lovely end to another week.

It baffles me how fast weekends go by. this isn't a new realization but one that I wish didn't have to be.

we had a wonderful weekend. well, almost wonderful - my lovely momma ended up in the ER with really, scary blood pressure Sunday night. for her to go to a 1) hospital 2) to the ER; really meant something was wrong. She is a fighter, a strong soul, and the most generous and upbeat person you could ever cross paths with. But sometimes this is a major weakness for her; well, it is when it comes to her own health. I'm very thankful she sought medical help and that everything turned out to be ok; at this point a few medication adjustments.

Friday, we went to Walmart. Oh, how I love Walmart. I could go everyday, several times a day AND still find reasons to go back. Unfortunatly, in my small town, I live basically between 2 close locations. Dang.er.ous.

Saturday, we had a back to school "Stuff the Bus" event at church with a homemade icecream social. It was a great time, especially spending it with sweet girlfriends from the church. We then skipped down to my hometown and spent a few hours with my mamaw and attempted to make pictures of those precious hummingbirds. It was during this hour of my life, that I officially realized I am in no way a photographer and seriously need to take classes. My fancy angles and wanna be awesome shots, just didn't turn out the way I had all layed out in my head. I will go through them the next few days and share. I am pretty sure the photography class I am taking in Bristol this October cannot get here soon enough.

Saturday afternoon we came back to celebrate the 4th birthday of a BF's daughter. Watching this little girl was so warming. She is so full of expression - each gift she opened, or each cupcake she helped pass out to her little friends you could tell she was the happiest little girl on earth. I wonder if I was as excited when I was 4? It was a great party and such a joy to be part of her life.

Then.....Saturday afternoon we went fishing. Well, let me break this down. I got in the Jeep to go get our spot while dad-n-law and Jay went to get minnows. I pulled out of my drive, topped the hill, curbed by tire, [in my defense, the truck coming toward me was over to far, therefore making me go over to far] called J and dad-n-law to my rescue. Did you know not one person stopped to offer help? Not even the person who intially ran me off the road to curb the tire. Sadly, sometimes southern hospitality here in the south, isn't present. To fast forward, I made it to the lake, they wanted to fish from the bridge, me under the bridge, so I came home. It makes me nervous sitting up there. It's right at the mouth of the tail of the dragon and all those bikes speeding by are unsettling. So I left and got home to catch up on some much needed Zzzzzz's.

Sunday started revival...its was great! Have I mentioned I ♥  my church. It runs through Wednesday. Jay got nomitated to be the 2nd person in the sound room and I the Assistant Nursery Coordinator. I am not sure yet what that intells but happy to be part of the children's ministry.

I'm in a chatty mood today; right? Wishing everyone a wonderful week.

my sweet friend Kasey and I at making ice cream for the

"Stuff the Bus" donation drive.

yum. yum.

a few of some of the supplies donated.

awesome.

birthday party at the park

love my girls.

the sweetest birthday girl. happy 4th!

what a darling.

summer cuts.

the men folk around my house are minus hair these days.
adorable either way, but i sure miss the hair.
it makes them a bit more cuddly.
[woolly is good]

wanted: ice cold water

I hope you aren't on your 50th straight day of 90° temperatures, as we Tennessee folk are.

It.has.been.hot.and.miserably.humid.

I am always anxious for fall but this year it really can't get here fast enough.

Jay unfortunalty has to be out in this horrible heat several times a day; poor guy. 

We went fishing this past weekend and even those little guys know its too hot out.

I hadn't ever been night fishing so it was a fun and interesting experience. 

Any excuse to go to Chilhowee Lake I'm usually for; it's one of my favorite places.

So this weekend I am going to my mamaws to take pictures of her hummingbirds.

And I am so exited.

I haven't really played with my D90 since I got it in April and I have been studying up.

She has about 100 hummingbirds, if not more; this is a true statement.

I can't wait to share pictures...it's truly an amazing, unbelievable sight.

My family has always had a love for these sweet birds. 

