The Real Housewife of Longleaf Ranch

Finally A Post?

2011-09-02T16:01:00.002-04:00

I haven't blogged in forever ~ Funny how life just gets in the way sometimes......

I need some help blogging buddies. We may be in the market for a new computer. The question is, To Mac or Not?

Help!

Church Sign Sunday

2011-06-26T15:18:00.002-04:00

This is probably one of my favorites yet......

Does Life Stink?

We have a pew for you!

Story of Us - His Part 3

2011-06-23T11:23:00.003-04:00

Finally!

He has finally finished his side of our story. (With Editorial Corrections and Comments in Red!)

I know, I was supposed to have this written ages ago but something happened; call it life, call it procrastination call it what you like but I finally got round to my final installment. (I call it laziness, if you're asking)

So I’m back on my way to America for two weeks, again I could have done anything else with my time. I could have gone to one of the 4 places I was originally going to (bragging yet again!), I could have actually started my new job and trained with the rest of my colleagues from the other company but no…. I chose to get on a plane and go back to see this girl I had left less than two weeks earlier. And anyway I have my training planned for my return.

I land in Orlando again and negotiate customs and immigration with no problems this time and as I walk through to the lounge area there she is, at least she was there to meet me this time, so we get my bags, head back to the car and start the journey to Jacksonville. This time was more like a vacation with Cassie showing me more touristy things such as the parks in Orlando, St. Augustine etc. of course there were more places to eat and I had to buy as many reeses (Reese's Cups were not in the UK at this point. I couldn't believe it the first time I heard this news. I said "Geez Reese's Cups are like their own food group over here!") as I could fit in my case to go back with, but on the whole I was on vacation this time and took it pretty easy. Two weeks later I head back to England to start my new job and prepare for Cassie’s trip over, Cassie at this point had booked a flight over to England and would be there for Valentine’s day, which suited me but I was a single guy living with my house mate Matt and the place was not exactly ready for female visitors. The next couple of weeks saw me getting into my new job, attempting to clean the house and generally just doing what I do.

So the day arrives and Cassie calls me en route to England, Heathrow is about 2 ½ hours from my house and she is due to land at 10pm so I have plenty of time to take care of my day before I have to set off, but I get to the airport at just the time her flight is due to land, there’s no point being early as she has to go through immigration and she took a US laden flight so it would be a while before she got through to where I was waiting. At the airport I got talking to a guy who was there to pick someone up and he told me the flight was running around 30 mins late. This turned into an hour and they finally landed at just after 11pm. (We were EARLY to London. They made us circle Heathrow for who knows how long before landing. BUT, I actually told him the flight was due to land at 10:55. That put us right on time!) She came through the doors into the waiting/pick up area and walked straight past me, AWESOME I’m that memorable! I called her and she turned round still not seeing me so I waived and she came over, everyone says our daughter looks like me so now all she has to do is hold Georgia up in front of her and check her face against the ones in the crowd. We kissed (obviously) and headed back to my car, she went to get in the wrong side and I asked if she really wanted to drive on the wrong side of the road the first time in England after such a long journey, she made some comment and sat in the passenger side.

The journey home was pretty straightforward as we don’t have all the eateries and things off the side of the road like they do here, but at one point Cassie did ask me why there were houses in the middle of the road and who would chose to live in the middle of a busy highway. I looked over to the central reservation and asked what she meant, no houses that I could see, she said “right there, there’s houses in the middle of the road”, I laughed and pointed out of my side of the car and said “that’s the middle of the road, see the cars over there going the other way”?, she made some comment and I laughed, it was dark so I’ll give her the benefit of a long days travelling and the dark. (Forget long days, traveling and dark, I was in a country driving on the WRONG side of the road! I'd never seen anything like it! Ever!)

Now here we are in England in February, if you’ve never been to England at that time of year it’s cold and wet and daylight is not very long, but I have plans and one of them involves something Cassie wanted to do… I asked what she wanted to do in her 5-6 days in England, her response nearly had me leaving her at the airport, she actually said she wanted to go to Paris!! (Trips to Europe, that's what the kids want. 22 countries in 3 days. {extra points if you can name the movie [except Casey!] } Forgive me for wanting to do it all. I'm American for crying out loud. I didn't realize all the underlying hatred between the French and English! ) Are you kidding me, here we have this entire country with so much to see and do (which we still have not done! Even with all our visits to England.) especially for someone who has never even stepped foot in it and she wants to go to France, not London, not see the country, FRANCE!! So being the nice bloke I am, I say nothing to her and book a hotel and tickets for the Eurostar to get us there. I tell her to this day, I’ve taken you once so any more trips are yours to take on your own. Not that I’m Xenophobic (???? Show off with your big words) you understand but there is a mutual dislike of French and English.

We are in Paris over Valentine’s day, you have to impress a girl right? and I have this ring with me which has very specific planning surrounding it’s being given. The idea was we would take a walk down the banks of the river Seine and at midnight I would propose, I mean, Paris at midnight on Valentine’s day who can say no? so we go out for a meal and take the Metro downtown to Notre Dame, we get off and walk around the cathedral before crossing the bridge and walking down the other side. Now remember I told you it was cold and miserable in England in February, well Paris is no different, it was FREEZING! Cassie has a cold (read FLU!) and we are walking with a wind blowing round us down the banks of the Seine and after a while I can’t feel my legs, Cassie is complaining (I was sick with the flu and he had me out at midnight, walking along a river, in the freezing cold. And for the record, I wasn't complaining, just freezing) and at 11:45 I give up and we look for a Metro station. We finally find one and head back to our hotel with me thinking “this girl has no stamina”.

The next day we grab the pastries and drinks from the hotel café and eat breakfast in our room (we did that every day of our stay there) (OMG the pastries! I want to go back just for the pastries!!) then head off to see the sights. Cassie is a big believer in jumping on sightseeing busses (travel trip ~ get a 48 hour pass on a sightseeing bus that lets you hop on and off. You can see everything from the bus the first go round and make notes on where you want to stop. On the second go round stop at the sights you wanted to take a closer look at. You don't miss a thing!) so we catch a taxi to the Eiffel tower and start from there. As we are standing underneath the tower I ask if she wants to go up, I’m thinking we can get to the top and I can propose there (Tom Cruise stole my idea for his proposal to Katie), the lines are pretty short and we can see Paris from the top. She says no she doesn’t feel like it and can we just catch a bus? (Again, I had the FLU! I said, "do you think it's a good idea for me to be going to the top with all that wind and it being so cold when I am sick" and he said "good point") GREAT! We walk to the bus stop just down street and jump on a sightseeing bus and travel round Paris on that, she’s not feeling great I later find out so we stay on the bus, no jumping off at the Louvre, no walk down the Champs Elyse, just riding a bus. By now I’m thinking I’ll be proposing at some Metro station or on the train back home, we finally get to the stop across the river from Notre Dame and grab a hot chocolate at the café there before crossing the river to the island the cathedral is on. We go for a walk round the inside to try and warm up a bit and there is a full on service going on! Back outside I decide that if I don’t pull this ring out now I never will, I had been carrying it round with me since last night and she still hadn’t caught on I had it nor had she got it on her finger. I say something about spending the rest of our lives together and she says something agreeable (sorry I can’t remember exactly what was said, something to do with nerves) and then I pull the ring out and say “so that means you’ll wear this and marry me then”. She looks at the ring for what seemed like a long time and I say “is that a yes or no” I mean you do hear stories of girls saying no at the wrong time. She just looks at me say’s “yes, yes,yes,YES” and I put the ring on. The ring was a labour of love in itself, I had researched the 3 c’s of Diamonds and found a jeweler clear across the country (OK ~ this is especially funny for me. He said he traveled all the way across the country to get my ring. I couldn't believe it! I was so impressed so I asked "How long did that take you?" and he answered "3 hours". Wait, What? 3 hours? I could travel for 3 hours and not even leave my state! It would take 3 DAYS to go across our country!) from me who custom made the ring and setting and put the specific cut of diamond in it which I found out beforehand is Cassie’s favourite cut.

So I finally did it, I finally proposed to her in Paris on Valentine’s day albeit not how I wanted to. We leave back for England the next day and the rest of her time here is spent visiting family and friends, on the Friday I have to go to a meeting so I arrange for my parents to pick Cassie up and take her out for the day which they did, they took her to the beach! Still they had a great day and they got to know each other pretty well. (If you've never heard me talk about my in-laws let me just say they are the best. I haven't met anyone that has in-laws like mine. They really are cream of the crop and I am so lucky to have them! You hear so many horror stories of in-laws and we certainly don't always see eye to eye but we are respectful in our very very very few and limited disagreements. I think they know I love their son very much and they treat me with respect because of it. I think they have raised a truly remarkable man and therefore I have no choice but to respect them! They are wonderful people and I am just as in love with them as I am the Englishman!)

5 weeks after Cassie’s trip to England, we arrange to meet up in New York, Cassie’s favourite city (sorry all the rest of the cities), for the weekend. I fly out Friday afternoon and we meet up at JFK and catch a taxi to our hotel. Cassie shows me the sights and places she likes to visit as she used to live there, it’s a very touristy week-end and too soon we are back at JFK waiting for our flights home. In less than 3 weeks I will be flying to Florida to get married so back home I get ready to leave my life behind and start a new one in the US. The day comes and my dad picks me up from my house to take me to the airport, it’s a trip he will be making with my mum, sister, niece and brother-in-law the next day. I get to Jacksonville and here I am, England and everything I had is now behind me, my family are flying in the next day and everything they can fit in their cases that is mine is all I can bring with me.

It’s been a truly whirlwind 5 months in which time I have gone from confirmed bachelor with all the toys I wanted to this guy whose madly in love with this American, and only has what can be brought over in 2 suitcases and whatever room was in my families. For the record, you cannot fit Ducati motorcycles, bass guitars or awesome stereos in suitcases but you make choices in life and I definitely made the right one when I married this girl. (Awww, how sweet. And I concur!)

You're Burning Daylight!

2011-06-19T16:38:00.007-04:00

Once upon a time there was a man. He was a crazy man who thought it might be a great idea to take his family of 6 plus a mother-in-law and sister-in-law on a trip across the country for a month in a Ford Econoline van with a truck bed pulled behind to carry our luggage!

This is NOT our van. Ours had a topper in grey and snot looking insulation sprayed all over the interior. Awesome!

He took his family from Florida to Canada, back to the states, west to the Redwood Forest, south to I-10 and east back to Florida. Along the way this wonderful man did this to his family....

1. Camping in Canada with the biggest mosquitoes this gal has ever seen.

2. Niagara Falls Gullett style.

3. Drove really Really REALLY fast over a railroad track in the midwest with his wife sleeping on the bed in the back of the van to which she went airborne as soon as he hit the railroad tracks. I'm not sure what made her more angry, waking to find herself hovering over the bed or the hit her body took when she crashed back onto the very thin cushion so really hitting the frame.

4. Blackberry picking in Ohio.

5. Sleeping in the van in Yellowstone National Park because he didn't want to get wet in the rain that night, to wake up to a moose trying to get into the ladies tent. Rather than put himself in harms way to save the ladies he just laughed. We laughed with him! Infectious laugh, that one!

6. Riding a Gondola along a waterfall held on by a very small wire with him rocking it and singing "Rock the boat, don't rock the boat baby. Rock the boat, don't tip the boat over."

7. Driving down Lombard Street in San Francisco in the van with the trailer. There was much reversing and driving, reversing and driving. The poor residents of Lombard Street could only sit helplessly by, watching their beautifully manicured street getting run all over by the hillbillies. I'm not sure his banishment has been lifted.

8. Getting stuck just as our rollercoaster was going upside down at Six Flags over Texas.

9. Breakfast at Circus Circus. One of those typical Vegas buffets where you can feed your whole family for $10 bucks. "Fill up the plate, kids. We won't be eating again until dinner."

10. Spent an entire month with his family, only being distracted occasionally by work.

He made sure we never "burned daylight" by getting us up and moving early and made sure we were always "making memories". And boy oh boy do we have some memories!

When I graduated high school this same man decided the best graduation gift he could give me was a trip to Hawaii. Me and my friend, just the two of us, running the streets of Oahu. I thought that was the best trip ever. I have now come to realize our trip across the country was the trip of a lifetime.

Happy Father's Day to the best Daddy a girl could ever ask for. If you google "awesome dad" you will find this picture....

Daddy with his oldest and youngest (for another month) granddaughters.

I love you, Daddy!!

Church Sign Sunday

2011-06-12T20:34:00.004-04:00

Will these things never end? Seriously, some awesomeness must go on in those church headquarters. Who comes up with these things and do they actually run them past someone before they make it onto the sign? What kind of people are sitting on the Church Sign approval committee? I would love to be a fly on the wall.

Today's church sign is......

Make sure God is your friend on your "Faith-book" page

Call Harold Camping

2011-06-08T14:37:00.004-04:00

Last month we all waited with baited breath to see if we would live past May 21st. Luckily we all survived that rapture.

According to our local news forecast Florida will be having their own version of rapture tomorrow.

Maybe I'll call Harold Camping and see if he has any suggestions for preparations.

Church Sign Sunday

2011-06-05T16:09:00.002-04:00

Here's another installment of Church Sign Sunday. Enjoy!

How is God like Maxwell House?
...He's good to the last drop!

A Simple Exchange of Pleasantries

2011-06-01T12:40:00.005-04:00

I love Sundays. This Sunday was no different. We got up, got ready and were off to church.

As I walked into the chapel the person conducting our service asked if I would mind giving the closing prayer and of course I said I would love to.

The usual handshakes and smiles were made and I found my seat and, finally, sat down to breath, after what seemed to have been a long weekend that still had another day to go.

