Pictures w/Ang

As promised, here are some pics from my day w/ Ang.  It really was a great day.  And would you look at the picture of those kids??!!  They are too cute and I love them all!  I could have taken them all back with me.  Hmmm... I just might have to come back and steal them!

And my dear friend pointed out to me that YES I am such a dork. (isn't that what real friends are supposed to do?  tell you that you're a dork?)  I forgot to bring her present with me!!!  I was so excited to get out of the hotel and get on the road to go see her, that I left it in the room! However, SHE remembered me and gave me a super cute ornament that is now hanging on my tree!  Shesh!  So, now, she gets that present AND an extra goody to make up for it!!  It's in the mail, friend!

Coming Home...

I got up this morning and got dressed and ready to head to see Ang. Made sure to get me a very large coffee from the Starbuck's downstairs and headed into the freezing cold to wait for my truck. Turned the seats on HOT, plugged in Gertrude, hooked up the iPod and off I went.

I loved the trip itself. Just me and my coffee and warm hiney and music up real loud. It was great. I made really good time and just as I expected, Gertrude did not disappoint. Ang's place is beautiful!!! And she ran out to meet me with a big smile. We gave each other a hug and headed towards the house.

Three of the 4 Things came out to greet me, and for me, it was love at first sight. They are all so precious. Then I got to meet TB&H. He is a great guy. In fact, I told Frank when I got back that I thought he would like him a lot. Very down to earth and funny. We curled up on the couches and talked and talked and talked. We headed down to the barn and I met the horses and gave some of them a good rub. They are beautiful.

The Things all wanted me to climb up in the hayloft with them to show me their "fort with a hot tub" that they made up there out of haybales. Of course, I scaled the ladder with them and surveyed their work. It was really cute. I even went in the fort with them and ended up with hay all in my hair just.like.I.like.it.

TB&H made lunch for us. Yes, how I do love a man that fixes food. After lunch, Ang showed me her wedding pictures per my request. For some reason, we laughed a lot at them. Not because they looked funny, but at the stories that went along with them. Then we roped Thing 1 into taking a bazillion pictures. We had to approve them before he could stop. I thought he was going to end up a professional by the time we told him he could stop. Either Ang wouldn't like they way she looked in one or I wouldn't like the way I looked. I needed some pictures with the Things too.

Then my time was over all too quickly and I had to head back to Atlanta. I was really sad to go. I truly felt like I was somewhere I had been a thousand times before. Kinda like coming home. I felt like I had known all of the Things since their birth. And thankfully, they treated me like they had known me all along. I never felt "new". I felt old. But in a good way.

And after I left, the talking didn't stop there. I think that we sent each other about a thousand texts. From about 5pm until 930pm we texted back and forth. Ang, I hope you have unlimited texting. If you don't, add it to your plan NOW when you get your new cool phone. :) I am glad that now I don't have to refer to her as just my bloggy friend. Now, she is my real life friend too.

I will have to post the pictures tomorrow when I get back. I can't put them on this computer that we brought! But you can go HERE and see some now!

A New "Chapter"

I slept until 830am. I know there are many of you that think this is no biggy. But trust me, it is. When you are used to getting up between 530 and 6am, it is HUGE. And I was very excited when I woke up because I knew that I was gonna go have an early lunch w/ Amy. Then, I got up and looked in the mirror. What.is.that.on.my.face??! Are you kidding me. I am 32 years old forcryingoutloud!! A PIMPLE?? What am I, like in high school or something? Great, just what I wanted to do was meet Amy with a big zit on my face.

Oh, well, nothing I can do now except try to cover it up with some makeup. I seriously watched TRANSFORMERS on HBO before I got in the shower. I didn't realize how much I liked it. It was really impairing my ability to get dressed.

Anyhoo, I made sure that I left in plenty of time, seeing as that I am somewhat directionally challenged. Not a fact I am proud of, but what can you do. GET A GARMIN that's what. Me and Gertrude are tiiiiight!!!!!