And this year, I finally got one of my own.

happy. happy.

hey, stay cool! pretty colors and cooler weather are getting closer.

holy matrimony!

today is my 9th wedding annivesary. i am not writing you from a caribbean island, on the beach while sipping on something with pineapple, tanning my not-so-beach bound bod, while the waves are splashing and the smell of the ocean is heavenly. instead, i am cozied up in my bed, fighting this horrible cold-that-feels-like-the-flu. yuck! i officially have the un-official anniversary 2 year curse.  this is the third time i have been sick on our annivesary...i had kidney stones 4 years ago, the flu 2 years ago and now the super crud. i'm hoping Jay will get home early so we can salvage the day with a late dinner and some alone time. hopefully i will be feeling a bit better. a snotty, red nose and horrid cough, i assume, is not his idea of beauty. fyi:: we are going out of town this weekend to celebrate.

a few pics [of] our wedding day.

[copies of pics] well, were kind of old enough where they

didn't have fancy CDs to put pics on]

the ceremony

lighting of the unity candle

                                                         our sweet flower girl, rachel.

our first dance.

the wedding party

[you can't really tell the colors, but they were celadon and periwinkle]

Jay's sweet niece

holy RICE! were under attack!

look how young we were; we were headed out to begin

our life together. [and to Florida for our honeymoon]

how we've grown over the years.

and today - 

were so happy. and still so inlove.

i'm so blessed to still be his "forever".

i love you, Jay.

happy Easter.

Easter 2010

happy, happy birthday.

my dear daddy turned 57 today. another blessed year of life. happy birthday, dad. i love you.

happy birthday to thee,

thou are one-hundred three;

thy hearing's disappearing,

and thou can't hardly see!

me and my daddy. happy birthday.

♥

you scream. i scream. we all scream for ice cream.

his birthday sweetness.

jay and mom providing the entertainment of the evening.

my beautiful mother.

♥

my sweet little family.

an evening at the park.

our weather has been beautiful the last week or so. Wednesday afternoon we ventured out to the park. took some bbq for a picnic, bread for the ducks, and the dog for a walk. it was perfect park weather. i am ready to go fishing and camping! Jay found a buddy along the trail; a red bird. perhaps a parakeet? his owner was an older man who was super friendly and nice and probably from new york; i loved his accent. Thursday we done some spring cleaning in the house, got our yard ready to mow and the flower beds ready to mulch. i finally got the chance to hang up all our new decor for our family room and we have finally finished our kitchen/dining room; so i will finally have pics for that. we're slowly making our way to the back of the house where 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths eagerly wait for our attention. im currently ISO a paint fairy.

have a beautiful,

sunny day.

 my blooming beauty.

dusty wanting to eat chase the ducks.

the red bird from new york.

i think jay was skeered.

someone made a buddy, afterall.

happy monday.

Another wonderful weekend! I finally got to spend some time with mom Saturday morning. I miss our time together! But life happens and sadly it took our weekly Saturday shopping trips away. I'm thankful Dad is off weekends but I do miss the time with mom dearly. Afterwards, I met a friend for dinner. Jay had to work a Home and Garden show Saturday afternoon, so my day worked out well. I wanted to go camping this weekend, but that kind of didn't play out. [i really, really wanna go!] Sunday we celebrated my brother's 37th birthday in my home town and on our way back home, Jay and I stopped and fed some ducks at a marina between the rainstorms we had been having pretty much all day. We hung out there for a while; I really miss our lake house! I love being on the water.....

  sitting on the docks.

sweetness.

on the shore.

where did it go?

so as i sat and bragged last night about how happy i was with the arrival of spring, it's now apparant that i hadn't tuned into the forecast and discovered that today was going to be like a cold, winter day. blech! we went from sunny mid-60's to low-30's and overcast. dang you, east Tennessee weather!

the movie new moon arrived in stores friday night. i love the series, but not a diehard fan to know the DVD was coming out. well, friday night my dog had a boo-boo and so Jay had to make a last minute wal-mart run around 10:00p. he was amused when he returned home, telling of the line that was wrapped almost one and a half times around the store, waiting to get their hands on this movie. when he checked out, the cashier said some had been there since early, early that morning and had traveled from several cities over to score a copy. well, Saturday afternoon, we went to dinner and Target; and there at check out #5 was about 300 copies of new moon. no long line included.

