"And the Winner Is..."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. (blowing kisses to all my "fans") I couldn't have done it without you."

S-E-R-I-O-U-S-L-Y kidding!!

Apparently I have been awarded the Arte Y Pico blog award. Honestly, I really didn't make this up myself, although not a bad idea to occasionally just give yourself an award to make yourself feel good. Hmmm (thinking about all the blue ribbons and gold medals I am going to adorn myself with. Things like # 1 ribbon for making it through the morning without raising my voice, or a gold medal for actually finding time to shower and put on make-up!)
Oh, I digress.

The Arte Y Pico award was created to give to other bloggers that inspire others with their creative energy, whether it be through their writing, artwork or more. I was so honored with this award by a new blogging buddy, AuburnGalAlways. For the life of me I cannot figure out how in the world I could inspire a person like her for she is a far better writer than I am. So, I am very humbled, friend.

The Rules for the Award:
1. Put the logo on your blog (picture above)
2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you
3. Nominate at least 5 other blogs that inspire you
4. Add links to these blogs on your blog
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog to
let them know you gave them the award

Before I present my nominations, let me just say that all five of these people have inspired me on a personal level. All five of these bloggers are real life friends, and I am so blessed to know such fine women, mothers, wives, and friends.

And the nominees are....(drum roll)...
1. JMom @ Lots of Scotts
2. Wendymom @ Mom of Eleven
3. Joni @ Jonis Joy
4. Georgia Mom
5. Just Another Ordinary Miracle

(Participate if you wish)

100th Post

Apparently, it is some sort of blog tradition to list 100 things about yourself on your 100th post. I don't know why anyone would want to know 100 random things about me, but I'll give it a shot, and if ya feel like reading, ok. If not, well, that would be ok too. Here goes.

1 I am one of three children.
2 I have 1 brother
3 and one sister
4 I am the baby
5 Yes, I was spoiled.
6 I look a lot like my mother.
7 I act a lot like my father.
8 I have freckles.
9 I have never really liked them.
10 I have had plastic surgery.
11 I'm glad I did.
12 I like to talk.
13 My husband says that I like to hear myself talk.
14 I think I agree with him.
15 I've never really liked silence.
16 I am starting to wish I had some every once in a while.
17 I had really big hair in high school
18 I even teased my bangs
19 I met my husband when I was seventeen.
20 We were set up on a blind date
21 Obviously, I didn't know it at the time
22 I had to go to summer school for geometry 2 times in high school.
23 I still have no idea what a proof is.
24 Or why I ever needed to know it.
25 My first car was a Volkswagen Cabriolet
26 It was burgundy
27 with a tan top
28 I liked that car a lot
29 I have had only had 4 cars in my 35 years of life
30 I am not a morning person
31 I am good under pressure
32 I procrastinate a lot
33 Therefore, I find myself under pressure a lot.
34 I went to Georgia Southern University
35 I did not do the sorority thing
36 I'm glad I didn't
37 I still have dreams that I miss my final exam
38 I was a nursing major to begin with
39 I changed to teaching,
40 when I realized I couldn't stand the sight of blood
41 I took field biology at GSU
42 I was the nerd looking through binoculars on campus
43 and catching bugs
44 All for a grade
45 Not because I liked it
46 It took my 5 years to graduate from college
47 I had a great time
48 I left GSU my senior year because a boy broke
my heart
49 He came running back
50 I married him 2 years later
51 We were married in 1997
52 On the hottest day of the year (I think)
53 I don't even talk to 2 of the girls that were
in my wedding
54 I don't even know what happened to them
55 I taught school for 7 years
56 I have no desire to go back to that
57 I love to shop
58 I never have money to do it
59 I love to sleep
60 I love to eat good food,
61 especially things with garlic
62 I hate brussel sprouts
63 Lunch is my favorite meal of the day
64 I love to cook
65 I don't like to bake
66 Mainly because I'm not good at it
67 I made a pound cake once
68 My husband thought it was sweet cornbread
69 I haven't attempted one since
70 I like Neapolitan ice cream,
71 probably because I'm not good at making decisions
72 I have 7 nieces
73 I have only 1 nephew
74 I love being a mommy
75 I am tired most of the time
76 I am blessed with good kids
77 Really good kids
78 I sometimes wish I would have
gone to school to be a lawyer
79 I have no desire to do it now
80 I have had 5 pregnancies
81 I have 3 healthy children
82 I had to have 3 c-sections
83 My belly will never be the same
84 My scar is a badge on honor
85 because it means I'm a mommy
86 I love being a mommy
87 It's my biggest accomplishment
88 It's my biggest challenge too
89 I am a Christian
90 I was raised in a Christian home
91 I am in a bible study group that I love
92 Those women keep me going
93 They encourage, challenge, and hold me accountable
94 I love those ladies
95 I am more in love with my husband today
than the day I married him
96 He is my best friend
97 He knows me better than anyone
98 I, in fact, married the best looking guy ever (by
the way)
99 I love the fact that my children look like him
100 I am blessed