My bench-mate looked over, smiled at me and then made the mistake of asking how I was. Without even thinking twice about it I unloaded on this poor, sweet, unsuspecting soul.

"Oh, it's been just great. I woke up yesterday morning to hurry here for the Scout fundraiser. 7 am I was supposed to be here. As I was leaving the house I went to get some ice for a drink and noticed I had a few pieces of ice sitting in a HUGE puddle of water in my ice maker. So I open the fridge and my milk is room temperature at best. I was out of the house all day Thursday and Friday so who knows how long it's been out! So here's me, the Englishman and my son, at 7 in the morning, trying to salvage what little food is still good. But I had to leave to get to the fundraiser so me and the boy leave while the Englishman stays behind. He calls me a little later FREAKING OUT telling me we just need to buy a new fridge and he's already looked on home depot's website and we can get one for $400. Are you kidding me? We have a $3000 refrigerator and he wants to just go out and buy a new one? Where are we gonna get $400? Seriously!?! So here I am, at the fundraiser, trying to put out the fire that is my fridge problem. I call my sister because, miraculously, she has an "extra" one laying around. So I make arrangements to borrow that one until we can get someone to come out and look at ours. Englishman is not happy about it because he just wants to throw $400 at a new one because 'the one I bought is a piece of crap and now he's gonna make it right by just getting a new one'. 'Ours isn't worth saving' the Englishman says but I try and tell him, you've got to be kidding me. What if it only takes $400 to fix ours? Is it better to buy a cheap no-nothing $400 refrigerator than to fix our $3000 one? So now me and the Englishman are fighting because he does NOT handle a crises well AT ALL! He calls me to tell me he went to the store and got ice and put the important stuff in a cooler. So I asked, what happened to the rest of it? Oh, we can just deal with it later he says. Oh, you mean I can just deal with it later. Gotcha, Thank You! Meantime, my sister and brother in law arrive at the fundraiser and BIL is trying to get a hold of the guy that fixed his appliances when they went caput and, wouldn't you know it, he's off for the weekend? I mean, seriously, who do these people think they are trying to take off a holiday weekend? Don't they know I need them? So finally the guy responds and says he can be here on Monday. Monday! The holiday! So, he can't be there on Saturday but can be there on a holiday. I mean, I had plans for Monday and they didn't involve a repair man! Unless the Englishman wanted to do a little roll play but that's a story for another day. Englishman gets to the fundraiser and I tell him the good news that he gets to sit his accented little behind at home on Memorial Day, since he isn't American and I'm sure the holiday means nothing to him anyway, and wait for Repair Man. I tried to enjoy the fundraiser but knowing how not cold my milk was I had visions of rotting food and a smelly house so I left early and rushed home to get the mess cleaned up. And what a mess it was! I cleaned out the fridge and even scrubbed it down just to make sure it wouldn't stink. Once that was done I was finally able to call around looking for a truck to get my sister's extra fridge to my house. No such luck! I was on the phone with a friend, who has a truck but was no where near home in order for us to use it, when the Englishman got home. As usual with him he brought home a ton of leftovers. He put them in the kitchen and went to change. While he was in the back I started to smell burning. I asked my friend if I could call her back and I don't even remember hanging the phone up. I went to the kitchen to find a cardboard box ON FIRE on my stove. Somehow when the Englishman put the leftovers on the stove, because the rest of the countertop was covered with crap from the fridge, he turned the burner on and now he was trying to set the house on fire. I know he wanted to just get a new fridge and he will go to great lengths to get his way, but burning down the whole house seems a little extreme. So I start screaming for him and he finally got annoyed enough of listening to my screaming that he came to see what the heck was going on and saw the fire. Luckily for him I had a sink full of water from scrubbing the fridge so he threw the cardboard box in there. There was black pieces of cardboard all over my house. Luckily for us the campfire smell has gotten rid of the rotten food smell but my house stinks so much. SMELL ME NOW! I still smell like fire!"

This poor man just looked at me, eyes wide, not knowing what to say next because what started out as a simple exchange of pleasantries turned into more than he could ever imagine.

Seeing the horror in his eyes, I smiled an uncomfortable smile and just sat back in my pew. He was speechless but that is the chance you take when asking how someone's weekend was going!

PS - Church was awesome as usual - Major Props to the Young Men. They had a really great program. They inspire me!!

Church Sign Sunday

2011-05-29T14:16:00.004-04:00

Time for another exciting installment of Church Sign Sunday!

I think it's important to say, before posting this sign, that sometimes the signs crack me up because of how much I don't actually understand them!

With that said today's Church Sign is.......

Church Is A Gift
Assembley Is Required

Wordless Wednesday

2011-05-25T08:32:00.002-04:00

A Really Small, Squished Englishman

2011-05-24T18:10:00.007-04:00

I have kinda avoided writing this post. It's like, by not writing it, it didn't really happen...... But, it did.

My Georgia has turned 2! WHAT? HUH? 2? Seriously? Seriously! I don't want to believe it either. I remember the day like it was yesterday. The Englishman and I got up, got dressed and headed to the hospital. We had an appointment to meet our little lady. At 11:50 I heard the wails and then saw this....

It was like looking at a really small, squished Englishman. He was so funny. He was so nervous that when they took her to the nursery and told him he had to follow he didn't even say bye to me. I'm sitting on the operating room table being sewn up and he just glances over and said "I'm going with her" and then ran out. Uhh - bye then. So there she was, our beautiful, peaceful, healthy, un-named little lady.

You can see her birth announcement post here and read her birth story here.

This was taken when she was about an hour old and she was finally named. We decided on what has turned out to be the perfect name.

Georgia Rose Clarkson

Our Georgia is now 2 and is AMAZING! She is learning so much.

Here she is at her party blowing out the candles on her cake. I made the cake and even though it may not be pretty, it was delicious! Take that Martha Stewart!

Here she is on the night of her 2nd birthday showing us what a big girl she is and drinking from a water bottle. PS - she did her own accessorizing. She's got a talent!

Georgia Girl we love you to the moon and back times a million. You have taught me so many things but the greatest thing I have learned is that my capacity to love is much larger than I ever thought possible. I never thought I wanted a daughter (who's with me? They have so many "issues" to deal with later in life that boys don't!) but she has made me realize that I wanted one, needed one and am so thankful to have her.

Magnificent Monday

2011-05-22T18:42:00.001-04:00

Welcome to Magnificent Monday! Our linky will open every Sunday night so you can join us for a Magnificent Monday. Let’s try to make the beginning of the week a bit better by finding some great new blogs and making some new blogging friends!

Would you like to be featured as a Guest Host for Magnificent Monday? Just fill out this form by clicking here.

To join us in Magnificent Monday, follow these 4 easy steps!

#1 Follow your three hosts on GFC and then leave a comment to let them know you’re following (If you already follow on GFC, then follow on Facebook, Twitter, or Networked Blogs)

#2 Follow our Guest Host, Nap Time Is My Time

Follow our Guest Host, The Real Housewife of Longleaf Ranch

#3 Add your blog to the linky

#4 Follow the 3 blogs directly above yours

Please stop by as many blogs as you can. It also helps if you leave a comment on the blogs that you visit so they can stop by yours and say hello.

We’d love it if you would place the linky to the Blog Hop somewhere on your page, whether its on your sidebar, a “Blog Hops” page, or a separate post. Please help us support this blog hop!

Have fun hopping and please stop by to join us each week for Magnificent Monday!

Church Sign Sunday

2011-05-22T18:34:00.004-04:00

Time for everyone's favorite....

Church Sign Sunday

I WAS A WASTE BUT THEN
JESUS RECYCLED ME

Join The Sundae Hop

2011-05-21T22:56:00.001-04:00

Church Sign Sunday

2011-05-15T14:59:00.001-04:00

It's that day of the week we all wait for! Another installment of Church Sign Sunday. Here we go......

Walmart is not the only saving place

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

2011-05-11T09:27:00.002-04:00

Christian chasing a naked Georgia with a diaper in his hand!

Blog Design Giveaway

2011-05-10T08:36:00.001-04:00

Guess What!

For Mother's Day my friend Jeannette at Crafty Hippo Designs is giving away a free blog design to us Mom bloggers who use Blogger.

Click here to enter. You can even enter daily!

I'm so excited! She designed this blog for me and I have another blog that needs some attention. It's no secret I think she does brilliant work.

Sunday is the last day to enter so get your tushy on over! Good Luck!!

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-09T16:41:00.007-04:00

My Mother's Day started with church. The Young Women were in charge of a brunch for all the mothers in our congregation. We had chicken salad on rolls with some fruit and for dessert a scoop of ice cream with a cookie. It turned out really lovely and I am extremely proud of the job the Young Women. I also want to send a thank you to Sis. Jarvis (the younger) and the Faith in God for Girls as well as Sis. Shaw and the Primary. The tables and centerpieces were not only delicious to the eyes but also to the taste!! (Pictures to come)

After church my family headed to the beach to meet up with my parents and brother. We went to my Uncle's property on a private road. The road has a pool and is beach front.

This was the beginning of our adventure. You can see the dock to the beach in the background.

As soon as I gave the go ahead the boy was off! He left us all in the dust. By the time we got down to the beach this is what I saw....

It was at this point that I realized with my unexplainable and very real fear of fish, I haven't taken that boy to the beach since he was 6. So I've never gone over beach safety! I started screaming for him and waving for him to come back to shore so I could go over it and calm my troubled heart. As I'm screaming and waving for him I remember the kid wears glasses AND hearing aids. So he ain't seeing or hearing nothing! Luckily my brother was there and swam out to get him.

My kid with my hero.

Georgia had never been to the beach. She hated the walk through the sand. What I didn't get on camera (besides me...lol) was her walk through the sand. She was holding Daddy's finger and when she wouldn't move I said "Hold Mommy's hand." So she grabbed my finger and then hung from our fingers refusing to put her feet on the sand. It was really funny. She did, however, warm up to the beach. (More than I might like.)

Georgia with Daddy and Pappaw

I love this picture. The happiness on my boy's face and then my Daddy, aka Popeye, in the background.

I hope your Mother's Day was filled with everything that makes your life wonderful. Mine certainly was!

Happy Mother's Day!

Church Sign Sunday - Mother's Day Edition

2011-05-08T19:35:00.003-04:00

Happy Mother's Day!!

Every Sunday I post a sign from a church. We have some really great ones around here. So, here it is. Church Sign Sunday - Mother's Day Edition.

Surprise Mom

Go To Church

Wordless Wednesday

2011-05-04T11:18:00.005-04:00

Church Sign Sunday

2011-05-01T16:27:00.004-04:00

Is it really Sunday already?

What a weekend! Starting off the weekend with a beautiful Royal Wedding. Then Saturday I spend a lovely day with the Englishman and our little lady. My son stayed home because he's 14 and too cool to be hanging with us common folk on a Saturday. Then today, went to church then skyped with the in-laws in England. Now everyone is napping so I have a moment of quiet.

This week's church sign is brought to you by the Englishman. They don't really have church signs where he's from and to be here, in the South, in the middle of the Bible Belt, it's like he's died and gone to comedy heaven! So, Good lookin out and fist pumps to the Englishman.

Don't worry

Even Moses was a basketcase

I'm a Versatile Blogger

2011-04-29T11:27:00.007-04:00

Wow! What an honor! I want to give a big thank you to Renee from Renee's Chirpings who has given my blog the Versatile Blogger Award.

The rules of this award are as follows:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.
2. Tell us seven things about yourself.
3. Award fifteen recently discovered new bloggers.

So, here are seven (more) things about myself:

1. I love sweets. I don't just like sweets. I have a really unhealthy (pun intended) love affair with anything chocolate and sweet. Just talking about it makes me want to go grab a fudge round (or two).

2. I love Mountain Dew.

3. I need to add more water and take away some sweets from my diet..... :/

4. I met my husband online and imported him from England; awesome accent and all.

5. I have been watching the Royal Wedding since I woke up at 6:30. As I type this I am watching the re-run of the wedding on BBC America.

6. I love weddings! I DVR almost every wedding show out there.

7. OK - I just love reality tv period! If its a reality show, I probably watch it. Bravo is probably my favorite channel. Who doesn't know Andy Cohen has the 4-1-1????

Congratulations to all of the great blogs I have passed the award on to! Leave a comment here with your link so that everyone else can come check out your blog.

Church Sign Sunday

2011-04-24T14:34:00.002-04:00

It's time for another installment of Church Sign Sunday!

I have missed the last couple of weeks and I am terribly sorry. Something always seemed to come up and I didn't have the opportunity to blog.

But, while I have a minute I want to take this opportunity to testify to you I know my Savior lives! Easter is one of my favorite holidays because it is a time to remember all my Savior has done for me. Easter is the perfect opportunity to reflect on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. To honor my Savior this Easter I am promising to be more Christ like. I will love without condition. And I will forgive even without being asked. I ask that you try and make the same commitment. What would our world be like if there were more of us willing to love everyone and forgive anyone?

Now, without further adieu, Church Sign Sunday.......

Silly Rabbit, Easter is for Jesus

The Most Important Information For Summer

2011-04-21T08:45:00.002-04:00

Usually I keep my posts light and fluffy and a little on the funny side but today is a little different.

I was watching the Today Show this morning (maybe getting my daily Royal Wedding update, maybe not - don't tell the Englishman - he's getting fed up with it - doesn't know why it's such a big deal) and they aired a segment about a child drowning. Luckily, this child survived. Not everyone is as lucky. They gave some pretty good advice about preventing such a tragedy but they missed out on the key ingredient. I'm a little (i.e. A LOT) upset they didn't 1. give this segment the time it deserved and 2. include any information on Infant Swimming Resource.

