What are some of your family traditions on Christmas? Whatever they are, I hope you enjoy the Christmas season, and take the time to think about the true reason for the season, Christ!
Thursday, December 21, 2006
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Thursday, December 14, 2006
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Merry Christmas everybody!!
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Thursday Thirteen
2. One of my dad's deer heads that was left hanging above the mantle now has a green garland and red Christmas bow, bow-tie thing going on. (Also Tracy's work)
3. There are candy dishes full of candy (Tracy again)
4. There is a Christmas tree in front of the bay window with about 2500 white lights on it (This one was me)
5. There are Christmas knick-knacks on the mantle below the deer. (This was half me/half Tracy) One of these knick knacks is a picture of our cousin Scott last year at Christmas time wearing my nephew Trace's "My First Christmas" Santa Clause hat. It's a really funny picture in a Christmas frame.
6. There is also garland hung from the mantle with lights strung through it. (My doing)
7. There are lots of Snowman and Santa candles placed around the house. (1/2 Tracy, 1/2 Me)
8. A glass nativity scene is setup on the bar with garland and lights surrounding it.
9. A Christmas village is on our entertainment center on the shelf above our TV. (Thanks to Tracy's mom for the loan of the village!)
10. There are wreaths hung on several walls, making the place look festive.
11. There is another nativity scene on my dresser, and another one on a bookshelf. After all Jesus is the reason for the season, so you can never have too many nativity scenes.
12. There are lights strung from the canopy on my bed. This is one of my favorite things.
13. And last of all there is a Christmas wall hanging that spells out JOY, a bit of what I hope to spread this Christmas season to all that I see!
Merry Christmas everybody!!
Monday, November 27, 2006
Just a Few Things to Brighten Your Day
First off...here's a link to a Pickles comic strip that I read yesterday:
Pickles Comic Strip
I thought it was so cute. Kinda reminded me of my grandparents!!
And here's a Peanut's strip to give you a little smile on this "Blah" feeling Monday after Thanksgiving!
Peanuts Comic Strip
I just love Charlie Brown!
And to really make you smile here's a little story about my niece on Thanksgiving. My grandma's table is packed out on Thanksgiving with delicious food. Turkey, stuffing, honey-baked ham, homemade macaroni and cheese, gravy, and the list goes on and on and on.
My niece however couldn't find anything that she found appetizing I guess because she went over and whispered into my grandpa's ear, "Can I have a piece of cheese?"
Man, if we all had her taste we sure could save a lot on Thanksgiving meals! LOL!
Hope you all had a great one!
Thursday, November 02, 2006
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Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Living With An Elf-Lover
Now, Tracy is a really funny, outgoing type of person, so I always knew that living with her was going to be interesting. And fun I hope! But when I got home last night I saw something I didn't quite expect.
Standing in my bay window was a life-sized cardboard cut-out of this guy:
Friday, October 27, 2006
A Friday Chuckle
Have you ever slept on an air mattress? I've had this lovely opportunity several times in my life. And every air mattress is different. When I was younger I slept on a very thin air mattress one time, and I felt like I might as well have slept on the floor because the mattress had no support.
I've also slept on an Aerobed and it really felt like a normal mattress. (No, this isn't a commercial for Aerobed, but really if you ever have the need for an air mattress, I'd suggest you get one of those!)
Anyway, this past weekend, I stayed with some friends of my brother's when I went to visit him. And I had to sleep on an air mattress. This thing was HUGE. It was like a double decker air mattress. I figured that would mean it would be really comfortable and all.
Well, it probably would have been, but it was lacking a bit of air I think, so I had to lay sideways to keep from sinking down into the depths of the air mattress. The laying sideways is an important part of this story.
This air mattress had a pillow section at the top. This section had a bit more air than the rest of the mattress. I decided to lay across that part of the mattress. Yeah, that wasn't a good idea. Once I got on top of the pillow section I rolled right off of the mattress and onto the floor slamming my back into a table they had by the window. Fortunately I didn't break anything in their apartment (or on myself for that matter.) I decided to sleep somewhere other than the pillow section, and I made a mental note to myself to bring my own air mattress the next time!
