Monday, January 17, 2011

Happy MLK

Today is Martin Luther King Day and school is out. I decided homeschool will be out too. LOL! I took the kids to meet our besties! We enjoyed pizza and games with the Stone Kids at Stevie B's. I have to admit. I just enjoy getting to hang out with Candy and the kids can play and have fun there. The certainly had fun and weh really enjoyed going back to their house for some more play time. I loved hanging out with Candy all afternoon.

It has started to rain today...blah..first snow, now rain. I am so ready for some sunshine. Bleeze went with me to buy groceries tonight where I taught myself a valuable lesson (or should I say...God did) I promised Bleeze that if he had great behavior while we grocery shopped we would visit the "redbox" outside of Walmart to rent a movie. Well, he was good so off we went to the redbox. I was getting so frustrated with the stupid piece of technology and a line built behind me causing me to become evern more flustered. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I could feel my blood pressure rise as with each time I hit the "checkout" button it would give me some excuse as to why I could not "checkout". I could feel the need to "cuss" coming on me. LOL!!! I was trying to keep my composure since I had my five year old son with me! I finally just yelled out and everyone heard me "good God Almighty". It seemed more appropriate than the words that were circulating my mind. As a I finally accomplished the task of renting 3 movies from the stupid redbox kiosk, I realized that someone I attend church with was behind me....GREAT! I know that had heard what some people may think is "taking the LORD's name in vain"...(I for one was called on the good God Almighty, for help before I lost my mind and begain to beat the machine up) I thought... thank goodness I did not say a "bad" word, she might have heard and told someone.

As I got in the car and started the ride home I began to think about my toughts. Where they thoughts based off of conviction or were they based off of pride. I came to the conclusion that they were of pride. It seemed to me that I was more concerned about what people may think if I slipped up and said a word that some people may think "inappropriate" than God. The truth of the matter is, I was. You see, I came to the conclusion that God would totally see that as me being exactly who I am, a yucky fallen sinner who gets mad and may slip a bad word. While as in the past my experiences with people....they will hold the fact you said a bad word against for years because they may feel you have "fallen" away.

Now don't get me wrong, it is not that I am justifying living carelessly and talking any way you like... I mean I know the scriptures....but the fact is... I am human...not perfect and "sin" is going to happen... and it is so GOOD to know that my Savior is a loving, kind, forgiving Savior who sees me for just who I am and knows my heart!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Wonderful Weekend....




Friday morning Tommy and I headed out of town for the weekend. Tommy purchased me a weekend getaway at the Waynesville Resort and Spa in NC. It was so nice. It is an 80 year old lodge that is unique. Our room was surrounded by wood big hardwood floor. LOL! The walls, ceiling everything. I laughed so hard because Tommy just can't escape floors. LOL!

On Friday afternoon we enjoy the sweet little town of Waynesville. It was nice to just venture in and out of the shops and we stopped for Coffee and Cake at one of the little Cafe's. Tommy got the biggest piece of cake I believe I have ever seen. The picture in this blog is just half of the piece. They had beautiful homemade cakes and candies. Friday evening we ate at the lodge at the resort at a place called The Tap Room. It was so wonderful. We went casual for this meal because we had a huge lunch at the MOOSE CAFE in Asheville on our way up. It was a nice but fun little pub. They were having Karaoke. I thought about entering but with the jackpot being $1500.00 I assumed I would loose because only really good people would compete for that. Boy was I wrong... I am not a great singer and I could have walked away with $1500.00. LOL!!!!

Saturday morning we woke up to the wonderful smells of breakfast being cooked their in the LODGE. It was amazing. Full buffet of every type of breakfast food you could think of. Needless to say....we had no lunch. LOL! We drove back into downtown Asheville and did some shopping, went to see the movie The Dilema and then enjoyed one of the most amazing meals ever at The Sweet Onion in Waynesville. I would literally drive all the way up there for the day just to eat there. It was amazing. I attached a link.
http://www.sweetonionrestaurant.com/


Saturday evening we just relaxed at the Lodge and took in a couple of Hallmark movies. LOL! It was nice just to chill and relax.

Sunday came oh so quick... I was missing my sweet boys but also wishing that Tommy and I had just a little more time together. We went to the Farmer's Market in Asheville and then the Biltmore Square Mall to the Dillard's Clearance Center. I made out like a bandit! We scored for all four of us some GREAT deals.