I pulled into the parking lot and because I was a little early, I sat there for a few minutes fiddling w/my iPod. And that's when I started really thinking. What if she doesn't like me? What if I don't like her? What if we have nothing to talk about? What if we are both sitting in there waiting on the other and don't recognize one another? Should I have told her what I would be wearing? What if she stares at my BIG OLE ZIT on my face the whole time?

Sometimes, I let my mind get the best of me. But, I decided to go ahead and go in. I waited for just a very few minutes and I saw her come in. I knew she recognized me too and we gave each other a big hug (didn't know she wasn't a hugger. she did a good job :) And everything I had worried about was long gone. I mean, I still worried about the zit on my face so I made a joke about it.

We talked non stop. If I took a breath, she jumped in. When she took one, I did. I felt like I had been talking to someone I had known since high school. She is a really cool girl and I am sooo glad we got to hang out. Next time, we will have to have a longer lunch. The time went by way to quickly. The picture that the little waiter guy took makes me look like I did nothing but drink the whole time. I promise I didn't. :) And you can't even see the zit.

Tonight, Frank and I went to dinner at a place called NAVA. If you ever come to the Atlanta area or live around here, you must try it. It was awesome. They serve southwestern cuisine (very upscale southwestern cuisine) which I love. You can not fix me food that is too spicy. I mean that. I had the jalapeno lime jumbo grilled shrimp w/black bean and goat cheese enchiladas. O.M.G!!! Sooo good. Our waiter told me it was probably their spiciest dish, so I was very excited. Sadly, still not hot enough for me. I mean, it had GREAT afterburn, but not enough initial heat.

Still, I would highly recommend it. Then, we decided to go to the movies. We saw FOUR CHRISTMASES. I love Reese Witherspoon. However, the movie had some really funny parts, but overall wasn't really that funny. I still enjoyed the time spent w/my man though.

Okay, I am going to bed now. It's late and I have to get on up in the morning to go see Ang! I hope that Gertrude gets plenty of rest too...

Oh, and P.S, Amy, THE DAWGS RULE!

Wonderful Wednesday

Today is wonderful on so many levels...

One thing is that today is not yesterday.  Yesterday was the party.  The party was great and I was very close on the number.  We had 28 ladies.  We had a pile of fun and ate lots of gooood stuff!  And the ornament exchange was a blast.  There are those that come that are nice and never steal an ornament no matter how many times theirs gets taken.  They just always go to the pile and get a new one.  THEN there are those that are always the ones to steal.  In fact, they may steal just for the shear joy and pleasure of doing so.  Which group do you think I fall into??  Careful now... you are on my blog...  WRONG!!!!  I am in neither.  (okay sometimes I am in the thieving category)  Most of the time I pick my own ornament.  I know.  I know.  I just always pick one that would look great on my tree and then try to get it.  Sheesh.... give me a break.

Another reason this Wednesday is Wonderful is that I just got back from having lunch with my good friends Jen and Aimee!!  Aimee let me know yesterday that she was coming into town today for a little while and would I like to have lunch.  Would I like to have lunch??!!  Are you kidding me?  YES!!  Hello!!!  It was sooo good to get to see them again.  I haven't seen Aimee or Jen in several years.  Aimee and I used to live on the same street when we were both newlyweds and then had our first babies together.  Actually only a few months apart, I think it was.  We would go walking over to Jen's house, who lived only a few blocks away from both of us!  It was fun getting to visit with them and catch up.  I hope we can do this more often!! *hint hint*

The last reason it's Wonderful Wednesday is that I am leaving in a couple of hours to go to Atlanta with my hubby... and NO KIDS!!!  Hallelujah!!! (you can't hear me but I'm singing the hallelujah chorus right now!!)  This is one of our 2 annual trips we go on each year with just each other.  Frank is on our local school board so he has to go for training twice a year and I tag along.  The other place they send us is Savannah in the summer.  And that's fun too.  This trip will bring lots of exciting things.  First, I get to go have coffee with Amy!!  I can't wait to get to know her live and in person.  And the other thing is I get to go see Ang!  I.AM.SOOOO.EXCITED!!!!  AAAAHHHHH!!!!!  So, the rest of this week will be fun.  Don't worry.  I am bringing my computer AND my camera.  I am sure that there will be plenty for you to read about.