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Thursday Thirteen
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Wednesday, October 18, 2006
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Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Ahhh the Dreams of the Medicated
But last night I was medicated. So I slept deeply. And dreamingly. Good thing about the dream...I was apparently getting married. Bad thing about the dream...I was a klutz even in my dreamy state.
I never actually saw the guy I was gonna marry (don't you just hate that?) I was getting ready for my wedding (which was going to be a double ceremony where my brother was getting married too.)
Thing was that just before I put my snowy WHITE dress on I ate tacos. Tacos, one of the MESSIEST foods known to man. I go to put the dress on only to realize that I still had taco juice on my fingers, and I got it all over my dress.
I don't really believe in omens and all that, but I can promise you this, there will be nary a taco in sight on the day that I get married.
Friday, October 06, 2006
Do You Get My Meaning?
Daisy - Apparently the flower of choice for weddings this year. I carried a bouquet of just daisies in one of my friend's weddings, and in one of my other friends weddings, I carried a bouquet of daisies mixed with other flowers. Both were really pretty and simple looking. But just let me tell you, DO NOT forget that you have a live bouquet in a vase and let the flowers die in it. Trust me on this one!
Helpful - This word brings to mind my 2 year old niece Raegan. She wants to help with EVERYTHING. Yesterday I walked out of the kitchen for just a minute because her brother had escaped and was making his way up the steps as fast as he could go. She tried to help me by dragging a chair over to the microwave and starting it up for me. Of course she put it in for like 45 minutes, much more than my enchiladas needed. Good thing that I wasn't gone long!
Green - This word brings to mind my grass right now. We've gotten plenty of rain over the last several weeks, and my grass is green. And tall. It really needs to be mowed. My intentions were to mow it today, but it's raining again. Oh well. There's always tomorrow...or next week...
If anyone cares to play along with this one, I'm offering up these words:
Thursday, October 05, 2006
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Tuesday, September 26, 2006
A Birthday Shoutout and a Damsel in Distress
Secondly, I'm going to share a funny story about my niece because well, she's just cute!
Sunday night after church my sister took my niece, Raegan, to McDonalds to let her play in the play place for a bit. This wasn't their normal McDonalds but one that my niece had said she wanted to go to because the play place was "better."
Anyway, not only was this play place "better" it was bigger. It was higher, and I'm sure it was more fun. A few other people went with them to McDonalds, my cousin Tracy, my cousin, Christy, and Christy's boyfriend Josh.
Well, at least Christy says that Josh is HER boyfriend. Raegan, however, feels differently. She has claimed Josh as her own, and tells everyone that Josh will one day marry her.
So, it was no surprise to them that when Raegan reached the top of the play place tower that she shouted down saying, "Josh, you my boyfriend. Help me. Help me!" And you know what, he did. He climbed to the top of the play place and slid down with her several times.
Yeah, she's got that damsel in distress thing down pat. Maybe I should take a few lessons from her!
Thursday, September 21, 2006
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Tuesday, September 19, 2006
A Toddler and the Rodeo
See, we made a girls night of it. It was me, my sister Crystal, her daughter Raegan (who is 2 1/2) and our cousin Tracy. Raegan had talked for days before the rodeo about going to "see the cowboys." It even became part of her play. See, she has this pink stuffed dog that she named Oreo, who eats pink Oreos and lives in pink dog house inside of her pink playhouse. Yes, the child has an early obsession for pink.
Well, she started to say that she was going to watch the pink cowboys ride the pink bulls and horses. (Wouldn't that have been a sight?)
She talked and talked about it, but a few times she got mixed up just a bit. Instead of saying that she was going to see the cowboys ride the bulls, she would say that she was going to ride the cowboys. Then she asked my cousin Tracy if she was going to ride the cowboys with her. We couldn't help but bust out laughing, but Tracy quickly informed her that she wouldn't be riding any cowboys.