Just Something Easy

I saw this meme on another blog and since I am need of some material to write about, I thought I would try it myself. I have been so busy lately and things have just been so crazy, that honestly I just don't have the energy to think about any kind of creative , inspirational, or even sappy post. So, this meme seemed easy enough for my scattered brain today.

I am.. a little stubborn.

I think ..I talk too much.

I thank.. God for my family.

I know ..I should be working right now.

I wish ..I had more hours in the day.

I hate ..to put up laundry.

I miss ..the newborn stage of my 3 children.

I feel ..like life is flying by.

I shop.. if I have money in my wallet.

I hear ..the sounds of small children playing outside, a quiet, but audible new dryer turning, a new washing machine spinning and a dish-washer washing.

I crave ..diet coke, but haven't had one in 3 weeks.

I wonder ..who my children will marry (on a deep note) and I wonder who won the lottery (on a light note) Hope it was me.

I dream ..not too often, but when I do it is completely random and usually makes no sense.

I love ..my husband with all my heart.

I care.. about all people.

I always.. wish I was skinny.

I celebrate ..whenever there is an excuse to celebrate!

I sing.. not horrible...I can carry a tune and that's about the extent of it.

I cry.. easily and it's never a "pretty cry." I get the blood shot eyes, red nose, and splotches..

I don't ..know where I am going to find the time to do all I need to do this week.

I write ..fairly neatly. I think all teachers (or former teachers) have neat writing.

I pray ..for the health and safety of my children and family every day.

I lose.. things a lot. I am not very organized.

I listen ..to people, but need to get better at it. I tend to listen WHILE thinking in my head what I am going to say next.

I am scared.. a lot. I am a worrier, although I know I shouldn't be that way.

I dance ..only after having a few cocktails because that's when I THINK I might dance o.k., but truthfully, I NEVER dance good at all.

I need.. to be doing something else.

I dread.. having to pack up 5 people for the beach.

I anticipate ..going to the beach.

I laugh ..easily, especially at my husband's dry sense of humor.

You Know you blog too much when...

-You actually refer to your family members by the first letter of there name. Or you hear your real life blog buddies refer to their children using their real names, but all the while you are thinking, "R, K, or whatever..."

-You are constantly thinking in just about any situation, "Is this blog material?"

-Furthermore, even in a bad situation, you think the silver lining of that moment could be that it just gave you something to blog ABOUT.

-You wake up in the middle of the night with a great idea about a post and you can't go back to sleep because you are writing it out in your head.

-...then you forget what it was the next morning. It would've been a great one though.

-The first thing you do every morning is check your favorite blog spots to see if there is a new post. Who cares about the news or the paper!?

-You start to tell a friend a story and she stops you and says, "I know. I read it on your blog."

-You feel a sense of closeness and a bond with people that you have never and may never meet face to face. You know some of their deepest thoughts and raw emotions.

-You have laughed so hard at Big Mama's post in one minute and then cried so hard reading Angie's story at Bring the Rain the next minute.

-You have cooked several recipes that you have gotten from other bloggers. The Pioneer Woman is your friend because she shows you step by step instructions WITH pictures!

-You see a real life friend/blog buddy (that you have only seen in person one other time) at the pool and you say, "Hey! I'm Elizabeth, Operation Motherhood" so she would know who I was! That one takes the cake!

Such A Clever Guy!

The other night we went out to dinner with T's parents after spending the day at their house swimming and having fun. As I was enjoying my meal, T said something funny to me and I laughed. Then, all of a sudden, I was choking. I've had several experiences where I have "had something go down the wrong way" and had a little coughing spell, but this was bad...I was having trouble breathing. I could barely inhale any air at all. T looked at me, put his hand on my shoulder, and gave me that "are you ok?" look and this is when I made a big mistake: I looked at him and shook my head "no". After several seconds of not breathing but a tiny bit of air, I finally started coughing, but it took a while before I was able to talk. When I could finally talk, I explained to everyone that I was really choking. T looked at me and said, "Then why did you shake your head 'no'?" Apparently he thought I was saying to him, "No, I don't need help. Don't get up." I explained to him that I was actually saying to him, "NO, I AM NOT OK." It is then that he made me feel really stupid...