So a little background - my very good friends lost their son in a drowning accident in August 2008. Evan was a bright, beautiful, not quite 2 year old boy.

Because it was all good information I will repeat what they did say:

Lock – make sure pool has four sided-fencing, a self closing self-latching gate and install a door alarm

Look – supervise your children around water at all times

Learn – enroll child in swimming lessons, learn cpr and know how to respond in water emergencies

Although they did say enroll child in swimming lessons, they skipped over it because they were running short on time. Enrolling your baby in swim lessons is paramount to saving their lives. But not just any lesson. Your baby (up to age 6) needs Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) lessons. These lessons will teach your little one to swim, float on their back, get to the edge of the pool, lake, whatever, and to make a lot of noise so someone can come get them. These are not so much swim lessons as much as survival lessons.

I watched, helpless, as my friends suffered this great loss. I am still witnessing the grief process. Please, don't allow yourself to go through this same loss. Seek out your local ISR instructor and speak to them about lessons and getting your baby protected.

A Dishwasher Saved My Marriage

2011-04-19T10:14:00.002-04:00

So when the Englishman and I said our vows he had to also vow to leave his family, job, and even his country. There are many, Many, MANY cultural differences between him and I and I've even remarked in Our Story about some language barriers (even though we both claim to speak English).

Not long after we were married I came home to a what I thought was a wonderful surprise. HE DID THE DISHES!!! How can anyone complain about that, right? Well, let me tell you....

As I got closer to the dishes drying on a towel I noticed something. Were dish soap bubbles draining off the dishes? Now, I'm not one to complain when my husband helps around the house. EVER. But this was a little different.

Me: "Um, Honey? Did you rinse these?"
Him: *dumbfounded look*
Me: "Why is there soap draining off the dishes?"
Him: *looking at my like I am an idiot* "I washed the dishes!"
Me: "I see that. Thank you! But did you rinse them?"
Him: "I washed them and put them out to dry!"
Me: "OK - but did you rinse them? You do rinse dishes, right?"
Him: "What's the problem?"
Me: "You didn't rinse the dishes so now when I go to have a drink I'll be drinking my water with a side of dish detergent."
Him: "It drains off, what's the problem?"

At this point we are both getting angry with each other - I don't know why he doesn't understand you have to rinse detergent off the dishes. Those dishes aren't exactly clean, right? You get what I'm saying! - He doesn't understand why I'm not getting that the dishes are clean and once dry are ready to be used.

Turns out, and this goes for many people in England, they don't rinse. They wash in one side of the sink and leave the dishes to drain on a rack in the other side of the sink.

I have since learned there is nothing wrong with doing dishes in this manner. The dishes are perfectly safe to use. (I mean, don't we all need a little cleaning on the insides every once in a while?)

Clarkson Household Rules - When in England - do as the English do. When at home - let the dishwasher do what it was made to do! (Including rinses the dishes!!!)

I'm a lucky gal!

2011-04-19T00:12:00.003-04:00

I have been chosen to co-host the Hop a Little Tuesday Blog Hop!

I am so excited!

Welcome to week 6 of Hop a Little Tuesday.

STARTING THIS WEEK:

There are 3 different linkys. You can link up your Blogs, Facebook [fan pages ONLY], & Twitter accounts!

RULES:

*Become a follower of the first 3 blogs on the list. [leave comments and we will follow back] Your links will be removed if you are not following the first 3 blogs.

*Link yourself to the list.

*Visit at least 3 people from the list [leave comments saying that you are stopping by from Hop a Little Tuesday].

*Come back next week.

*Please add the button to your blog & help us spread the word! [You don't have to...but it would be AWESOME if you did!]

One random person will be chosen to have a spotlight post next Tuesday on Little Boys are Made of Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails and Love You Always and Forever.

This weeks spotlight:
The Real Housewife of Longleaf Ranch

Facebook HOP:
You MUST become a fan of the first 2 pages and leave us a comment...we WILL follow you back :)
[Your link will be removed if you do not do this.]

Add your Facebook here:
[FAN PAGES ONLY]

Twitter HOP:
You MUST follow the first 2 Twitter accounts...we WILL follow you back :) [Your link will be removed if you do not do this.]

Add your Twitter link here:

Happy Hopping!

A Poem About Christian

2011-04-13T15:16:00.004-04:00

Here is a copy of a "poem" Christian (my 14 year old!!) wrote about himself for Language Arts.

Line 8 - what he "needs" is what has me the most cracked up. This "poem" makes me feel happy, hyper and hyper again! It would appear my "humble" little man has his ego in check..... I sure do love that boy of mine!! Enjoy!!

Christian A.
is kind, hyper, and a gamer
Child of Cassie and Jason Clarkson
Sibling of (she’s little) Georgia
Friend of (brothers) Kyle and Connor Bricks.
Who loves my sister, mom, and dad
Who feels happy, hyper, hyper again
Who needs food, a mini guide to girls, and books
Who gives work, service and good gaming scores
Who fears NOTHING
Who would like a new PSP, a new book and food
Who shares everything (or wants to.)
Who is awesome
Who is a resident of Florida
Brackenridge

Jason's Part 2

2011-04-12T08:04:00.002-04:00

This is Jason's Part 2 of our story. I have to admit, this really touched my heart. I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

Pt 2.

The idea for me was to write the first one and then write enough to let Cassie put one entry a week on her blog, but she had a different idea, like a typical editor she wanted more and sooner….. I won!! So here’s part 2 of my side probably with more editorial comments, enjoy…

So here we are in the airport and she has FINALLY showed up and taken my opportunity to have a week in Orlando away, so we make our way to the car and the first thing I notice about America is just how warm it is in December, now let’s be fair I have never stepped foot in the country so didn’t know what to expect but to me this was warm. On the way to the car my phone decides to pick-up a signal and just as we get to the car I get a message telling me that Cassie is running late and she’s really sorry, it’s from her but thanks to modern technology it arrives after she does she may as well have sent a postcard. So we get to the car and start to make out way out of the airport and I decide I will call Chris my mate back home. As we drive out of the parking garage onto the mean streets I look over to Cassie and just keep looking, I know she says I don’t take a good photo but she does and she looks just as good sitting next to me so most of the journey back to Jacksonville is spent just looking at her. To let you know how much attention I wasn’t paying to the road Cassie was on the phone to her friend Wendy when we drove onto a bridge, and this wasn’t just a small bridge, this thing was long and had no warning of coming up so I look round to see we’re just getting onto this bridge and say something in the form of an exclamation which makes her laugh, she tells Wendy and she laughs. The next part that Cassie decides to tell everyone about me is when we have to stop for gas along I95, she asks if I’m hungry and I could go for a bite to eat so she pulls off the highway and asks if I like Taco Bell, I have no idea as we don’t have Taco Bell in England but Taco’s are Mexican and I like Mexican food so she drives through Taco Bell to get us some Taco’s which makes me exclaim “a drive through Mexican, BRILLIANT” she finds that funny enough to tell people to this day. Then she pulls into the gas station next door and tells me to go ahead and start eating. After filling up and getting back in the car to find me with taco over my face exclaiming “ these things are Brilliant” which makes her laugh again as how can someone get so excited over Taco Bell, all I remember thinking was “I’m going to like this place”.

The rest of the drive home was pretty uneventful, not that I would know otherwise as I spent it looking at her the whole time. ( I know pass the bucket, but we had got to know each other very well having never even kissed until earlier that day and that is an awesome thing to build a relationship on).

So we get back to her place and I am so tired I just have to sleep but I have this present for her that the guy at Orlando Airport let me keep, and keep wrapped, so I have to unpack first in order to get it out of my suitcase. We stay up for a while and it’s only when I start to fall asleep that we call it day. The next day Cassie takes me to her office to meet her family and get through the Spanish Inquisition, not really true because as everyone knows – “No one expects the Spanish Inquisition, their greatest element is Surprise…….”. Thankfully she rescues me and takes me to a bar-b-que place for dinner (I’m still English and it’s still Breakfast, Dinner and Tea), Cassie has already gone through the rigmarole that ensued in Bono’s and to be honest I very nearly turned into the English tourist who shouts very slowly at the locals in the knowledge that this will make them understand what you are talking about. It’s funny how everyone apparently spoke the same language but the waitress and me needed Cassie as a translator, I’ll put that down to being in the South as this still happens to this day. The funny part is I have had to slow my speech down and really take care of my pronunciation to the degree my friends back in England now think I’m a hick! And there are still people I meet or talk to every day who can’t understand me, Drive throughs are fun, and Dollywood can be hilarious! But anyway I managed to get what I wanted without acting it out because really how do you act out toilet activities to get your question across?

Lunch was unbelievable and the rest of my time over here was spent mostly being shown off to her family and eating everything possible, a bit like a travelling Zoo animal really with a lot more translation. We did go and pick Christian up from his dad’s one day and go to the Alligator place in St. Augustine for the day, I remember Cassie driving to a Krispy crème and getting a box of 12 doughnuts which Christian did a bloody good job of devouring when he got in the car, all I remember thinking is she tells me this kid has ADHD and she’s giving him sugar covered doughnuts this could get interesting.

Now I had a short haircut when we met and Cassie had a military ID card so she was paying and trying to get us the military discount when I open my mouth and ask if we can go into the gift shop to look around while she pays, there went the military discount. My mouth gets me into trouble on a regular basis and Cassie has found this out to her detriment on many occasions. Anyway we get in and have a very good day and Christian and me get along very well which could be the only time we did as very shortly afterward I married his mum.

On the day of my flight back to England we knew the day would end with us apart and neither of us really wanted it to come but we both had lives to get back to so it was inevitable. We stopped by her office to say bye to everyone and for Cassie to check on a couple of things before leaving, I took this time to ask her dad for his permission to get engaged in February when Cassie came over and he looked like he was going to cry, I’m sure there are still times when my marrying his daughter makes him cry for entirely different reasons, he called Cassies mum Faye over and told her what I had just asked and she hugged me hard and did cry just a little. They asked if I was moving her to England or if I would be moving here, I explained we hadn’t got that far but we would sort that out when the time was right.

We took our time getting down to Orlando and spent as much time as possible just being together before I had to go through passport control and back to the gate. At the gate I felt I just had to call her so I found a quiet corner, not easy at an airport gate in Orlando with a flight full of Kids and parents running round, but I called her and fantastically got her voicemail so I left a message telling her how much I had fallen in love with her and how I couldn’t wait for her to come over to England in February only 5 weeks away, I mean really, how sad had I become! I got on the plane not having heard from Cassie and knowing it would be at least a day before I could talk to her again.

The flight back was cruel, I got sick and spent the first part of the flight throwing up, my seat was next to an exit door but it was the door that has the slide packed in it so I had about 6” of legroom, major uncomfortable and can’t eat, not the best way to spend 8 hours of your life I can assure you butI got home and thankfully my dad was there to pick me up as it’s not the best idea to land at 6am and have to drive 3 hours home.

Then it was back to reality and life as I had left it, I had a meeting the day after landing that meant me getting up at 5am to drive “down South” for the day to start the year off with motivational stuff for the agents, 2005 was going to be a very good year for me. The next day after the weekly meeting for my team I get a call from my boss who tells me to meet him the next day, this does not sound good so on the way home I call Cassie and tell her what is going on and promise to keep her informed.

The meeting with my boss is not a good one, the company has gone bankrupt for a ridiculous reason and such a small sum of money I could have written a cheque for it myself, but after meeting my boss, Jeff, I call Cassie – here I am just having lost my job and I’m making transatlantic phone calls. I tell her it’s not good news but ask her if she could put up with me for two weeks, the funny thing is when I was leaving Florida my Brother-in-law Mark told me if I really liked this girl I would be back sooner than I thought, I did think he was nuts at the time because it takes a day just to get here so it’s not like I could fly over for the week-end or something, but here I was less than one week after leaving making plans to fly back.

I booked the flight back when I got home and prepared to spend another 2 weeks with this girl who had completely knocked me for six when I met her for the first time less than two weeks earlier. Jeff had arranged for the top people under his management to join another company and before flying out we all met with one of the directors of this new company who gave us a very promising introduction to them, we all left feeling very good about it but the training was going to take place whilst I was away so we made arrangements to get me trained upon my return.

The next day I was on my way back to the airport for my return to Florida and this girl who made me cry when we parted company last time….

Happy Anniversary with His Part 1

2011-04-02T13:03:00.003-04:00

6 years ago today I married my love.

I have posted my version of our love story and would highly encourage you to read it!

In honor of our anniversary I will post "his version" of our story. To make sure no tales are told (and because some things may need a little translating) I will be giving you my commentary in red. I hope you enjoy!

And before I forget - Happy Anniversary Jason! May the next 6 years be only somewhat like the last 6 years. (I'm not going to lie - moving countries, blending families, speaking the same yet different languages - the first couple of years has been really tough and I hope not to repeat some of our mistakes!!)

They say there are two sides to every story, her version and the right one. (already starting off bad! I'm gonna get him!) With this in mind I felt I had to tell the other side of “our story”.

I was a very happy bloke living the single life with not a care in the world. I had my own house, was driving a Porsche and had my Ducati living in the kitchen so it would stay warm and dry in the winter months. (He has always been a bit of a bragger - but I'm not editing him so just bear with it!) I was a successful area manager for a decent sized mortgage broker and loved every part of the life I had, well who wouldn’t. My weeks consisted of working hard and my week-ends (or weekend for us Americans) were spent being a bachelor, hanging out with my friends and family. I played bass in a band so some weekends were spent rockin’ out. (Is this where I should tell you I asked him to get a pedicure with me and as we were sitting in the chairs he told me I was ruining his rock-n-roll image?) Basically life was pretty bloody good and I didn’t need anything or anyone else disrupting the status quo. Funny how both sides are the same at this point.