I believe my sister has quite a few things to teach my niece before she gets to the teenager stage!
Friday, September 15, 2006
HELP!!!!!!
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Thursday Thirteen
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Wednesday, September 13, 2006
So I Caught a Bouquet...Or Was the First to Get to It Anyway
See that really pretty purple and white bouquet in that picture up there? It's the one I caught at my friend Leah's wedding. Well, I was the first to get to where it fell on the ground.
But I'm wondering if I should feel guilty about it. See, the second closest was a little girl. A little girl who probably would've loved to have a really pretty bouquet.
I just grabbed the bouquet unthinkingly, though. See, since I've been in three weddings this summer, I've been using the bouquets as pretty decorations in my house. Two of the weddings used real flowers which lasted a while, but this bouquet is something that I'd be able to keep, and it would stay pretty in the nice vase that I keep flowers in.
Believe me, I have no hopes that since I got the bouquet I'd be the next one married. I mean after all, I don't even have a boyfriend much less a fiance!!
So should I feel guilty that I got to the flowers first? Would you have given them up to the little girl?
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Forever Friends
"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, "What! You too?
I thought I was the only one!"
~ C.S. Lewis ~
Friendship is a precious thing. See those girls in that picture up there? They've been my friends since junior high. In high school we were inseperable. And last weekend was spent seeing one of them married off.
Over the years these are the girls I've grown to love as some of my dearest friends. And it's hard to imagine that two of these friendships started because we all liked the swings at recess! And the other one started because one of my friends played volleyball and became friends with this other girl.
Swingsets and volleyball, not very deep, life-changing things, but these two things gave me friends that I would never trade! I think C.S. Lewis had it right on this one. It's our similarities that bring us together, but what grows from that becomes a tie that binds us even through our differences!
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Thursday Thirteen
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Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Fresh Cat Anyone?
No, this story is about one of my fears coming true. Remember in this post how I talked about being afraid that I might shut my cat up in the fridge? Well, my fears came true, sort-of. Actually, I didn't close the cat in the fridge.
Sunday when I left for church, the cat was playing with one of her toys, and I told her to behave and shut the door and left for church. I spent the afternoon at my sister's house because she lives just down the road from my church, then I went back for Sunday night service.
So there was a huge gap of time that I wasn't home (like 12 hours.) Anyway, when I got home, I heard the frantic meow's of my cat. So I went in search of her. At first I thought she was BEHIND the fridge, but she wasn't there. I opened the door to the fridge, just in case, and there she was between the door and the bottom freshness drawer, trying to claw her way out, mewing for all she was worth.
I picked up the mischievous little thing, glad she was okay. I mean, I may not have wanted a cat at first, but she has become part of daily life now, and I definitely wouldn't want her to die in my fridge.
I'm assuming that I just didn't close the door tightly enough Sunday morning and she was playing with the door and got it open. I'm hoping that anyway. I sure wouldn't want to have to get a refrigerator lock just to keep the cat out, though she hasn't gone near the fridge since Sunday, so maybe, just maybe she learned her lesson!
Friday, September 01, 2006
A Few Little MeMe's
First off Aggiejenn did "The Pizza Box" Meme yesterday and tagged anyone who hadn't done it. Well, I haven't so I'm gonna!
1. What was your favorite thing about being a kid? One of my favorite things about being a kid was spending time at my grandparent's house. I loved to spend the night over there. I think one of the reasons was because I love to read so much and my brother had a way of being very noisy that hindered reading! So grandma and grandpa Smith's was a great place to go and read. I also loved hearing them pray every night. My grandpa has been the pastor at my church for over 40 years, and honestly when they prayed at night I would hear them go through all the church members and pray for their specific needs. It always made me feel loved and cherished to know that they were lifting me up each night.
2.What was your favorite subject in school? Choir and speech, I'm not much of a public speaker as far as giving speeches, but I LOVE to be in plays and write plays and such. So the performing arts were always my favorites. After that I'd say yearbook.