He put his hands on his throat and said, "THIS is the universal sign for choking."

"Oh yeah," was my response.
I'm pretty sure I won't forget that next time. We also used that as an opportunity to tell our kids about it at the same time.

I sure am glad that God decided not to take me while eating a salad at a mexican restaurant and choking on lettuce! I can think of more glamourous ways to exit this world...choking isn't one of them.

What Was I THINKING??

I acquired a hope chest, or cedar chest, from my mother many years ago. For the post 10 years this hope chest has sat at the foot of our bed and it has hardly been opened to view it's contents. Mostly, it serves as a place to put my folded clothes or to collect dust in my bedroom.

This past weekend, however, I decided to actually clean it out so that it might serve as my winter clothes storage rather than the usual plastic bins that we change out from our attic each season. (And YES...I AM JUST NOW switching out my clothes! I have been THAT busy!) One thing that we don't like about our 60's style ranch home is that it wasn't designed with very much closet space!

Ty has been begging me for years to clean out this chest, but I kept insisting that there was some really good stuff in there that I wanted to save. I knew that there were sweaters that my Mom had in high school and some from my era as well. SURELY one day they might come back in style...or one day M or K would like to go through it! That is what I THOUGHT. I couldn't have been more wrong. There is definitely no HOPE for the things I found it the HOPE chest! I now realize that unless someone throws a party with the theme "BAD SWEATERS OF THE PAST", then there is no way any of the contents of this chest will ever be used again.

Case in point #1:


Here is a close up of those fantastic jewels!

And NO, I DIDN'T Bedazzle this myself!...but I'm pretty sure I wore it more than once! I'm SURE to some really FANCY and sophisticated party or dance...probably listening to Tiffany.


Case in point #2:


What was I thinking? Could there BE another color in this sweater?! It looks like a brand new box of Crayola crayons!

Case in point #3:

Does GRIMACE come to mind?? Or Barney, perhaps?

I now have a huge trash bag full of ugly sweaters for the salvation army, although I think they are better served at the dump! But ya never know...somebody out there just might get an invitation to that "Bad Sweater Party" and they'll find just what they are looking for at my local Goodwill store. And the very best news of all....I just found a great new place for all my winter clothes!

Insult to Injury

I don't mean to keep harping on my bad weekend, BUT I forgot one of the worst things that happened to me in my previous post.

Remember now, my 35th birthday was on Friday, right? Well, TWO different people this weekend (my brother's friends) asked when I was introduced as his sister, "Who is older?" W...H...A...T..!!!??? Just to let EVERYONE know out there, I am NINE (9), let me repeat, NINE years younger than my brother, S. I even took special care before I left for the weekend to color my graying hair! I mean, he was probably in the 4th grade when I was born. I was only 9 when he left for COLLEGE. I was going through puberty when he was getting married. I had just gotten my driver's license when he had his first child. He had FOUR children before I got married! Again, I say..WHAAAT!!????

OK. Had to get that off my chest. I feel better, now.

Happy Birthday To Me...

Warning: This is a long post. Do not feel obigated to actually read it.

35 years, 12,775 days on this wonderful earth.

-This time 35 years ago, I was taking my first breath, weighing in at 8 lbs, 6 oz and meeting my mom, dad, brother and sister for the first time face to face

-This time 34 years ago I was celebrating my very first birthday. I don't recall what my cake looked like, or even if I had one, but I'm sure it was real nice.

-This time 33 years ago I'm sure I was into anything and everything.

-This time 32 years ago I was probably walking over to my favorite neighbor's house through the bushes and she was making me homeade french fries. I named my oldest daughter after her and my grandmother.

- This time 31 years ago I was 4 years old with pig tails tied up with that yarn ribbon.

-This time 30 years ago, I had a frog themed birthday party and all my friends came and celebrated. I think this is the year I got my first bike.

-This time 29 -23 years ago I was growing up, having fun, loving my family and my friends. Spending hours playing with Barbies, riding my Big Wheel, and collecting stickers.

-This time 22-21 years ago, I was embarking on my teen years complete with a bratty attitude, sleeping in until lunch on the weekends, pimples and Seabreeze, talking on the phone a bunch, and wanting as many pairs of Guess jeans as I could get. Posters of all my favorite guy celebreties adorned my walls.

-This time 20 years ago I got my learner's permit to drive. I failed it the first time, but passed it a day or too later (I'm pretty sure I had a little help from my Dad!) I remember being so nervous.