One Friday evening I was driving home and I called my housemate (roommate to us Americans. Funny how the English are so proper. Jason says "But we never shared a ROOM, we shared a HOUSE) Matt to see what he was doing, he was at home for the evening so I stopped at Asda (a large supermarket, think Walmart) (It's not like Walmart - it is owned by Walmart, so it's Walmart in England) and bought a Pizza and a case of beer, a case being 24 cans. (Does he think we don't know what a case is? Seriously, I may not drink beer but I know how it's sold!) I always did on Fridays but the pizza was bigger if Matt was home and the beer ran out faster. When I got home Matt was playing an online multi-player game, like most nights, and I noticed there were all these pop-ups coming up so I asked him what they were as it was my computer and pop-ups are not usually good. He said they were just people he was talking to, no problem so I went to get me some beer and pizza. The weekend went like any other, meeting mates down the pub, seeing my parents, my sister and niece etc. On Monday I got back from work at around 11pm as usual and Matt was again on the computer playing games and chatting to people all over the world on these pop-ups. He said I should get online and get into some of these chatrooms etc. I thought about it the next day and when I got home the computer was free so I jumped on and checked a couple of places out.

I found a couple of websites and put my basic info in to see what would come back, no photos because people with photos in their websites/profiles are just sadders (??? Jerk!) who try too hard, besides I’m not trying to sell myself I’m just seeing what all the fuss is about that keeps Matt up until all hours of the night. The next day I got online and amazingly there were messages for me, so I flicked through them and deleted a lot but some caught my eye so I sent a couple of messages back to those who weren’t desperate sounding, those who appeared to be online just chatting to people. One I didn’t delete and did reply back to was this girl in America who mentioned her sister a lot, which seemed odd (my sister is my best friend and was the driving force behind me going online) but she wasn’t pretentious or after a husband so she fit the bill and I left her a message. A couple of days later we were both online at the same time so started chatting. More than a couple of hours later I said I had to go as it was late and I told her we could chat if we were on at the same time again.

The next day I didn’t get on as I got home at 11pm and Matt was playing games, but I was trading my Porsche in for another car in the morning so we went out for a last ride in the car, we got it to 155mph which Matt recorded and on the return put the top down but it only got to 136. (More bragging.... Sorry!) We got home and I went to bed and left Matt playing. The next day I got online and there she was, this odd (??? - Jerk!) Yank (??? - I'm from the South! He doesn't get it, South = Southerns, North = Yankees, why is this so difficult? Oh and is this is the place where I tell you we got into an argument one time and he called me a Yank which made me laugh cause, according to him, I was. Was it supposed to be an insult? So I just said, OOKKK Englishman!) who was fun to talk to. Well this went on for a couple of days and that week-end I asked if I could call her, I just had to hear her voice, (OK - that was sweet!) besides I can talk a lot faster than I can type so a 2 hour online chat could probably be done in 20 mins.

On Sunday afternoon I dialed this number and this girl answered who had this cool voice. I know Cassie says the conversation lasted 20 mins but it actually lasted 45 minutes, (I'm sure he's right about this.) I know because I got the bill. The first 20 mins did entail me talking a lot and her just making agreeable sounds, I later found out it took her 20 minutes to begin to start to understand me. There was a lot of going backwards and forwards with the whole “language” thing but only because Americans have decided to rename things and we got onto this whole thing about carts, buggies etc. at the end she told me she had to go as she had tickets to a football game, she meant “American” football not proper football (Oh jeez..... do we really have to get into this right now??) so we ended the call sorting that misnomer out. It actually turned out the game she went to see was the very game one of our national channels was showing that week, so I texted her to let her know the Jacksonville Tigers were being shown on TV in England, she text back it was the Jaguars, that’s how unimportant the game is in England, we don’t even care to get the names of the teams right.

As time went on we spent more time chatting both online and on the phone and I told her I was going to be away the week of Christmas through New Years, she asked where I was going and I told her I wanted to go to either New York, Berlin, Moscow or Cairo. I was in Berlin between the ages of 9 and 12 as my dad was in the RAF and I wanted to see it as a united city from an adults eyes, I have been to Cairo twice and love the place, I always wanted to go to Moscow and New York seemed to be a pretty cool place. She said New York would not be the best place (I LOVE New York - it is always the best place to be EXCEPT New Years. So stinkin busy!!) at that time of year and that Moscow and Berlin would probably be very cold and as I had already seen Cairo why didn’t I think about coming to Florida and she could show me the sights. (to be fair this is sort of the way it went. He suggested maybe he could come to Florida so that's why I said, yes, come on!) The next morning I got online and using my bank account benefits booked a flight to Orlando for Dec 26th, I know Cassie said Dec 27th (I'm pretty sure he's right! I think I got my dates muxed up.) but I remember it was boxing day and the flight was unbelievable cheap for the day after Christmas day. I called her and said “ guess what I’m just about to do. Cassie is not good at guessing games so she said something sarcastic, well as sarcastic as an American can, and I seriously thought about changing the flight to Cairo, but I remembered it was around 5am in Florida so just told her “when I press this button my flight to Orlando is booked” she seemed pretty happy with it so I hit the confirm and that was it, my Christmas holiday 2005 would be spent in Florida.

The next couple of weeks were spent with lots of Transatlantic phone calls, and hours and hours of IM chatting, I saw the sun come up most Saturday and Sunday mornings. Eventually Christmas day came and I spent it with my family as I have done every Christmas day up to that point. My bags were already packed and my dad had said he would drive me to Gatwick airport in the morning. My alarm was set for 5am and dad came to get me at 5:30. I called Cassie just after we left my house and I told her I would see her later that day, remember it was half past midnight for her and I would be on a plane when she was awake the next day (for her) so it was the last time we talked before I would get to see her in person. The drive down was uneventful, boxing day at 6am is not at all busy, and part of my bank account benefits included the first class lounge (More bragging.... will it ever end??) at the airport so I was OK with that. On the plane I was sitting next to an older couple in the row next to the emergency exit but my seat back wouldn’t lock upright so I was moved back a row, it was a three seat row with no other people in it, so again my flight over was spent laying down a lot watching movies and TV programs, all in all very relaxing.

On landing in Orlando I was able to get to the Immigration desk very quickly, as I said the flight was not even half full, and I managed to get through passport control (Immigration and Customs) with no fuss. I picked up my bag and headed for the toilets, sorry bathrooms, to wash my face and brush my teeth. At the other end of the hall is another desk where you can get your bag searched for contraband, I told the guy at the desk I had a present for my “girlfriend” and it was wrapped as I didn’t realize it wasn’t allowed to be, he was very nice and asked me about it, he was convinced it wasn’t anything illegal and after seeing the box, still wrapped, he told me next time to wrap it after I cleared customs. With that I jumped on the train to the main terminal and headed for baggage claim number 2. My bags came and I got them and decided to wait at the carousel so Cassie could find me when she got there, yes she wasn’t waiting for me when I came off the train. After a long time, I’m not sure exactly how long but EVERY passenger on my flight had cleared the airport, I decided to head out to see if Cassie was waiting at the wrong place, she wasn’t. After a while longer I started looking at the posters around the airport and thinking “well at least I can book into a cheap hotel and do the parks”. I went outside and walked down the drop off/pick up lane, nothing so I headed back inside to the carousel to find Cassie…. Still not there. If I had been stood up I was going to be very upset as I could be in Cairo or Moscow, and how easy would it be to get there now? After a couple more minutes I looked down to row of carousels and saw this female walking towards me looking a bit sheepish (what exactly is sheepish?), and more than a bit familiar. I picked up my bags and headed towards her, we stood there not really knowing what to say so I kissed her…..

Language Barriers

2011-03-31T18:47:00.001-04:00

OK, so I have a really neat friend. What I love most about her is when we are together we find the funny in EVERYTHING.

She works for a doctor in the front office and she regales me with tales from the phone. A recent conversation with someone who speaks English as a second langauge went a little something like this.....

My friend: Thank you for calling xyz doctor's office. How can I help you?

Lady: I would like to make an appointment.

My friend: Sure no problem, I just need to get some information.

(Gathers some info like name, address and phone number)

My friend: And what insurance do you have?

Lady: Penicillin

My friend: I'm sorry, what insurance?

Lady: I'm allergic to penicillin

My friend: I will make note of that but can you tell me what INSURANCE (she's using the voice, you know, the one you use that is loud and slow because you are hoping by going loud and slow they will understand better) you have?

Lady: I don't have any.

My friend: OK, no problem. I just need to let you know the first visit will be $145.00 dollars and any further appointments will be $75.00.

Lady: One Forty Five?

My friend: Yes, $145.00 dollars.

Lady: 1:45 today?

My friend: No, ONE HUNDRED FORTY FIVE DOLLARS (in THAT voice again)

Lady: Do you have anything cheaper?

My friend: (Silence at first) Ummmmmm, no ma'am. That is the cost of the first visit.

Lady: Click

Quote of the Day

2011-03-31T16:24:00.000-04:00

"Is the garbage disposal supposed to smoke???"

I'm guest hosting the Terrific Thursday Blog Hop!

2011-03-31T08:21:00.001-04:00

Welcome to the Terrific Thursday blog hop hosted by Rondi from WAHM Resource Site and Crystal from My Life as Mom and Wife. Together, we are hoping to create an awesome weekly blog hop to find new blogs and meet new blog friends.

Each week we will pick a random blog to be the guest host. This weeks guest host for the #3 Spot is The Real Housewife! Please Note: The code for the button has changed. Please grab it again!!

The Guidelines for participating in the Terrific Thursday blog hop are as follows:

1. Please grab the blog hop button to spread the word.

2. Please follow the two hosts and guest host – WAHM Resource Site and My Life as Mom and Wife, and the guest host The Real Housewife via Google Friend Connect.

3. Please do not link up your giveaways, blog hops, etc. (These will be deleted.)

Link up your blog, visit and follow the blogs that interest you and have fun! If you follow our blogs and leave a comment, we will always follow you back!

Now, let’s get blog hoppin’ and have some fun!

You only need to add your link to one linky for it to show up on all participating blogs. The linkys will open every Wednesday at 8:00pm CST.

Blog Design Winner

2011-03-29T14:37:00.002-04:00

We have a winner!!!

I am so excited to announce the winner of the fully loaded blog design from The Crafty Hippo.

Seriously - if you haven't visited her blog you really need to. She does amazing work!

OK - so here we go. Our winner is

entry number 20.....

CASEY

Congratulations Casey! Jeannette will be in touch with you soon via email to go over your Field of Daises Design package.

Church Sign Sunday

2011-03-27T17:15:00.003-04:00

Time for another installment of Church Sign Sunday!

God doesn't want weekend visitation

He wants full custoday!

Stylish Blogger Award

2011-03-26T18:32:00.005-04:00

A big THANK YOU to

Thrifty Mom Spot

for nominating me for this award!

In order to completely accept this award it is asked that I:

1. Thank and link back to the person that has given you this award.

2. Share seven things about yourself.

3. Award 10-15 blogs you feel deserve this award as well.

4. Contact these bloggers and let them know about the award.

And now about me:

1. I am a Stay at Home Mom to two kids, ages 14 and (almost)2!

2. I homeschool my 14 year old!

3. My husband and I are thisclose to celebrating 6 years of marriage!

4. Family history/pride is so important to me that we named our beautiful daugther after her great-grandfather and hope to name any more children after family.

5. I am deathly afraid of fish! I have nightmares and will wake up screaming. Poor husband thinks someone has broken in and is killing me.

6. I am very Very VERY close to my family! My sister is my best friend and we talk no less than 12 times a day. (That doesn't include our texting or facebook messaging.)

7. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! Being a follower of Jesus Christ defines who I am and who I am striving to teach my children to be. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know he loves me. I know my Father in Heaven loves me. I am part of a forever family. Please click here to learn more!

Sometimes Being Nice Does Not Pay

2011-03-24T11:33:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I posted a sweet, lovely, inspiring conversation I had with a sweet, lovely, inspiring mature gentleman......(I think I just threw up in my mouth)

Go here to catch up if you haven't read it.

I know I should be more composed and the bigger person but instead I politely said (or possibly shouted) "I SAID I WAS SORRY - DON'T ROLL YOUR EYES AT ME!" And possibly some other forms of not niceness.

As I was checking out I noticed him at the Sam's cafe eating his lunch, alone, with his buggy full of his treasures from the hunt and I felt bad. I felt ashamed that I spoke unkindly to him and didn't have patience. So after I checked out, I walked to his table and looked him in the eyes and said "I'm sorry I spoke to you that way. I should have never done so" and then I smiled. Without missing a beat this sweet, lovely, inspiring mature gentleman looked up at me and said.....

"Get outta my d*mn face"

Already on my list for the next Sam's visit? My Husband!

What would you say . . . . . .

2011-03-23T09:16:00.004-04:00

to the (grumpy!) old man in Sam's who (as you are answering a call from your son's teacher on your cell phone while holding a container of blueberries your daughter is munching out of when you notice him out of the corner of your eye so you smile, say "Sorry, excuse me" while you somehow try to maneuver your cart of his way) says to you "Get off the d*mn phone, you aren't that d*mn important!"???

On a happier note - don't forget to enter my blog design giveaway!

Blog Design Giveaway

2011-03-21T14:24:00.004-04:00

It's no secret that I am *in love* with my new blog design. I cannot say enough wonderful things about Jeannette from Crafty Hippo Designs. She was patient, easy to work with and above all else, creative!