Okay, going to finish packing now.  

Oh, and thought you might be interested to know, Aimee, that Frank and I will be doing plenty (I mean PLENTY) of ice skating :)

Happy Holidays...

So, now that Thanksgiving is officially over as quickly as it began, we will start to hear the phrase that drives.me.crazy!!!!  "Happy Holidays".  I don't know why it bothers me so much.  Really, I don't.  Maybe it's because I feel like Jesus is already taken out of so much that I just want to leave His name in something.

Then my BFF, Steph, told me something that has eased the pain over that phrase a lot.  See, Steph knows a lot about a lot.  She does research for a living so I love to pick her brain about random subjects.  Even though the world tries to take Him out, they can't.  Did you know that the word HOLIDAY actually means "Holy Day"?  How cool is that!!!  So, when all those peeps are trying to take him out, all they are actually wishing you is a Happy Holy Day.  Ha Ha.  I love it.

Another thing that used to bother me was putting an "X" in the word Christmas. (Xmas)  Again, Stephers gave me some more info on that subject.  The "X" is the Greek sign for Christ.  So, again, for those that try to X Him out, it just can't be done!!!

Just as a side note, I probably will not be posting the dare tonight.  I am having our ladies night ornament swap here at my house tonight.  Expecting around 30 ladies, so it will probably be a late night.  Catch up with you guys tomorrow!!

Love Dare Day 38

I have 2 really big dreams. One of them is to be foster parents. God has placed this desire in my heart for a long time now. I have just been praying for God to work on Frank's heart in the same way (or take away that desire from me!) and for His timing to be revealed. I never have been good at waiting. So I can promise you it has not been easy thus far!

Another dream of mine is to have my own horse barn. Not a big elaborate barn, just nice, clean and spacious. With something other than dirt for floors, if you know what I mean. I would love to be able to somehow one day incorporate the two dreams into one. Letting the kids, all of the kids, help me out in the barn. To teach them ALL how to ride and have them go with me on trail rides.

I wonder how many of us know what kind of dreams our spouses have.

Today's dare says ASK YOURSELF WHAT YOUR MATE WOULD WANT IF IT WAS OBTAINABLE. COMMIT THIS TO PRAYER, AND START MAPPING OUT A PLAN FOR MEETING SOME (IF NOT ALL) OF THEIR DESIRES, TO WHATEVER LEVEL YOU POSSIBLY CAN.

Well, I thought I knew what Frank's dream was. But over the last several days through some conversations we have had, I learned that his dream may have changed somewhat. I thought that I was already helping him to take steps to obtain his dream. And, I still may be, just not on the level that I thought I was.

You and I need to take the time to find out what kind of dreams our spouse has. It may not be anything that can be bought with money. It may be your time and attention. Or to go away with you, WITHOUT the kids. Love is careful to take notice of whatever those dreams may be. We should think about overwhelming our spouse with love.

Not Me! Monday Edition 11

It's that time again!  Time for our weekly confession.  If you haven't yet checked out MckMama and all her MSC, head on over now!

I did not ask my husband to get out all the Christmas decorations 3 days BEFORE Thanksgiving.  I also didn't ask him to help me put up and decorate the tree the night before Thanksgiving either.  I always wait until after one holiday is over to start another.

I did not send my wonderful husband out on black Friday at 4:45am to 3 different stores.  Hey, I gave him the option to stay home.  He chose to go.

I did not take a big whiff of my armpits several times in one day just because I like the way my deodorant smells.  I know.  Wrong, just plain wrong.

I did not wish that I was already in Atlanta on "vacation".

I did not have the best time ever at the GA game this weekend, even though I jinxed my Dawgs and made them loose.

I did not eat waaaaay to much caramel cake over Thanksgiving holiday.  In all honesty, I was just trying to be polite.  My aunt made it just for me and I felt it would have been just plain RUDE if I didn't eat it.  A lot.  Over several days.  Even though technically I am on a diet.  Yeah.  Right.

Okay, so if you want to play along, go HERE and check out the rules!!!