-This time 19 years ago, I turned sweet sixteen and for my birthday I got a Volkswagon Cabriolet, which was just what I wanted ever since I had seen "Can't Buy Me Love"

-This time 18 years ago I was only 10 days away from meeting the man of my dreams on a blind date (little then did I know I would marry him and have 3 children with him)

-This time 17 years ago I was graduating from high school and saying good-bye to a lot of friends, but starting a new adventure.

-This time 16-13 years ago I was drinking entirely too much beer, having entirely too much fun, staying up entirely too late....in a little town called Statesboro, GA. These were some of the best and worst years of my life.

-This time 12 years ago I had just finished my student teaching and was graduating from college (finally).

-This time 11 years ago I was planning "the big day", nervous with anticipation for the wedding day that would take place 2 months later....On that year I married T, again, "the man of my dreams" and my best friend.

-This time 10 years ago I was a newlywed and about to complete my first year as a teacher. I was really glad to see May come that year...those kids were crazy and I had no idea what I was doing!

-This time 9 years ago was the last year that I wouldn't be getting flowers and cards on Mother's Day. I got pregnant with our first only 5 months later. Looking back now, I have no idea what we did with all our spare time and with all of our money then (pre-kid years) !

-This time 8 years ago I was growing larger and getting hotter as summer approached. This was one of my best years ever...the year I became a Mom for the first time. Nothing challenged or changed my life more.

-This time 7 years ago I was when I realized how many jobs I actually had: wife, mommy, teacher, maid....etc.

-This time 6 years ago I was still in my twenties!

-This time 5 years ago I was pregnant with K and got a minivan, something I said would never happen! I couldn't think of a more depressing birthday...turning 30 and getting a minivan. However, this is the same year that God blessed us with the sweetest angel of a baby in K.

-This time 4 years ago I was a mother of two and for the first time a stay at home mom. I have never felt more blessed.

-This time 3 years ago I had less wrinkles, and no gray hair in sight. How quickly things can change.

-This time 2 years ago my first child was finishing up her Kindergarten year, I had (almost) a three year old and we would spend the next few summer months at the pool loving every minute of it.

-This time 1 year ago I was finding out that we had our first son on the way. I'll never ever forget that sweet moment.

-TODAY, I am loving being 35. Yes, I think I would like to not have the stretch marks, a scarred belly, the wrinkles, the gray hair, the extra lb's, and the dark circles.....but to find the brighter side of all these, they are what makes me who I am today..a well worn, sometimes too tired mommy, who would do anything for my children. I have been so graciously given 3 precious gifts: two beautiful, sweet girls and one absolutely adorable son, my "buddy". I am married to a wonderful man, who is dashingly handsome, who makes me laugh on a daily basis and who takes care of his family so well. What more could I ask for in 35 years? Life couldn't be more complete.

Happy Birthday Me.

Getting Older

My 35th birthday is in two days and quite frankly, I am feeling rather old this morning. I have just recently come to the revelation, that I am not as young as I act anymore. Seriously, it got me to thinking...

NOW is the time to actually wash my face before bed and apply heavy cream as to slow down the aging effects. NOW is the time to stop pretending that I still carry "baby weight" and actually exercise to get it off, for HEALTH reasons, not so I can look good (although, of course, that is really WHY I would do it!) NOW is the time to start eating right, cutting out the fatty foods and replacing it with organic vegetables so that my arteries might actually have a little more room in them for another 35 years of blood to pass through them. NOW is the time to stretch my muscles and keep them moving, so that I don't become stiff by the time I am 60.

They say that kids keep you young, but I'm not so sure about that. Perhaps, young at heart, but not body. My back and hips ache at night from carrying an eighteen pound baby around, and since having J, the gray hair has all of a sudden decided to come in like crazy. I'm not really ready to be gray headed...I still think 35 is too young for that. I say all this, but last night I saw a tiny baby sleeping on a TV show and I told T, "I think I want another one." Then, I regained my wits, and realized that it's kind of like a puppy...they don't stay in that cute, little,puppy stage very long and really I was just wanting another baby to experience that little bitty infant baby stage again. Also the realization that I am 35 now and "what in the heck am I thinking?" set in.

Time to start living like I am actually in my mid thirties like I am, instead of acting like I am still in my twenties. It's time to stop living in fast forward, as Kenny puts it. I'm not real sure if I have been acting quite like a "hillbilly rock star", but I can say that I could treat my body a little better.

I'm just not sure where the time went. It seems like yesterday that I was a young girl playing with dolls, or a teenager crying over a silly boy, or even becoming a mommy for the first time. My friend, mom of eleven, entitled her last post, "The Days Go By Slow, But The Years Go By Fast." You are so right, friend, you are so right.