I was glad to get home to my boys this afternoon. We gave them all there surprises and then headed out to make some Christmas returns here locally. My sweet Eli had purchased me a really awesome watch for Christmas but it fell apart while we were in NC. I took it back to Belk and I kinda upgraded a bit to a Michael Kors watch. HUGE thanks to my sweet hubby! We enjoyed dinner with them at Logan's and then came home to let them see the final Hannah Montana and for me to watch the Golden Globes.

This weekend was great and none of it could have happened without my sweet hubby. I love you Tommy!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Forget Snow Day...Snow Week...









Last week I wrote I was wondering if we would get the snow they were calling for here. Well.... I need not wonder any longer. The snow has been on the ground since Sunday night. We got about 8 inches in our back yard. Tommy did not work all week so it was like a mini vacation. We were home all week. I feel like I gained 100 pounds. I did manage to get to the gym twice during this week but still...ugh... I made homemade chilli,homemade jalepeno cheesy cornbread, homemade pimento cheese, homemade Italian fries....ahhhh....It was a good week! LOL!

We did go to the mall on Tuesday. It was so strange. There was only a few stores open. We had fun with the Stone crew though. We just hung out and ate lunch at Shomars and yogurt from Tutti Frutti! It was nice to get out of the house.

Tonight we took our two little monkeys downtown to Liberty's Tap Room. We wanted to spend some time with them because we are headed out of town for the weekend in the morning. So, until Sunday, have a great weekend everybody and enjoy our snow week pics.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

I just love Sundays!


Sunday has become one of my favorite days. It is a day to be with the family as well as good friends. We went to church this morning. Where Bleeze made some cute glasses to look for ways to be kind this week. (I hope he uses them). Then we were off to our usual Bojangles. So good and then we did a little shopping. The back home for some playtime and relaxing. Just hung out, watched some TV and then headed to small group. I just love our small group. We have such great discussion and I feel honored to be in this group. I love you guys!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Fun, fun night...











Tonight I had a girls night. I got to go out with a great group of ladies to Devereaux's downtown. It was so fun. Big Happy Birthday to Connie! I love meeting new people and these are a great group of ladies. Not to mention the great time I had with Candy at Walmart afterwards! Enjoy the pics!

Friday, January 7, 2011

Family Date Night

Well this week it is family date night. We chose to stay home, order Chinese, and watch movies. The boys had fun and so did we. It was nice to just stay in and do nothing. It is so cold outside I would rather be inside. They are calling for snow in the next few days. Wonder if we will get it? We shall see! Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

kiddo date night





Tonight I had a great date. My date was with one of the cutest guys ever...Mr. Bleeze Bagwell. He was so much fun tonight. Everyweek we try to do something with the boys one on one. This week my time was devoted to Bleeze. While Tommy took Eli to see "True Grit", I took my little guy to Stevie B's pizza.

He loves him some pizza. In fact it is one of the VERY few things he will eat. He had a blast playing all the games. I guess the most excited part was when we played the "claw"game. He one a monkey and then I tried an won a cow. We were so excited. We were screaming. He was so proud of himself! All I could think of was Toy Story! LOL!

After dinner we went to Dollar Tree and Kohls. Khols was wiped out from Christmas. If anyone is having a baby though. I would go. they had clothes for $2.00. (I was looking for my sweet little nephew on the way Tanner).

So for now... I am going to go wait on the big guys to get home. Bleeze is sleeping and I am getting sleepy! nightie night.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

loves the feeling of accomplishment

Being the "to do list" kinda girl I am, I love to be able to "check" off and today was one of those days. I completed so many task on my "to do list" that makes me sooo happy when I have days like that!

After a long day of homeschooling and paperwork, we went to look at some new dining room furniture and out to dinner with my parents. YUMMY El Jalisco! Then I went to buy groceries and had an awesome work out! Ended the night watching two of my favorite shows....Parenthood and No Ordinary Family. Now for sleep. I seem to be pretty wired up though. I had an energy drink before the work out. I am thinking I may pay for now when it is time to sleep!

I am so glad God doesn't delete or block.....