3.Who was your best friend when you were 10? Jennifer Carriker, we had the best times. We'd make picnics of toaster strudel and kool-aid and carry them down to a cleared out place in the woods where we could get away from her brothers and from mine! It was great, and one day when I sprained my ankle, she carried me back to the house, now that's a friend!
4.What would you change about your school, occupation, life right now? Right now I am where God wants me, so even though I might be tempted to change things, I know that God knows better than I do, so I better just leave things the way they are!
5.What's your favorite type of crust and topping on a pizza? My favorite pizza is a pan crust cheese lovers pizza from Pizza Hut, as far as pizza I can readily get, But I LOVE New York Pizza!
Now for the 2nd MeMe, Susan did this little meme on her blog the other day, and it looked fun, so I picked it up!
1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (your first pet and the street that you live on): Smokey Dairy
2. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (grandfather/grandmother on your mom's side, your favorite candy) Lina Toblerone
3. YOUR "FLY GIRL/GUY" NAME: (first initial of first name, first two or three letters of your middle name) Hdaw
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Lavender Koala
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Dawn Greensboro
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 2 letters of mom's maiden name) Smiheco
7. SUPERHERO NAME: ("The", your favorite color, favorite drink) The Lavender Pepper
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first name of both your grandfathers) Bennie Lloyd
9. FUTURISTIC NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne and the name of your favorite shoes) Lauren Strappy Sandals
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: ( mother/father's middle name and the next name you hear on the tv/radio/talk) Kay Phyllis
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Thursday Thirteen
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Works for Me Wednesday
This is my first time participating in Works for Me Wednesday. And since this is a funny blog, I'm gonna keep my advice on the lighter side. After all, I can't have word getting out that I'm making this blog too serious.
So I'm gonna share what works when you are living with your single brother. First, you must teach your brother how to boil things. This shouldn't seem so hard, but if you read this post you will see that teaching this skill is an absolute necessity. Second, you must remind said brother that there are other shows that are "preacher friendly" other than Sponge Bob Square Pants. (Full House has been a good diversion for us.) And thirdly, and this is most important, you must teach said brother to take the garbage out on Tuesday night (if you figure out how to accomplish this one, get back to me.) So far living with my brother has been great. Unfortunately, he's gonna leave for college before I get him fully trained. Too bad for his fiance, she probably would have really appreciated the help since they're getting married December of 2007!
To find out more serious things that work hop over to Shannon's!
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
The Panty Fairy...God Bless Her
My sister was at Walmart with my brother and my niece and nephew shopping for groceries. Well, my brother had gone off to another part of Walmart to get something when my niece informed my sister that she had to GO.
A search for my brother ensued since you can't take the buggy into the bathroom area at Walmart (what is up with that, don't they know people have little kids that are potty training) and my sister had a ton of stuff, so she needed my brother to stand with the buggy. She didn't find my brother before it was too late. My poor niece cried because she hates having accidents, though this one really wasn't her fault. Anyway, my sister lived just around the corner from Walmart, so they quickly bought the groceries and took my niece home.
My sister cleaned up my niece and was cleaning the panties and accidentally flushed them. You would have thought my niece had just lost a million dollars. She cried for an hour, screaming "The panties are NEVER coming back!". After all, it was a pair of Cinderella panties, a terrible loss to a two year old.
Well, my sister saw a pair of panties in the diaper bag just like the pair she'd flushed, so she pulled them out and said, "Look Raegan, the panty fairy cleaned your panties and put them back into the diaper bag." Fortunately my niece bought it, and she stopped crying. Thank God for the panty fairy!
Friday, August 25, 2006
The Nicest Drive Thru Guy Ever...And The Worst Cook In The World
But yesterday I was very pleasantly surprised. I got to the place where they take your order and instead of hearing the ususally half-mumbled, "Can I take your order?" I heard a very chipper voice that said, "How can I help you?"