And because she is so wonderful Crafty Hippo Designs is offering one of my fabulous readers an entire new blog design. Can you believe it?? This isn't just a background and header. No way! This is the whole she-bang! All the bells and whistles! I don't even think I could list on here the entire package she is giving away. You can go to Crafty Hippo Designs and read up on the Field of Daisies to see everything you will be getting.

So, how can you win? Well.......

Make sure you follow my blog then hop on over to Crafty Hippo Designs and click follow. Come on, you know you want to! Leave me a comment that you follow us both and you are entered. Simple!

For an additional entries do as many of these as you want: (just make sure to leave a separate comment for each one!!)

Follow Crafty Hippo on Twitter

Like Crafty Hippo on Facebook

Tell me which "extra" you are most looking forward to having on your blog

Blog, tweet or facebook about this giveaway. Do all 3 for 3 entries.

This giveaway will close on Sunday, March 27th at 11 pm EST and the winner will be announced Monday, March 28th. Winner will be chosen using random.org. This blog design is for Blogger platform only.

Good Luck!!

Church Sign Sunday

2011-03-20T13:12:00.003-04:00

I know you've been *anxiously* waiting for Church Sign Sunday so here we go.......

Staying in bed shouting Oh God!

does not constitute going to church

GIVEAWAY WINNER!!

2011-03-18T08:51:00.003-04:00

Wow! I can't believe it! My Very First Giveaway has come to a close and we have a winner!

Before announcing the winner I want to thank Marlee at Sassy and Crafty for sponsoring my Very First Giveaway. This has been mega exciting for me! If you haven't taken the time to go and visit her etsy shop or her blog or even her facebook page, you really should. She has some really amazing pieces and I want all of them for me and my daughter. By the way Marlee, I'm thinking of something for the Young Women that I need to talk to you about, remind me! :)

Ok, so on with the show......

And the winner is (drum roll please......)

Comment number 1 from.....

Katheryn

Katheryn - I will be getting in contact with you!

Thanks again Marlee for your beautiful work and thank you to everyone that entered! This has been really exciting!

New Design

2011-03-17T08:57:00.003-04:00

I am IN LOVE with my new blog design!

It has been installed for a few days and I love it more everyday!

I really want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to Jeannette at Crafty Hippo Designs.

She took what little vision I had and came up with the beautiful design you are now looking at. I couldn't be more pleased.

If you get a chance you should check out her portfolio and reviews. She is awesome! If you are looking for a new blog design I would highly Highly HIGHLY recommend her.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway. Today is the last day to enter for your chance to win a beautiful, custom made for my readers hairbow. Go here to enter!

I'm a little bit country

2011-03-15T17:05:00.007-04:00

He's a little bit Rock-n-Roll

And when you are trying to design a home, the two do not mix!

We are thinking about some new lights and if I got what I wanted our new chandelier might look something like....

But if Jason got his way then the lights might look like......

So we certainly have a lot of ground to cover to get to the middle. So now we are looking at lights like....

They just lack personality.

Marriage is hard! Compromise stinks!

But for the record ~ when my Georgia's room needs to be redecorated this is a MUST.....

Do you have the same problems? Does your husband have opinions on the decorating in your house?

Don't forget to enter my giveaway. Click here to enter.

My Very First GIVEAWAY!

2011-03-14T08:59:00.009-04:00

What better way to start a Monday than with a

GIVEAWAY!!

Look at these beauties from Sassy and Crafty.....

Vintage Sweet Pea

Peony

Sassy Signature Headband

With these you have the option of ordering a clip or a headband. Perfect for any age. I have one for me, one for my almost 2 year old daugther and one for my 8 year old niece.

But the Pièce de résistance would have to be the customizeable Sassy Me. You pick the fabric/color, then you pick the beads, and then you the embellishments. What could be more fun?

Because she is so awesome, Marlee over at Sassy and Crafty is giving one of my readers this gorgeous Sweet Pea.

What I love most about this one is you can wear it for a special dress up night or just casually.

Here is how to you can win:

Required:

Follow me with google friend connect AND Follow Marlee at Sassy and Crafty with google friend connect.

Then leave a comment letting me know you follow us both. (Be sure your email is linked to your name or is in the comment. This is how we will notify you.)

Easy!

Optional Extra Entries

1 Entry: Go to the Sassy and Crafty etsy shop and tell me what you would love to add to your collection.
1 Entry: Like Sassy and Crafty on Facebook
1 Entry: Heart Sassy and Crafty on etsy
1 Entry: Follow Sassy Crafty on Twitter
1 Entry: Blog, tweet, or FB about this giveaway. Or do all three for 3 entries. (leave a link)

Be sure to leave a seperate comment on THIS post every time you complete one of the above entry methods.

This giveaway will close on Thursday at 9 pm EST. The winner will be chosen by Random.org and announced Friday. Good Luck!!

Church Sign Sunday

2011-03-13T13:32:00.003-04:00

What time is it?

It's Church Sign Sunday time!

Every Sunday I will be posting a church sign I found during the week. Hope you're hungry!

Taste the sweetness of Jesus

- Free Samples Inside

Keep Your Eyes On Me

2011-03-11T21:01:00.002-05:00

I have been working so hard to grow my blog and I thank all of you for being a part of it!

I have some pretty neat things coming up and I can't wait to make the announcements.

Keep your eyes on this blog because in the next week you will see some major changes and get this....

A GIVEAWAY (or two)!!!

Travel Tip

2011-03-09T13:50:00.003-05:00

Leave your knives and jokes at home. The airport is not the place to bring your funny!

My in-laws recently visited from England. When I took them to the airport for their flight home I came across this sticker on the doors to the airport.

Church Sign Sunday

2011-03-06T17:03:00.002-05:00

So everyone has a "thing". I have been racking my brain trying to come up with "my thing". And finally it is here! Are you ready for this??? It's.......

Church Sign Sunday

We Southerner's really love our churches. Really. Love. Church. It wasn't until I married my totally not southern husband that I realized some of our church signs are, well, *funny*.

So every Sunday I will be posting the best sign I have seen in the last week. This week I didn't get a picture (cause it hit me I should do this once I said it out loud and the husband and I had a good giggle over it) but I will try and always have my camera on the ready.

This week's sign said

If you don't believe in Jesus you are

The Biggest Loser

Facebook Friday with Fond of the Silliness

2011-03-04T18:23:00.003-05:00

Today I am linking up (even though she doesn't even know it!) to Amanda at Fond of the Silliness. Every Friday she has been posting her Facebook statuses (or would it be stati since there is more than one?) to her blog. Maybe she doesn't have time, maybe she just can't be bothered, either way we are luckier for it. Seriously, if you need a good laugh, go visit her blog and become a follower. Never a dull moment!

OK, so on with Facebook Friday.....

1. Seriously, does my husband think clean underwear just magically appears folded in his draw? Is a thank you too much to ask for? He better not make me pull a Charlie Sheen and remind him how much I am really worth! {Maybe he should pull a Charlie Sheen and get some goddesses in here to do all the dirty work for me}

2. Why do these kids {showing age here} alwayys addd in more letterrsss than necessaryyyy? To show effect? I keep seeing posts and texts that look like...... okayyyy or Had a great dayy or Thank youuu. The more letters the more you mean it?

3. OK, seriously, LOVE IT when people refer to themselves in the third person in their status updates. Pleaseeee keep it cominggggg!! I saw one that said..... {joe schmo} has 109 neckties - according to his latest inventory. I laughed! Not only did he refer to himself in the third person but also let everyone know he counts his ties....lol

4. I lllllllllllllllllooooooooooooooooooooooooovvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeeeve bacon.

OK - so mine aren't as good as Amanda's but I'm loving Facebook Friday! TTTTHHHHAAAANNNKKKKSSSS Amanda!

Friday Blog Hop

2011-03-03T20:11:00.001-05:00

I'm joining up the blog hop again! Can't wait to meet you!

{Almost} Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-02T09:10:00.003-05:00

{My niece Madi}

Thank You Notes

2011-02-28T14:03:00.006-05:00

Dear Sweet Tomatoes:

Thank you for reminding us overeating Americans that even at a salad buffet we should wait to get to our seats before chowing down!

♥ Cassie

Dear Karen:

Thank you for being ever so kind to put your name on your car so I wouldn't mistake it with mine.

♥ Cassie

Dear First Coast News:

Thank you for reminding me spellcheck is so important. Especially with live reporting! (Do you think my navigation will find Downtwon?)

♥ Cassie

Dear Donald Duck Pillow:

Thank you for being so cuddly, cute, warm and wonderful. Hearing my little lady say quack is just about the cutest sound in the world but walking in to find you napping with them is probably the cutest thing I've ever seen.

♥ Cassie

Friday's Come Early

2011-02-24T15:56:00.003-05:00

I am soooo excited. I am participating in my first ever blog hop!

If you care to join in the hop then click on the button and let's go together!

Quote of the Day

2011-02-24T08:07:00.002-05:00

"Because I'm so skinny"

Christian's reason for why he should be allowed to eat donuts for dinner.

Crazy Money

2011-02-22T09:37:00.006-05:00

I wanted to give everyone who watches the Bachelor plenty of time to get "caught up" so I don't spoil anything. So SPOILER ALERT - if you haven't seen last WEEKS (not last night) Bachelor, and you have been hiding under the infamous Geico rocks, you may want to skip this post!

You could hear a collective sigh of relief across the entire country last week when Bachelor Brad sent Crazy Michelle packing.

OK - so Michelle's last name is Money. Love it! Michelle Money. So I have given her the nickname Crazy $.

Now that Crazy $ is gone, the leftovers all seem to get along and now the house is gonna be all rainbows and unicorns and it really stinks! She was the entertainment! Her one liners are legendary!

The part that really stinks for Crazy $ is she is actually a really nice person. Very sweet. Good heart.

In honor of Crazy $ here are some of her best quotes:

"When Brad kisses me, and I kiss Brad, fireworks are gonna go off, probably right behind us"

"This is especially irritating because it happens to be my 30th birthday. Not my 29th, not my 31st, my 30th!"

"I'm ready for some girls to go home, primarily because I need more space for my luggage"

"Soon enough it will be over and they will all be gone and it will just be me and Brad in Tahiti, practicing making babies"

"Brad and Britt will apparently be setting sail on the ship of love. I think there's a good chance their ship will go down"

"Not only do I not see them getting married, I don't even see them friending each other on facebook"

"All I can do is be myself, be patient and hope that Chantal gets attacked by monkeys. Or apes."

So long Crazy $. The Bachelor will never be the same!

♥ Cassie

Blog Design Giveaway

2011-02-20T13:25:00.003-05:00

I'm entering a giveaway for Blog Design. You should all enter it!

Go to http://www.aprilshowersblogdesign.com and see for yourself!

Have fun and good luck!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-16T15:02:00.001-05:00

Tuesday's Tale

2011-02-15T09:41:00.003-05:00

I don't remember Christian's exact age but we lived in Fleming Island so we're talking somewhere between 7 and 10, dress himself age. He was diagnosed with ADHD and we had to go to the doctor every couple of months for medicine renewals. This particular appointment was actually for a well child visit.

I picked him up from school and we went to the doctor. His name was called and we were off to the back. They weighed him, checked his height, eyes and ears (not sure how they missed the hearing loss all those years but, whatever!) and we went to the room. The nurse checked all his vitals and as she was walking out of the room she said "The doctor will be right in. Please have him strip down to his underwear." Normal, right? As soon as she walked out I looked at Christian to tell him to start taking his clothes off when I noticed the color had left his face.

Me - "Come on, Son. Get down to your underwear"
Son - "But Mommy, I'm not wearing any underwear"
Me - *dumbfounded looking*

The doctor comes in, I (through laughter and embarrassment) tell her the boy ain't got no undies on and without batting an eye she says.... "Happens ALL THE TIME! It would shock you the amount of naked boys we get in here."

And that my friends is why we never leave the house without an undie check!

Quote of the Day

2011-02-14T09:34:00.001-05:00

"Mom, you should really pay attention to this. I think you could really use it..."

Said by my loving son as he turned up the radio so I could "pay attention" to a commercial for laser hair removal....

Destination: Sweet Life

2011-02-11T21:28:00.005-05:00

We are launching a new website!!!!

Destination: Sweet Life is dedicated to helping you find all the sweet things you crave (and not just sweet eats!). Our inaugural post is about Sivada's our favorite cupcakery.

Please take a look and let us know what you think!

What makes your life sweet?

♥ Cassie

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-09T10:39:00.002-05:00

Tuesday's Tale

2011-02-08T14:58:00.003-05:00

So maybe you would enjoy a cute story and I thought, what better day than a Tuesday for a tale from my life.

Several years ago, when Christian was around 6, he found Elvis. Somehow he was in his room watching TV on Elvis' birthday weekend and stumbled upon some channel running nonstop Elvis stuff. He fell in love! He LOVES Elvis. So much so that for Christmas Santa brought him one of those life-size cardboard cutouts of the King and he wanted it in his room. Hilarious! Anyway, he found Elvis and wanted to watch anything and everything Elvis related. If you asked him who Elvis was he would respond with a very enthusiastic "Elvis is the KING!". So one day, in the evening after Christian went to bed, I went to the kitchen. OK - I admit it - I finished off the bag of Oreos. Who wouldn't? They were calling my name. Seriously, the bag was almost gone and I would be buying more. So I threw away the bag and thought nothing of it. The next morning as we were getting ready for our day Christian was throwing something away and noticed the empty package. With eyes almost in tears he said "Mommy, what happened to the Oreos" and wanting to be as truthful as possible I said "it was a ghost!" All the sudden he was bright eyed and said "The ghost of Elvis!" ......

And that my friends is how the ghost of Elvis has become my (frequent) scapegoat!