With the era of social media one thing has become clear to me, that being that people are people. Just fallen humans that if not for the Grace of God would be worthless. Over the past years from myspace, twitter, facebook, I have come and gone on people's "friend" list. It is really amusing if you think about it. You get mad at someone, you get offended by someone...You just "delete" them. How cool is that? honestly....not to cool.

Well, to be completely honest, I have always thought it to be childish or what I like to refer to as "middle-school" behavior. Recently a dear friend of mine expressed to me that she had to go through and delete a large number of people from her facebook due to the fact that when she read certain things from their pages it affected her entire day. Her attitude, mood, etc. She realized that it was not worth the stress to have these individuals as part of her "social network". I can understand that. I recently have had to do some "cleaning" up of my social network friends also. This was not really done by choice but because of a particular situation that I have been faced with. I was legally advised to delete all people associated with this situation as well as anyone they were tied too also. Not only delete...but block. Yes, you can block someone...it is as if though that person doesn't even exist. At a human standpoint it is wonderful. At a Christ like standpoint, I find it to be very sad. Some people I really did not want to delete but they had to be deleted due to association. Not really fair...but then again...life is not fair. I know I probably offended some people that I had to delete but I really had no other choice. Sad...but true.

These situations got me to thinking about God. You know if he could delete or block us because of our wrongs or offenses, we would be in big trouble. What if he deleted or blocked us just because of association? That would be horrible! Instead, he chooses to love us with an unconditional love. A love like no other. I am so glad that I serve the true and living God that would never delete or block me from his salvation, love, mercy, grace and very presence.

Monday, January 3, 2011

New Years Resolution or plan?

I am one not to make a New Year's resolution, simply because I know that I will never follow through with it. Instead, I tend to be a daily goal setter. I try to make it a game in my own mind...You know to complete task, goals, etc. for each day. If I do, I reward myself. With what? Nothing really....just the pure satisfaction of completion. That is enough for me. I have to say that I VERY happy to see 2010 gone. Ugh...for the most part, it was not that great of a year, but it could have been way worse and that is why I have to count my blessings because I know that it could have been worse. Even when it seemed that life could not get harder I know that it could have. It has it shares of ups and downs and basically huge disappointments for me but I am looking ahead to 2011. I am just going to try to live each day, seeking God for only the wisdom he can give as to how to live each day.

The first few days of this new year I have purposed in my heart to do a few more things. Listen more closely to God and to write lots of things down. I think that if you write things down you are more likely to do them, see them come to pass, and also see that "satisfaction of completion" that I was talking about earlier.

Another thing that I really want to do is to continue to blog but the way that I used to blog. I really want to express myself once again through blogging. When I first started to blog, I blogged out of love for writing and telling my thoughts and feelings. I quickly discovered that I offened some people with some of my thoughts and feelings but isnt' that what writing your thoughts down and putting them out there for the entire to world to read will do? So that is one thing I plan on doing this year...not a resolution but a plan. LOL!

Well... I think I will count some blessings and show some gratitude before I hit the sack....good night all....

Gratitude....
1. so grateful that even though 2010 was rough...it could have been roughier.

2. there is always 2011 to be better...

3. so grateful for Jesus...he's my savior.

4. my sweet hubby and boys

5. the family time we had at Christmas this year...it was priceless.

6. a fun New Year's with my man an friends...

7. my warm home ( I keep thinking about the homeless during this cold weather.)

8. My sudden desire to persue new ideas....

9. Fun times homeschooling...they are priceless also.

10. That no matter what... I know God loves me!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

New Year's Fun






New Year's Eve and New Years Day was so much fun. Candy and I are so lucky. Our two guys took us to a celebration at the Hilton. We enjoyed a great dinner and party (it was okay I did have fun making every attempt to dance, but the most fun was ordering room service up to our room after midnight, watching tv, and looking at fashion magazines. LOL! It was sweet of our two guys to do that for us. We enjoyed a great night and then today we went to see The Little Fockers. For those of you who know me, you know that Meet the Parents is one of my all time favorite movies. LOL!

After the movies. We picked our little munchkins up...(thanks Nanny Mary for keeping them for us to go out and have a great little weekend) then we went to the mall. I got some cute things from Victoria's Secret (thanks Candy) and I also got a shirt I had been wanting from Buckle (thanks Tommy). LOL! After our mall trip we came home to McDonald's and movies. Fun, fun day! Happy New Year everybody!!!