although i find the wait silly, i have to admit i once did the same. and my story is kind of embarassing compared to waiting on a DVD. so i was fresh out of high school, maybe the summer after and my bf and i had somehow turned into wrestling fanatics. yes, major redneck. but at the time who could pass up watching beefy guys with long hair, wrestle? for a minute, it was love. well, we found out that [the then] WCW was coming to a college arena about an hour and a half away and we wanted ring side. tickets went on-sale on a Saturday. the bf had to work. so, i loaded my car and drove to the arena, set up my tent, had my cans of beenie-weenies and store brand coke [remember: college years] and hung out with the other crazed fans through the night, to be the first to score tickets. my efforts landed us 5th row ring-side seats.

haha. o, the memories.

catching up

we are on tract for 2nd fertility treatment in April. we are shooting to do four attempts back to back (April, May, June, July). hopefully the first will be a success, Lord willing. i begin my pretreatment regiment on Monday. my friend from Idaho is strongly recommending acupuncture, which is supposed to be good when undergoing fertility treatments. i think i am actually contemplating this.

speaking of children, i have a huge update on foster care. the Big Guy upstairs has really been blessing us. early, early december, same week i was "randomly" contacted for my job....i received a "returned call" from a high up with DCS regarding a message i had left her October '08. after talking to her and briefing her that we had gotten no where since the kids had left, she realized that information in the DCS computer had not been changed, thus preventing us from renewing our certification. within a few days, someone had called me back and was assigned to fix the issuse. i am now in weekly communication and we are only weeks away from becoming Foster Parents again. Praise the good Lord. and with this, we will be pursing adoption of one of our previous foster kids. please, please remember us in your prayers as we hopefully will begin this journey again.

we are looking forward to spring. i am chomping at the bit to get out and work in the yard and be in the sunshine. we defiantly have had a gloomy, cold and snowy winter, the worst in years and we are ready for some warm and sunny weather. we are looking forward to our vacations this year, especially our trip in October with a few friends from church. with Jay's job, he cannot take time off between March 20 and June 15. So, our first trip will be the first of July. we are still looking at the Outer Banks in NC and yes, we are still looking for a VW beetle. i found one local, a convertible, that i have fallen in love with but i can't ever catch the owners. hopefully i will soon as i am madly in love with it.

i became a Pampered Chef consultant recently. My first show is March 20. I am excited about this for several reasons. 1) We just redid our kitchen and so i am addicted buying all kinds of new gadgets. 2) i LOVE pampered chef  3) i love, love cooking 4) i love meeting new people and 5) all commissions will go toward the costs of our fertility treatments. plus, i will get lots of free and discounted products; this makes me happy!

i think this catches you up. we are doing so well, are so happy and have been so blessed. its amazing the abundance of blessings we have received over the past few months; to God we owe it all ♥

marvelous monday.

i.made.my.hair.appointment.today. 


[i am uber excited]. it's Thursday after work at the Aveda in Knoxville. i'm nervous. ive always got my haircut at a local joint. but, it's with a master stylist and it's a guy, so i'm really excited about that. so, maybe i think i'll look totally marvelous, post cut. i mean, doesn't all the makeovers on TV, post 'a la fruity, walk away with perfect model hair?

today, i was super busy at work. and i came home and hubby had cooked a super yummy [and healthy] dinner and got a movie. how's that for a perfect ending to a busy Monday? i really needed to clean the bathrooms and finish up laundry, but eh, they can wait. for now, i'm on the couch, snuggled up; no where else i'd rather be.

me busy at work, tee-hee.  (random, by E)

snowed in

i'm kind of bummed. see, i reported yesterday that we didn't get a lot of snow, but there was enough to maybe build a small snowman. but, i had been down with my back since this past Wednesday [post-break] and we didn't even get to do that. booo! so, hopefully i will be healed and ready come our next storm, which i heard from a little birdie, could be next weekend. [think snow. snow. snow]