Uh-Oh

2011-02-07T07:53:00.004-05:00

I was going to save this for Wordless Wednesday but explaining it makes it much funnier!

A little background - Georgia has learned to say Uh-Oh and she really loves saying it.

We were at the grocery store and I was looking at spices. She was in the buggy. As I was looking at the spices I heard her sweet little voice say "Uh-Oh!". Thinking nothing of it I said it back to her without looking. Then I heard her say a very ominous "Oh No!" I turned and saw this.....

She had opened the blueberries and they went all over the place.

What has been your best Uh-Oh moment?

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-02T16:41:00.002-05:00

My New Favorite

2011-02-01T21:00:00.005-05:00

This is my absolute, hands down favorite new recipe. These are super quick, unbelievably easy and down right delicious. I'm not sure how I never knew about these before. All you need is.....

Ritz Crackers, Peanut Butter and Candy Coating. YES! That's it! Three simple, everyday items. I prefer chocolate candy coating but vanilla also works really well and is as delicious.

First, lay out some Ritz crackers and top with peanut butter. Add as much or as little peanut butter as you like. I prefer "double stuff".

Then, take another Ritz and smoosh down. Be careful not to smoosh out all the peanut butter.

OK, now take a few bars of the candy coating and melt in the microwave. I set mine for 1 minute and then stir. If there are a few small lumps I just stir them out. Its best to warm for 3o seconds and figure it out from there. You don't want to overheat the coating. Yuck.

Smooth and Delicious!

Take some tongs and start dipping. Make sure to get the whole sandwich covered. You'll be so glad you did!

Place on wax paper and let cool. You'll know when they're ready because the chocolate will lose the "wet" look.

Every time I make these yummy treats they are gone as soon as they are put out. At a church event hubs made sure to take 10 to leave on our table while he put the rest of them on the dessert table. They are the perfect combination of sweet, salty, crunchy, peanut buttery goodness. Please make them soon and share them along with precious time with your family.

♥ Cassie

Have you made these before? Do you love them? What's your favorite, simple treat?

Quote of the Day

2011-01-30T18:23:00.003-05:00

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it." ~ Atticus Finch To Kill a Mockingbird

Pres. Berry released me today. He released all of us from our jobs of "moaning and groaning". I've certainly done my share. I have "moaned and groaned" about someone when I thought what they did was wrong and I could have done it better. Now I'm in the position of people judging me and the decisions I make. It isn't until you are in that position, with all the information given, that you realize what you *thought* you would do is no where near what the Lord wants you to do.

I, heretofore, release myself of "moaning and groaning." I will find pleasure in all situations. I will not judge anyone's decision because:

1. Who I am to judge? Am I perfect? Am I without sin?;
2. I don't know the whole story. I will never know the whole story;
3. When the Lord speaks to someone and they make a decision based on that direction, I SHOULD be very EMBARRASSED to think badly of that decision or to think I would have made a better one; and
4. I haven't "climbed inside your skin and walked around in it".

I feel great about this release. If I ever feel the need to judge or question your judgment I know I can take my problems to our Savior because "he lives to hear my soul's complaints. He lives to silence all my fears. He lives to wipe away my tears. He lives to calm my troubled heart. He lives all blessings to impart."

Blessings and Love to all ~
Cassie

Cassie's New York

2011-01-28T13:58:00.010-05:00

A friend is going to New York for the first time for a short period of time so I offered some help in where to go, what to eat, and how to get there. This list has, yet again, renewed my love affair with New York City and put me in an Empire State of mind! I don't know when I will get to go again but I'm getting desperate!!

So, I thought I would *try* to narrow down the top 10 reasons I love New York City. (in no particular order)

1. The moment your plane hits to ground you can just feel the electricity of the city. You can't help but get excited.
2. Food! Fabulous Food!
3. Neighborhoods that feel like little cities in the Big City. All the neighborhoods have their own distinct personality. The lower east side is hip and funky. The upper east side is posh (read *old money*). The upper west side is modern posh (read *new money*) Soho is bohemian. Chinatown is, well, Chinese! Even the NYPD officers AND missionaries are chinese and/or chinese speaking.
4. Whatever you want - it is here. You want a broom and some nails at 4:12 in the morning? You got it! Got a hankering for truly gourmet mac-n-cheese at 9:30 am? I got the place for you. Saw a shirt on a model in a magazine 3 years ago? I can show you where to go for that. Want to know what the newest make up trend is going to be in the coming year? I can get you that too.
5. The people are actually very friendly. Much friendly than their reputation.
6. Where else can you get history, drama, fashion, food, celebrity, and more in one 14 mile area?
7. Less really is more here. The more you have, the more you have to cram in a small area. Let's face it, no one but a New Yorker can have so little and still be so fabulous.
8. Public Transportation. I swear I LOVE the subways and buses. They don't just get you from place to place but they provide entertainment as well. People watching has never been as fun!
9. Delivery. This was extremely important when I lived there. Who wants to go buy a weeks worth of groceries and try to not only carry them home but then schlep them up four flights of stairs. Seriously, delivery, I heart you!
10. I love the person I become in New York. I am (more) fun and fearless.

Mayor Giuliani said one time that if you come to New York and find you walk a little quicker and with a spring in your step then you can consider yourself a New Yorker.

In my heart, although born a Florida Girl, I am a New Yorker!

Story of Us - Part 3

2011-01-25T19:58:00.005-05:00

On February 9, 2005 I woke up really REALLY early. My flight to Washington D.C. left at 6:00 am and once in Washington I would have a short hour and a half layover. My flight to England left at 9:55 am. I was due to arrive in England at 9:55 pm. I had no idea this was actually a little unusual. Most transatlantic flights are overnight flights. I boarded the very small, only slightly bigger than a puddle jumper plane to Washington D.C. It was completely uncomfortable and even a little smelly. I was too excited to sleep, not that I would be able to anyway. I can never sleep on flights. I'm a little jealous of people that can. I wouldn't say the entire flight was miserable but it was very typical of the domestic flights we all get to experience from the cheap seats. The silver lining was I flew United and at the time United was serving Pepsi. And I do love me some Pepsi. Fun Fact: I will go to a restaurant with OK food just because they have a great ratio of syrup to soda water for the Mountain Dew. (Maybe I should rename that to Sad Fact)... Anyway, I got to Washington and made my way to the internationals gate. The flight boarded ahead of schedule. I got on the plane and oh my what a difference a destination makes. This flight was larger, of course, and the seats were bigger and more comfortable. There were TVs on the back of every headrest with tons of things to watch. We were going to be there for a while, 8 hours, so they did a really great job of keeping us entertained. Sad Fact: I was so naive about international flights that I went to Burger King in the airport and got a Whopper meal for the flight. I thought they treated all flights the same and they don't us on regular flights. Not only did they feed me, they fed me two meals and a snack! Not to mention all the drinks I could drink. So as they were closing the doors to the flight I realized there was no one sitting beside me. So I had 2 seats, which was the whole row on the side of the plane, to myself. It was heaven. FYI - domestic flights stink! International is where it's at!! We arrived in London early but Heathrow was having air traffic issues so we flew in circles around London for an hour. We still landed on time. I got off the plane and started the longest walk ever from the gate to the main airport. On the way to passport control I saw the most disturbing sign. It was a huge yellow sign and in big, black, bold letters it said: TOILETS. Gross!! I found this to be the case all over Europe! I had to go through passport control and answer their questions: How long are you here for? What is the purpose of your stay? I passed with flying colors and they let me go through. It was very easy. They were very nice. Let me just say this - if you are traveling to England please let me know. I have gathered quite a bit of knowledge of things you would never think about. Even the best airlines to fly at certain times and times of day to fly. - I walked out of the airport into the waiting area and it was overwhelming seeing all of the people. I finally heard a voice from the side of me that said "hey". And there he was. He helped me with my luggage and we set off for the car park (parking lot to us Americans). The first thing I noticed was how cold it was. When I left Florida is was normal February weather. Maybe even a little warmer. I was expecting it to be cold but it was cold AND wet. We got to the car and I tried to get int he driver's side. After my silly mistake and Jason having a good laugh we were off. It was a 3 hour drive back to his house. I would have been really annoyed but I had to remember I lived 3 hours from the Orlando airport so I had no room to talk. As we were driving, at night, to his house I was noticing a strange thing - they had hotels in the middle of the highway. You know, like in the median. Weird, right? So I said to Jason, ummm, can you tell me why there are hotels and pubs in the middle of the roads? And he said, I don't see them, I don't know what you're talking about. What? How does he not see them. So the next time I saw one I said, there, that one. And he looked in the median and said, where? Are you kidding me? He can't see the buildings? So the next time I saw one I pointed at it and said - THERE and I pointed over my left shoulder. He laughed at me and reminded me that the "median" on the left was actually the side of the road. Because, of course, in England they drive on the opposite side. So when I said median, he looked towards the right, because that was the actual median. I still make mistakes like that which is why I never drive over there. Ever. Period. We finally got to his house and I crashed. I was tired, had been travelling all day and was beat. The next day we went to his parents house. I was nervous. So nervous. Upon meeting his parents his dad said "Welcome to the land of rain and bland food". Truer words have never been spoken! His family was beyond wonderful. Even today I feel like I have the best inlaws anyone could ever ask for. They are kind, considerate and most importantly, they raised a really wonderful son. We spent the 10th, 11th and 12th meeting his family, going to a town called Sheffield to meet his grandmother and great-aunt, meeting friends, touring his hometown of Lincoln. Lincoln isn't far from the Sherwood Forest. We went to the High Street (the main shopping/downtown district) and shopped and had hot chocolate. We went to the Lincoln castle. I'd never been to a castle before. We went to the Lincoln Cathedral. It is the actual cathedral where they filed The DaVinci Code. As we walked around people would comment on my accent. I was the foreigner. It is still strange to be somewhere and you are the only one that talks a certain way. Luckily I usually have Christian to help me feel more comfortable. On the 13th we woke up and I was told to pack a bag because we were leaving for a couple of days. I packed and his mom came to get us and take us to the train station. We boarded a train in a town called Grantham which was headed to Kings Cross station in London. Kings Cross is the station in Harry Potter where they go to Platform 9 1/2 to go to Hogwarts. Once there we took the tube (subway talk there) to Waterloo station in London to board the Eurostar. 2 and a half hours later we arrived in Paris. Yes, THAT Paris. My wonderful boyfriend took me to Paris, France as my Valentine's Day present! It should be noted that I got sick in England. I caught the flu and it was ugly! I was a mess. Must have been all the outside walking in the really wet, cold weather. Luckily, when we got the Paris I was on my way back to good health but I was far from 100%. We checked into the hotel and went on a self guided walking tour of the area of our hotel. We had crepes and went to get a Royale with cheese (cause they have the metric system so they don't know what a quarterpounder is), we ate croissants and just walked around. I got money from an ATM. I couldn't understand what it was asking me but luckily numbers are numbers. We did go to a chemist (pharmacy like Walgreens) to try and get my some medicine. We walked in and up to the counter. I said to the woman behind the counter that I didn't speak French, I was sorry, but I really needed something for the flu. She looked at my like I just shot her mother. I hung my head in shame and started to walk away. Jason went up to the counter, to the same woman, said something in French and asked if anyone spoke English. She smiled at him and went to get the chemist, who spoke perfect English and was able to ask him for some medicine. Which, by the way, was AMAZING! I had to buy more to bring home with me! It was getting late but Jason didn't want to go back to the hotel. I was not feeling well and it was really cold so I was wanting to stay in the hotel room. He asked me to walk the River Seine with him. I gave in and we went. It was 11 pm and we walked hand in hand down the bank of the river and it was beautiful. He could see how incredibly cold I was so he gave in and we went back to the hotel. I really was miserable. The next morning we got up, again I was feeling better, we exchanged Valentine's cards and we ate yummy pastries. I swear to you I have walked the streets of many cities trying to find pastries as good as those in Paris. I am still trying to find them. As you would expect, the croissants were buttery and delicious. We went sightseeing this time on a sightseeing bus, one of my favorite things to do in any new city, and we ended up at the Eiffel Tower, passing along the way places like the Louvre, Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomphe. We wanted to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower but knowing I was trying to get over the flu and how windy it would be and not to mention the line to get up there, we decided to skip the view from the top this time. Hopefully one of these days we will have an opportunity to go back and I will be able to go to the top. After the Eiffel Tower we wondered around and ended up at Notre Dame. It is a beautiful cathedral. It is on the river and quite stunning. We tried to go in but they wanted an entrance fee to "worship" with them. I don't care to turn this into a debate on religion but I pay my tithing to my church so I would never pay to enter and sightsee another church. As we were walking out Jason was acting a little strange. Something I couldn't really explain. Until he pulled me close, kissed me and told me how much he loved me. He said "I am completely, totally and utterly in love with you". Then he pulled out a box from his jacket, bent down (instead of getting on one knee because it was wet) and asked if I would marry him. All I could say was "Yes". He put the most incredible, clear, colorless, Emerald cut Diamond solitaire on my finger. Specially designed by him for me. He told me he drove all the way across the country for my ring. I was flabbergasted! I had to ask, "How long did that take?" "3 hours" he said. Wait, what? 3 hours? Oh my goodness, that would take 3 days in America! OK, seriously, are you kidding me? Did I just get engaged to my dream man, in Paris, on Valentine's day? Yes! I did! We were married April 2, 2005 in Jacksonville, Florida. On the St. Johns River. And the rest, they say, is history.

I love our story. We have a really great one. I can't wait to be able to tell Georgia our story.

