-01T10:17:00.003-05:00

I just completed another item on my list #10 - start a shop on etsy. My shop is still a bit under construction, but it is up and running - A Million Things to Reuse. It is dedicated to using every day things to make art and I would be thrilled if you would check it out!

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

2009-03-31T12:10:00.002-05:00

The weather is dreary and my mood is super dreary. When I was thinking about my post I was thinking about the clouds hanging over my head and then I thought of one of my favorite childhood books that is about to be made into a movie. "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" is definitely not about being sad... it's an amazing book and I have high hopes for the movie.

Today has been one thing after another - highlight being that because I am in a rotten mood I have been quite productive. My house had gotten a bit out of control the last couple of weeks and the living areas are now pretty much spotless. LOL For some reason when I get upset I become a ridiculous neat freak - I get tons of energy to clean ... and it makes me feel better. I'm a nut case ... I know this. In all actuality though I think that a clean house is helpful to anyone's mood.

But enough about that... Tonight is Girls Night In with Ari and Heather. The plans at this point - go get sushi (Ben and Todd are coming too!) and then back to Ari's house for who knows what... lots of girly chatter and probably some craftiness. A nice relaxing time - and a break from the "real" world.

This last weekend was extremely productive in my house. Ben spent Saturday working on our gutters - little gray varmints have decided that the attic of Casa del Dyer is at their disposal and they love it - they can't seem to get the hint that they are uninvited and definitely unwelcome. Ben got up on the side of the house via a ladder and realized that the little dudes had eaten through to our attic!!! Are you kidding me?! Bad squirrels, very bad! So he worked patiently for hours repairing the damage and putting up no squirrel trespassing signs. He has two more places to repair (I'm telling you - these little things are viscious and quite persistent!) and then we shall have our home back to ourselves... no more little fury nonfriends. That evening Ari came over and we watched Zack and Miri Make a Porno...which on the case just reads Zack and Miri... Don't get me started. It is a wonderfully sweet movie - definitely not appropriate for children. But Seth Rogen is in it and he is just fabulous!!!!
Sunday Mia went and spent the afternoon with her grandparents and Ben and I went out for an afternoon date. We went bowling - during which Ben owned at all three games.... and we went to Home Depot to look at counter tops. It was a lovely productive afternoon. As of May 8th - I will be a member of a bowling league with Ben ... thankfully it is for beginners so hopefully I won't embarrass myself or more importantly Ben very much. It shall be an experience! At the end of the league I'll get my own bag, shoes and ball.

Tonight Ben is going to get a new mountain bike. He has started biking with some guys at work and is currently borrowing a bike. I am super excited for him! Mia and I are a little jealous though. Mia wants a seat on his bike. LOL He told her to wait and when she gets older she can have her own.

We have found a new amazing show - Big Bang Theory. Season 1 played last year and Season 2 is currently running - Monday nights on CBS - you must check it out. Quite hilarious!

Ok - so I am out of things to ramble on about. I will leave you with this food for thought: "The bicycle is a curious vehicle. Its passenger is its engine." ~ John Howard

Honesty ... (a scary word)

2009-03-30T15:52:00.004-05:00

So the beautiful Heather sent me a Honesty Award (thanks, Heather!)... so here are 10 honest things about me...

1) I hate most beans... one of the only exceptions is edamame

2) I don't like being by myself for long periods of time and yet I am an introvert

3) I worry about what other people think of me - my biggest wish is that I could see myself through other people's eyes

4) I love flowers - any type except for paperwhites - to me they smell like urine...

5) I love taking care of people

6) I am very (probably too much) talkative when I am with people I know, but if I am in a group of "unknowns" I don't speak

7) I love to read - but not non-fiction books

8) I was once a dancer - I dreamed of going to Queens College and studying choreography

9) I hate mirrors

10) I tend to exaggerate - but I have gotten much better at not over the years...

So there you go - 10 honest things about me. Now it's your turn...