Jay did get to take sweet dusty for a ride.

this week, it's mandatory i get my hair done:  oh-my-geez!

the deal-e-o: so i went to this salon for years, but the last time i went, she totally ruined my hair. so, i let it grow out and found another awesome girl. called to get an appointment, she is no longer there. i think rule is, they have to tell you where they went. it seriously was the best hair cut i had ever had. so i am going to call tomorrow to beg see if they will give me the salon she went to. if they cant, i suppose i will try the Aveda salon. They are a bit pricier but for the perfect hair cut, i will pay whatever. plus, i am seriously thinking that i might get some color. perhaps i will wait 'til the spring. i really like my brunette, it's hard to part.

hey, you! come here!

i added my weight loss blog link over to the right.

so, maybe you should check it out.

and help hold me accountable.

just sayin.

back to normal.

our lives. after a very ruff year, we are back to normal. how i love our 9-5 lives. i think mostly, i love being able to come home, cook and have dinner together. for so long, we just didn't have that. i really missed it. even on days Jay is super tired and don't have much to say, were together...at the table...eating a meal that I cooked. i even have my laundry on a cycle again. as much as i used to loathe laundry, now i enjoy it. perhaps i am loosing my mind.

today is a major couch day. we as Tennesseans were sadly disappointed, when the winter snow storm, the first in years, left us, leaving only a slushy mess and maybe an inch of snow. i was ready to play. we hadn't played since probably 2002, when we got about 4+ inches. its when we lived in our lake house in my home town. christy, one of my bf's, came over and we played outside for hours, on our homemade sleds. i still have hope that this winter will bring a huge storm.

i got my pampered chef packet in the mail yesterday. i am looking forward to this. my first show, is late February. this will be hosted by my leader, to show me the "what to do's". i'm not shy, but am nervous about getting up in front of strangers, in their kitchens. i know after the first or second show, i will be great. i love cooking. i totally love awesome cooking stuff. this is ideal for me. and it will be good for me.

speaking of cooking, i finally joined weight watchers this past Tuesday. i am proud of myself! i have done perfect on plan this week. this is my 2nd time on WW and i hope i do as well as i did the first time around. my mom and i are doing it together, and as much as we talk - its great motivation! she has lost sixteen [16] pounds in about five-weeks. our offices closed early yesterday, due to the threat of inclement weather and i thought soup would be perfect. i whipped up a simple WW friendly potato soup, recipe courtesy of my mom's leader, and it was delicious, only 2 points per cup, and that's a lot of soup! [i'll post recipe at end of this blog]

i think i might venture out in what snow we do have, even if i only throw one snow ball, on the walk to get the mail. silly Tennessee weather.

to good to be true potato soup


1 pack dry onion soup mix
1 pack original country gravy mix (2 cup size)
1 28-oz back shredded hashbrown potatoes
3 cans chicken broth
1 cup warm water

Mix dry soup mix with warm water. Combine all ingredients and cook 30-min, over medium heat. Salt & Pepper to taste.

Makes 10 servings

2 WW points per cup.

prettiness

our kitchen is complete, minus appliances - and looks great! all new dishes, cooking stuff, re-arranged cabinets. the paint and new colors and decor are beautiful. i actually cooked every day this past week; & that's kind of major. moving on...Jay got the first two coats of primer on the craft room last weekend. we plan on finishing it next weekend. my vintage desk will be here in 2 weeks...then i get to move all my sewing goodies in. (see here) in addition, i'll finally have a home for all my photos and scrap booking goodies. i'm most excited about this room. it will be pretty. o' i'll post pics later this week of the kitchen.

finding strength

have you ever read nienie?