Story of Us - Part 2

2011-01-24T19:29:00.004-05:00

He was wearing a red t-shirt and jeans, was carrying a shoulder type bag and pulling his luggage. I knew it was Jason as soon as I saw him but not because I had previously seen his pictures. As much as I love him, he doesn't always take the best pictures. I can't really describe it but I just knew it was him. The feeling was obviously mutual because as our eyes met, even being 50 feet apart, he dropped everything and ran to meet me and put his arms around me. He kissed me, nothing inappropriate, but very meaningful. It was at that exact moment I realized how much I liked him and how much I didn't like his breath. Yuck! But to be fair, he had just traveled 9 hours on a flight, eating airplane food, drinking orange juice and probably plenty of coffee. After a few minutes of just hugging and enjoying being in the same country we picked up the things he dropped and headed to the car. We got to the car and made some phone calls to let everyone know he was safe and I was normal and we were off on a 2 and a half hour drive back to my place. Unfortunately neither of us can remember a lot of the drive home but what I do remember is 1. As we started going over a bridge of water it shocked the heck out him 2. Taco Bell and 3. He stared at me the whole way back. Of course we have a ton of water here in Florida and therefore have tons of bridges. I'm used to driving down the road and without warning being on a bridge but for an Englishman on his first visit to the states this was news worthy. It really surprised him and made me laugh. No trip to Orlando is complete without a stop for gas at some point. On the way home I needed to stop and pulled off 95 at Palm Coast. It was getting late, it was already dark, and I was hungry. I asked if he was and as I've since learned, he's always hungry. Remembering he liked spicy food and even specifically mentioned Mexican food I asked if he want to grab a quick bite at Taco Bell and we could be on the rest of the way home. Yeah sure he said. So I pulled into Taco Bell and asked what he wanted. Whatever he says. How about some tacos? Yeah sure he said. So I order enough tacos for the two of us and then pull into the gas station next to Taco Bell. Knowing he's hungry and tired I handed him his tacos and got out to pump the gas. I get back in the car and there's Jason, sour cream on the side of his mouth, mouth full of taco, rest of the taco in one hand and he looked at me, with a full mouth and said "This is great!". Uhhh, it's just Taco Bell I thought. Then it occurred to me and I asked him, "Don't you have Taco Bell in England?" His response - "No!" No? No! Seriously? Seriously! So then we started going through a list of all the places they DON'T have in England and I was mentally making a list of must-visits. Back on the road for the rest of the ride I would catch Jason just staring at me. I'm not really sure why but I figure I'm just THAT gorgeous! :) Finally we got to my apartment and crashed for the night. He was so tired from his day of traveling that he was out in no time. But before he could go to sleep he had to give me the Christmas present he bought me. It was at this point that I realized we were supposed to be exchanging gifts. Crap! I didn't have anything for him! So I made another mental note to take him shopping for a new shirt or something. He gave me a box that was larger than an earring or necklace box but smaller than box you would get medical supplies in. I opened it to find a pink (my favorite color) Burberry (my favorite fashion house) watch (the one piece of jewelery that I don't have but really need). I couldn't believe how incredibly thoughtful this guy was. He was really trying to impress and it was working! The next day we went on our first "official" date. I took him to Bono's Barbeque. In England to barbeque simply means pulling out the grill on that one summer day when it isn't raining and cooking hamburgers. So I had to introduce Jason to real Southern Barbeque. You know, the stuff life is truly made of. We were seated and Jason asked the server a question which went like this:

Him: Something she couldn't understand

Her: I'm sorry?

Him: (speaking much slower this time) Toilet? Where can I find the toilet?

Her: (with a really sour look on her face) Oh, the bathrooms are over there

When he came back I politely explained that to say toilet throws people off because we imagine the toilet when he says it. So we use the term bathroom. Seems much nicer. We both had a little laugh. I helped him order, the food came and again, he thought I was wonderful for filling his belly with such deliciousness. Let's face it, this wasn't going to be hard. Have you had English Cuisine? Not always the tastiest of foods.

We spent the next couple of days making the rounds, meeting family, getting to know each other a little better, showing him the best North Florida or more specifically, Orange Park, had to offer. We didn't venture far because we really wanted to focus on getting to know each other better and seeing if we connected. We spent New Year's Eve with Casey and Mark at their home doing nothing terribly exciting. We rang in the New Year with kisses and hugs and togetherness. It really was great. I found out later that as Jason and Mark were talking Mark asked Jason when he and I would see each other again. Jason told him we were planning on me going to England in February. Mark told Jason, "If you like this girl as much as you say you do, you'll be back before you know it." Jason didn't put too much into this little golden nugget of information because he had a job to get back to and so did I. We had our lives to live and we were both very much looking forward to February. On January 2nd we prepared for Jason to go back to England. I didn't want him to go but he had to. We both knew it. He packed up and we were back in the car to the Orlando airport. This time leaving in more than enough time to allow for the crazy traffic pattern that plagued me the first time around. We got to the airport in plenty of time and spent the next hour sitting together in the very crowded waiting area. Talk about privacy. We talked about how much we loved each other (yes, we were using the "l" word) and how we couldn't wait until February. Tears were shed (mostly by Jason and yes, that is the truth) and then it was time. He had to board. I watched him as he walked through security and then got on the tram to head to his gate. I felt as if I was letting him walk out of my life and there was nothing I could do. It was at that point that I broke down and cried. I cried all the way home. I couldn't believe I let this guy leave. What was I thinking? I would have to wait until the next day to even talk to him again. It really was painful. The next day I spoke to him and he didn't feel well. He got sick on the flight home. This would eventually be something he passed on to me. The day after that (now the 4th) he called and said he had been doing some thinking (my stomach was dropping...nothing good ever starts with "I've been thinking...") and would I be able to stand him for two weeks? Duh! Of course! And with that he bought a ticket to come back. He was set to arrive on January 12th, only 10 days after leaving me sobbing in Orlando. I guess what Mark said about being back sooner than he thought was coming to fruition. So now, instead of counting down to February 9th, over a month away, we were counting down to January 12th! January 12th finally came and those two weeks were filled with more restaurants Jason had never been to and places he had never been. I took him to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. We had a blast riding all the rides and just being together. I did have to work on some of those days so we had fun in between work. One day Jason was in the office and him and my dad were at my Dad's desk talking. I later found out Jason asked if he could ask me to marry him while I was in England in February. My dad gave his blessing. Everyone who knew us could see we were happier than they had ever seen us. We even went to the courthouse and got a marriage license. They're good for 90 days! It was only halfway on a whim. I knew I wanted to marry him and spend the rest of my life with him. I knew it was only a matter of time before I would be his wife. He left to go back to England on the 29th and we only had another 10 days before I would fly to England to see him and meet his family. I never even had a passport before I met him. I have travelled all over this beautiful country but had never been out of it, except on a cruise to the Bahamas. Many "firsts" were happening for him and I and it was fantastic. February 9th came and I was off to England for the first time ever.........

Story of Us - Part 1

2011-01-23T18:45:00.008-05:00

(Photo by Jarvis Photography)

I don't have "our story" anywhere except memory so I wanted to get it down.....

I was a divorced single mom and I was happy! And I really mean that. I was happy. I was resigned to the fact that I would be single. Enter Casey, Mark and their delirious happiness. She was so happy and thought I needed someone to share my life with. She met Mark online. He made her laugh. To be fair, he is the yin to her yang, the peanut butter to her jelly, the lamb to her tuna fish. Mark lived in Michigan and took a picture of himself with an onion ring. That's how she knew he was the one! She loves onion rings. He moved here, they got married and are currently living happily ever after. I was so happy for her! Seeing her and Mark get married made me so happy. My sister is a good person who deserves every happiness and she got it! But you know how happy, married people are, they think everyone around them should also be happy, married people. She insisted I try to find someone too. Really? Do I have to? I resisted. I think a part of me was a little afraid of rejection as well. I was divorced. Although I left him, actions leading up to that point did feel a little like rejection. Well, if there is one thing I am it is a people pleaser so to make peace I decided I would go online. I would try and communicate with someone BUT I would only "communicate". It wouldn't go any further than that and to be sure my diabolical plan would work I would find the FARTHEST person from me. Wait, here's one. He's in ENGLAND! There is NO WAY anything could ever come of this! I did have a Method to my madness: Find someone far far away while making sure they spoke English so we could understand each other. Yup, this guy in England fits the bill for that! So I found a guy and sent him a message. There was no picture attached to his profile or anything, cause you know, the ones with pictures are really serious about finding someone. The ones without a picture are just there to people watch. Much to my surprise (or maybe not cause let's face it, I'm fabulous!) he responded to my message. We started chatting online on November 30, 2004. Turns out he was really funny. We would spend hours laughing. Most of the time laughing AT each other. We had a funny little conversation I wish I could remember word for word but we got on the subject of babies, walks, grocery stores, you know, all the crazy stuff and it went a little something like this....

Him: (something about a stroller)

Me: A stroller is what you take a baby for a walk in

Him: No, you take a baby out in a buggy.

Me: No, a buggy is what you put your groceries in at the store.

Him: No, that's a trolley

Me: No, a trolley is something in San Francisco that takes people around the city.

(for the record, his sister still can't believe we have bread in a can..lol)

I found myself spending all hours of the night at my office because we were chatting and I didn't want to do anything but talk to him. I don't remember the exact date but only a day or two later he asked for my phone number so he could call me. I gladly gave it to him because I was DYING to hear his accent. I could not have prepared myself for the insanity that ensued! That first phone call was 20 minutes long and went a little something like this.....

Me: Hello

Him: Something I couldn't understand

Me: What?

Him: Something I couldn't understand

Me: I can't really hear you

Him: Something I COULD understand

Me: Finally answering to his conversation

Him: What?

Me: Something he couldn't understand

Him: What?

You get the point! We spent an entire 2o minutes trying to understand each other's accents and over the phone it is surprisingly difficult the first time. We quickly got the hang of it! We spent the next few days exchanging emails, IM chats and phone calls. On December 7th he sent a text telling me he just had to meet me (well, duh!...lol) and asked if I would be interested in meeting. I was speechless but managed to say of course! He bought the ticket that day. He was set to arrive December 27th and would stay until January 2nd. Just in time to still be here around Christmas and spend New Years Eve together. We then spent the next 20 days emailing, chatting online and doing more talking on the phone. I got home one day and my phone had been turned off because the phone company thought someone hacked my line and made a bunch of unauthorized calls to England. They said if I didn't make the calls they would take them off my bill. Man, it was really hard to be honest on that one. Especially since I was facing a $200 long distance bill. During the 20 days we really got to know one another. I knew he liked spicy food. He was funny and bright. Someone I could hold a conversation with and not get bored. I was already in love with his accent. Finally the big day was here. December 27th. I decided on my outfit: flowered skirt, pinkish sweater/shirt combo, brown shoes with a small heal; my hair: straight and soft. I cleaned out my car. I even had it washed. I'm sure he realizes now what a big deal that was because I NEVER wash my car! I left on time and should have arrived just as his plane arrived. I mean, I wasn't too worried - he still had customs to go through. Little did I know this would be the day that the State of Florida decided a new traffic pattern was going into effect on 95 between St. Augustine and Daytona. URGH! Now I was racing! Needless to say I was late! I was so late, in fact, he thought I wasn't coming. Poor guy thought I had a serious change of heart. He couldn't have been more wrong. I finally got to the airport. I parked my green Honda Civic on the 3rd floor of the parking garage and was practically running to get inside. I forgot what a stinkin maze the Orlando airport really is. Once I finally was in the airport I came off the escalator, turned to the left towards baggage claim and I saw him. He was walking towards me. Yes, that was him............

Quote of the Day

2011-01-22T09:38:00.003-05:00

"So Pappaw, you are the bearer of bad news" - Christian to his Pappaw when he found out that one of Pappaw's job is to go to people's homes who are late on making rent payments and posts late notices on their doors.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-20T09:54:00.004-05:00

(a day late....)

What a Day

2011-01-18T07:35:00.005-05:00

So if $10 can get you a trip to New York City what can Free get you?

DISNEY WORLD!!

Thanks to a friend who has the hook up Georgia and I were able to go to Disney on Thursday for free! Fabulous!! It was me and Georgia, Casey and Marky, Angela and Savannah and Lisa and Kaden. We had such a good time.

We started at Hollywood Studios (MGM Studios for us Disney Pros!)

Angela and I rode the Rockin Roller Coaster but that was the last "adult ride" because Georgia screamed the whole time I was gone and let's face it - this day was for her and the other kids. Us adults can ride those rides anytime!

We took the kids to Playhouse Disney and they did a live Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Georgia was in heaven!

They couldn't take their eyes off the stage!

After Hollywood Studios we went to the Magic Kingdom. It was so exciting. I realized I hadn't been to Disney in several years. When you live here and can go anytime you want it and your kids are either too young to appreciate it or too old (Christian prefers Universal Studios), the magic seems to lose a little luster. It all came back. It was so wonderful.

We headed over to Mickey's Toon Town and let the kids play in the play area.

Savannah, Georgia liked being in Pluto's doghouse. They were so cute!

After the play area we went to tour Mickey's house. At the end of the tour you can go into a different area to meet Mickey Mouse. So Casey, Marky, Georgia and I headed to meet him.

This was the big moment. What we drove 2 and a half hours for. It was Georgia's time to meet her hero! Little did we know Minnie would be there too.

As we got closer and closer Georgia got closer and closer..... to my neck! She was so scared she buried her face into my neck and when I did pull her away for a photo this is what we got.....

She wouldn't even open her eyes to see them. Poor baby!!

It was a wonderful day spend with family and friends. I can't wait to be able to go back with Jason and Christian.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-12T09:04:00.002-05:00

Pappaw Claus

2011-01-11T08:03:00.002-05:00

I was having a Young Women's sleepover (which was a TON of fun by the way!) so my family made sure Christian and Georgia saw Santa. This was taken at my parent's ward Christmas party. Some of the cousins were there. I think the picture speaks for itself! Enjoy!