she is one of my favorite reads. her sweet husband has been updating her blog the past few days, as she has been in the hospital undergoing more skin grafts. i look up to this sweet, sweet girl. although not burnt, i understand her pain, physical and emotional. when i was 6, i was diagnosed with a skin disorder, due to an immune deficiency. i've battled with this my entire life, mostly since being out of high school. the pain at times have been unbearable and the the self esteem issue along with it, are haneous. i've never been as strong as she has; she is such a beautiful person. through her pain, her surgeries, the emotional burden of life never being as it was before, she amazes me. i find strength in her story. im thankful for an amazing husband, who has always been the most loving, supportive, understanding man. im blessed. i pray that i find strength like stephanie.

a little bit o' random.

it's wonderful to have sunshine back around these parts....as much as i love the cold weather, the snow, the scarfs, boots and coats....i think, for the first time ever, i am anxious for spring to come around. it's been in the low 60s the past few days after 2 weeks of sub-freezing temperatures; 'tis lovely.

sigh. i wished I could give more to the country of Haiti; more than money and supplies. i wished i could give my heart and soul, my help, my love. the children they are showing on news totally tears my heart out...the families crying out in desperation in search of their loved ones and the volunteers begging for medical supplies. so sad. please say a special prayer for the residents and volunteers.

and, i found this too cool software the other day, that totally makes polaroid pics. and on top of that, i found a brand new polaroid instant film camera last weekend at a local thrift store, for just $5. i am so excited. i love, love polaroid pics. so, i played around and took this too cute pic of the hubs.

thanks Jay for being my model, up close and personal style.

change of events

its so weird how life changes and things or people that you once couldn't live without, now a safe distance seems only too close. i guess we grow up? if that's what this is. friday night, i had been wanting to go out for several weeks...i wanted to listen to music, be around a crowd. so, all day friday, i was looking forward to the plans we had made. but as the day went on, i started second guessing myself. we backed out once. but decided to go ahead and go......and so we went. and 32 minutes and $14 later, we left. so, here we were, 8:32 on a Friday night....headed back home. how perfectly happy we were to stop for a milkshake and spend the evening cuddled up on the couch. the once loud, exciting, dramatic crowd of others and places, no longer interested us; not even a little. perhaps it didn't when i made the plans...maybe i was still hanging on to a small part of the past instead of realizing that since i had turned 30, my life has been nothing but perfect.

it was a beautiful, December day.

the past 6-months have been such a whirlwind of change in our lives....and for the first time in my life, i can say i am happy. truly happy. & that is such an incredible feeling. some events over the last year were really, really tough and very hard and hurtful,  but i am now thankful they happened. as it was through the hurt, the anger, the waiting; i had so much time to look inside and reflect on who i was, who i had become. it was then i realized what i was missing and how we had gotten where we were. it was through this that we as a family, renewed our walk in God.  im thankful for such a wonderful husband, who hung in there with me during such a ruff year.

after visiting our church for the last year, we joined early December. this had been a decision that wasn't easily made on my behalf, but only because i had been a member of my home church, since birth. but we did. and  our lives since have been so abundantly blessed. we have so much to be thankful for, wonderful careers. beautiful families. our health. we have sweet friends (and I, the clarity on how my best friendship, went wrong)

God is so good. I'm so thankful he forgives and so thankful that he provides direction for our lives. Living each day with the focus of only making him happy instead of for myself, is how we got to where we are and how I can say I am truly happy.

This year has been beautiful so far....and only lovely things await. I'm so happy and look forward to every minute of it.

sweet letters.

dear hot chocolate,

i love you, especially on cold days. brrrrr.

dear mom, 

i can't wait to see you today!

dear jersey sheets,

you are my favorite thing, jamie's too.

dear body,

thanks for not getting too sick on me, with the season and all.

dear time lights all over TN,

its only fun when I hit every green light.

dear sony camera,

please hang in there.

dear chili's,

we are sad you no longer have chipolte chicken tacos, they were our favorite.

dear winter mittens, scarves, leg warmers;

thanks for keeping me warm.

dear Christmas music,

i'm finally allowed to blast your tunes and love it.

dear car wash,

i need to visit you.

dear mother in law,

thanks for the flowers...very pretty.

dear snow,

thank you for coming on Saturday; it was lovely. come back!

dear career,

thanks for coming back to me in the form of greatness, corner window office and all.