New Layout

2011-01-05T00:24:00.003-05:00

I think I may be starting to get the hang of this whole blog thing.

What do you think of the new background? How about the header?

December 16, 2010

2010-12-16T21:53:00.003-05:00

Today I am grateful for Bedhead!

Every morning I look forward to seeing what kind of crazy hair my Georgia will have. She has the best bedhead! Hair in all different directions. LOVE IT!

19 Months

2010-12-15T07:27:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Georgia turned 19 months! What a little grown up she is trying to become! I love how she tries to talk. She can go on and on in her babble and she just knows she is telling us something we should understand. She has the absolute sweetest voice! I could sit and listen to her for hours. (Probably a good thing since once they start, they don't stop.) She hates to be told NO! Oh how she will scream if me or Daddy tell her no. She loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She has recently found Chocolate. OMG the lengths she will go to for chocolate. Her favorite? Like a true Daddy's girl she loves peanut butter cups. If I have any in the candy dish on top of the counter she will go, stand at the counter, reach for it and cry until we give her a piece. Yesterday Georgia and Daddy were cleaning out the closet and she found Daddy's OLLLLDDD Easter basket still full with chocolate. She brought it into the den and was trying to eat through the wrappers. Georgia loves to climb. I was washing dishes and heard her giggle only to look up and see her sitting on top of our kitchen table. She keeps me on my toes!

I am so grateful to Jason for working so hard so I can stay home and raise our children. Christian is excelling in school and Georgia is growing by leaps and bounds. I don't have to miss a thing.

December 9, 2010

2010-12-09T09:16:00.001-05:00

Today I am grateful for Hot Chocolate (the drink and the band!)

I have lived on the warm stuff over these cold days. YUM!

December 7, 2010

2010-12-07T11:27:00.002-05:00

Today I am grateful for the sense of touch.

As I sit here and type Georgia is rubbing my arm. It gives her security to rub my arm and feel me there. And of course I love feeling her cute little chubby, dimply hand rubbing me. When I had her the nurses encouraged skin to skin touch to help the me and her bond. I love feeling my kids skin on mine. When I hug Christian I make sure our cheeks are touching. When Jason and I sit on the couch and watch TV we are always touching in some way. My feet on him, holding hands, his head on my shoulder. I love the 5 senses.

December 6, 2010

2010-12-06T17:57:00.002-05:00

Today I am grateful for socks!

Brrrrrrrr.......It's been really cold for Florida! I am so happy we have socks to keep our tootsies warm!

December 3, 2010

2010-12-03T21:23:00.002-05:00

Today I am grateful for Papa Johns.

I didn't want to make dinner and they were having a pretty good deal! Buy a large pizza at regular price ($12) and get free cheesesticks. Use promo code FREESTICKS when you order online and Enjoy!

December 2, 2010

2010-12-02T22:02:00.001-05:00

Today I am grateful for footie pajamas.

It has taken a turn for the cold and my Georgia in her footie pjs is probably one of the cutest things ever. She is so warm and cuddly and makes me not want to leave the bed!

December 1, 2010

2010-12-01T07:51:00.002-05:00

Today I am grateful for safety!

In the last week 2 of my friends' homes have been broken into and robbed. Luckily neither was hurt. What kind of world do we live in these days??

November 30, 2010

2010-11-30T08:01:00.002-05:00

Today I am grateful for Christmas music.

Daddy, Georgia and I were driving around yesterday and we listened to Christmas music. Georgia loved it! The only thing that could have made it better was a little cold weather. Oh well, there's always next year.

November 28, 2010

2010-11-28T19:21:00.002-05:00

Today I am grateful for friends.

Specifically I am grateful for Wendy. I love Wendy. She is always there when I need her. She never lets me down. She is as sweet as she is beautiful. She has a heart of gold! She is also good for a few laughs! I love you Wendy!

Thank you for being a friend!
Traveled down the road and back again.
Your heart is true, you're a pal and a confidant!
And if you threw a party
Invited everyone you knew
You would see the biggest gift would be from me
And the card attached would say
Thank you for being a friend!

(yep, I went there! she is THAT good!)

November 27, 2010

2010-11-27T18:44:00.003-05:00

Today I am grateful for decorations!

We took out the Christmas decorations yesterday and decorated the house. The tradition in our family is I put up the tree and the kid(s) decorate it. I don't mess with any ornament on the tree. In the past I have had the help of my nieces and nephews but this year it was just Christian and Georgia. I think Georgia did more taking down than putting up but nevermind cause my tree is GORGEOUS!

November 26, 2010

2010-11-26T14:33:00.002-05:00

Today I am grateful for leftovers!

We are really enjoying the turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, mac-n-cheese, corn, green beans and pie!

Thanks Gullett family for the BEST. FOOD. EVER!

Thanksgiving Day!

2010-11-25T09:16:00.002-05:00

Today I am grateful for all the people in my life. Everyone of you make my life better.

Heavenly Father
Jesus Christ
Jason
Christian
Georgia
Mom
Dad
Johnny
Nikki
Cody
Ashlee
Brittney
Little Johnny
Joshua (in spirit)
Casey
Mark
Little Mark
JoJo
Madi
Dave
Joan
Nicki
Piper
Gran Clarkson
Gran House
Aunt Bert's Family
Aunt Judy and her Family
Uncle Jim's Family
Uncle Jason and Family
Uncle Jasper and Family
Uncle Dale and Family
Aunt Juanita's Family
Aunt Sandy and Family
Aunt Patricia and Family
Aunt Teresa and Family
Uncle Lonnie and Family
Uncle Joey and Family
Opal
Uncle Shaun
Uncle Roy and his family
Uncle Ernie and his family
Wendy
Angela
Jim
Danielle
Kailey
Cameron
Evan (in spirit)
Savannah
Pam
Ilene
Wynna
Katie
Debbie
Christina Meeks
Kaleigh
Kaylee
Christina Dunn
Erica
Deborah
Kelsea
Kelsey
Brittney (Doyle)
Katelyn
The entire Middleburg Ward family
Kelly Thompson and Family
All my childhood friends
All my teenaged friends
All my adult friends

I wish I could name EVERYONE one by one but just know if your name isn't posted it doesn't lessen how I feel about you! I am so thankful for everyone in my life!! I love you all!!

November 24, 2010

2010-11-24T08:47:00.003-05:00

Today I am grateful for doggy-sitting.

We've been doggy-sitting Cami. A cute all white English Bulldog that likes to dance when you wave a white wipe in her face. She is really funny. Georgia is especially happy Cami is here. Georgia likes to follow her around and play with her but what she really loves is when we're eating dinner Georgia will throw her food on the ground and watch Cami come and eat it up. It makes Georgia giggle.

November 23, 2010

2010-11-23T19:27:00.001-05:00

Today I am grateful for books.

I'm so propud of Christian's love of reading. He will read anything! And as I type this Jason is reading a letter book to the cutest little lady I've ever seen!

November 22, 2010

2010-11-22T10:19:00.001-05:00

Today I am grateful for internet service!

We've been without our service all weekend, thank you AT&T (yeah, right!). You never realize how much you depend on your internet access until it's gone!

November 19, 2010

2010-11-19T15:05:00.002-05:00

Today I am grateful for naps!

Georgia decided she didn't need a nap today and now she has been crying, NONSTOP, since 1:30. It is now 3:06 (but who's counting minutes?!?!?!). If the crying doesn't stop I don't know what I'm going to do.

I can't wait for Jason to get home!!!

November 18, 2010

2010-11-18T19:42:00.003-05:00

Today I am grateful Clean Breeze Downy with scent pearls!

My laundry has never been so yummy! I have always used April Fresh Downy but Clean Breeze is my new love! LOVE LOVE LOVE!!

November 16, 2010

2010-11-16T07:50:00.003-05:00

Today I am grateful for smell!

My children each have a certain smell. I love to get close to them and just smell them. My husband has a smell. My parents each have a smell. I love those smells. Smell can triger memories. Smell can take you back to a certain time and place. I can smell a perfume from my teenage years and it will remind me of something I otherwise forgot. When I bake I can smell the cookies, brownies, cake, whatever, in my hair. We often talk of "things" belonging to my parents that each child may want after our parents are gone. I have often said I want Daddy's pillow. It has his smell. Yep, I am extremely grateful for the sense of smell.

November 15, 2010

2010-11-15T20:16:00.002-05:00

Today I am grateful for the sweet spirit that can touch my life through a beautiful Young Women's program.

The Middleburg Young Women worked very hard on their sacrament program and it was beautiful. Our young women are marvelous! They are strong and courageous! Later this week I will post my talk from Sunday's program so I will never forget how much I love them and how precious they all are.

Middleburg Young Women - You ladies are awesome! I can't put into words the love I have for each and every one of you!

November 14, 2010

2010-11-14T16:11:00.003-05:00

Today I am grateful for egg salad.

Yep, it's one of my favorites. Egg salad really hits the spot. My husband and son love my egg salad. It reminds me of my childhood. When we would go on vacation my mom would pack a cooler full of drinks and food. (No stopping for us! We could get out of the car when we got to where we were going! And we didn't just go to Orlando. I'm talking, Atlanta, Ohio, North Carolina, West Virginia, Utah!! OK, so we didn't have to "hold it" all the way to Utah..lol) Mom would always pack egg salad sandwiches. And they would go fast. Now I'm passing on the love to my family. Now if only I can get Marky to eat it I will consider my life a success!!

November 13, 2010

2010-11-13T08:46:00.002-05:00

Today I am grateful for clean sheets.

Is it my imagination or do you sleep better on sheets just out of the dryer?

November 12, 2010

2010-11-12T08:26:00.002-05:00

Today I am grateful for a huge mess!

Yesterday was a long wonderful day. We had some of our family over to help celebrate Christian's birthday. It got late and everyone had to go home. They asked if they could help clean up before they left but I wasn't in the mood to clean myself so I told them no, just go home and rest! That's what I did. As soon as they left I crashed into bed! Much to Christian's dismay. He thought he should be able to stay up late on his birthday and normally I would agree but he had school the next day. I woke up this morning, went to the kitchen and there is that beautiful huge mess staring me in the face. Most people might look at this mess and be unhappy but I see this mess and remember the great time we had last night with so many people who came to help Chrisitan celebrate his birthday. Yep, this is a huge mess I am more than happy to clean up!

November 11, 2010

2010-11-11T08:10:00.002-05:00

Although I have already posted about him, today, November 11, 2010, I am so grateful for my Christian!!!

Today is his birthday! Today should not have been his birthday but it is and I am grateful!

In May 1996 I found out I was pregnant. I was excited but a little (ALOT) scared. I went to the doctor and found out I was due January 11, 1997. A new baby for the new year. I started planning. I remember like it was yesterday sitting in the doctor's exam room and the sonogram being done. As soon as they turned the machine on Christian did a somersault. A full turn! Then, as if he knew what I was really looking for, he swam past with his legs wide open! A boy! I wanted a boy! I never even thought he could have been anything but a boy! I knew this baby was a boy! (In case you can't tell, I really believed he was a boy before the sonogram confirmed it!) In August I started retaining a little water. Not really unusual for a pregnant woman to retain water. No big deal. But as time went on I retained more water and then there were unusually high levels of protein in my urine. In October I had to say in the hospital for a week to be monitored. The doctor decided I should be able to go home. I had been diagnosed with Preeclampsia. Its the new toxemia. So I went home on bedrest. It was Halloween. I passed out candy to the neighborhood kids. The next morning a nurse came to the house to take all my vitals. She saw a picture on my table and remarked how pretty the woman in the picture was. She asked me who it was. Seriously? She can't tell it's me? It was MY wedding picture taken just a couple of months prior! She smiled, told me I looked beautiful and asked to use my phone. (This was before everyone had cell phones.) She immediately called my doctor and told him I needed to be back in the hospital. Turns out she couldn't recognize me because I was so swollen! I didn't even look like myself. So back to the hospital I went and wouldn't come out. I won't get into too many more gruesome details but at 12:36 on November 11, 1996, Christian Alexander Brackenridge was born via emergency C-Section. He weighed in at a whooping 2 pounds 6 ounces and 15 1/2 inches long. He had to stay in the NICU for 6 weeks. It was painful leaving him everyday, 2 or 3 times a day, while I went home and he stayed in the hospital. Painful isn't even really the word. My little man finally blossomed to almost 5 pounds so the doctors let him come home. We had a convoy go pick him up! It was Christmas Eve. My Dad was dressed up like Santa Claus. He was driving his 57 Chevy Belair. My brother, John, was in his car filming us coming home. My car was there but I rode home in the 57 with my baby, of course. I think my sister, Casey, may have driven my car home but I really don't know. Mom was also there and so was my brother, Joseph. Everyone was so excited that Christian was finally coming home. I'm sure the person happiest after me would have been my own mom. I'm not sure how much more of my crying about not bringing my baby home she could stand. Now my 2 pound baby is a young man. A gorgeous, smart, talented, dance card holding, super funny young man! I am going to be his date to his first church dance. Just don't tell him. It's going to be my secret!

Christian - I LOVE YOU! Without you I don't know who I would be. You have helped me to be the woman and mom I am. I love your aqua blue eyes staring back. I love your strong warm hugs. I especially love your luscious lips! You will always be my baby boy. I love you, Son. I can't wait to celebrate this day with you!

November 10, 2010

2010-11-10T07:07:00.002-05:00

Today I am grateful for November.

The weather has been wonderful! Thanksgiving is this month. Veteran's Day. But the most important thing to happen in this wonderful month of November will happen tomorrow!!