I gave my order and drove up to the money window where I was greeted by ANOTHER very chipper person. This Burger King must have been paying their employees right because they were all so nice, but to top it all off I got to the window to get my food, and I met the man behind the voice on the intercom. He asked me how my day was then he asked me if I was wearing contacts, and I said no (because I'd forgotten to put them in yesterday morning, don't worry my eyes are only like 20/30, so I'm not blind without them or anything.) Anyway, he said you just have beeee-autiful eyes. That was all I needed. I mean I almost tipped the guy. I have a new favorite fast food joint. And guess what, I didn't even have on mascara or eye shadow! How awesome is that?
Now to go from the best to the worst, I'm gonna tell you a little story about my brother and his meager cooking abilities. Last night I called him and asked him to put two pieces of chicken on to boil because I was running a little behind, and I wanted the chicken ready to throw into the pan with enchilada sauce when I got home.
So he says, "So I put the chicken and water in a pot and put the pot in the oven right?" He swears he meant to say stove rather than oven, but seriously, I'm glad that I'm the one cooking for him and not the other way around!
Hope you guys have a great weekend!
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Thursday Thirteen
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Tagged Again
1. The poor kitten still doesn't really have a name. I've been calling her Kit Kat or KK for short. That'll probably stick.
2. The cat has an obsession with the refrigerator, seriously I'm gonna end up closing her up in there by mistake one of these days.
3. She is strangely attracted to me, though my brother was the one who rescued her. I'm allergic to cats, so I tried at first to stay my distance, but when I get home, she comes straight to me and hops up into my lap. So I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm just gonna have to take allergy medicine!
4. She also loves my closet. I don't really know why, there is NOTHING on the floor of my closet, it's just a floor with carpet.
5. Lastly she loves cell phones. I learned this last night while I was trying to catch up on reading blogs (I don't have a computer at my brother's house yet.) She kept trying to get my cell phone out of my hands. I hate to tell her this, but if she thinks I'm giving her my pink razr phone she is badly mistaken!
So there's 5 weird things about the pet that I really had no intention of having but have become friends with none-the-less! I'm gonna tag Susan (since she's finally back to blogging!), Dawn, Shalee, Aggiejenn, and Susanne.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
A Weekend at Hotel GiBee
As soon as we entered the house we were offered SWEET TEA. And we could smell the lasagna and garlic bread that she had prepared for us to eat at her church before we setup our sound equipment. Seriously she treated us like royalty.
And her hubby was just as nice as he could be too. Watching the two together, I could tell that they have an excellent relationship with Christ in the center.
And little Hunter, well let me just say that he is one of the cutest little guys ever. I couldn't resist taking several pictures of him with my nephew Trace
The people at GiBee's church were just as nice as GiBee. I was hugged so much I could have sworn I was at my own church. Seriously, if you are ever in GiBee's area and you need a church to visit, I would highly recommend hers, but of course she'll have to tell you the details about it. Those are her details to share!!
Anyway, let me just say that getting to meet GiBee and her family and her church family makes me very glad that I started blogging. Meeting her in real life just solidified my thoughts that she was one of the sweetest people on the face of the earth!
And Hunter takes after her too, considering he didn't have one problem sharing his pacifier with my nephew Trace!
A MeMe to Start the Week
1. One book that changed your life: The Bible of course, but other than that I would have to say the book Prayer the Great Adventure by David Jeremiah
2. One book that you've read more than once: The Christy Miller Series by Robin Jones Gunn, The Love Comes Softly Series by Janette Oke, actually I've read lots more than once
3. One book I'd want on a dessert island: Hmm, the Bible because I'd need it to keep from going crazy! After that I'd have to say a boy scouts or girl scouts guidebook, so that I could know how to build a fire and what berries I could and couldn't eat, that kind of thing!
4. One book that made you laugh: Love Comes Softly by Janette Oke, the scene where Marty makes biscuits for the first time is particularly hilarious!
5. One book that made you cry: ANYTHING by Karen Kingsbury, seriously, I haven't read one of her books yet that didn't make me bawl like a baby
6. One book you wish you had written: The Redemption Series by Karen Kingsbury
7. One book you wish had never been written: The Satanic Bible
8. One book you are currently reading: When Heaven Weeps by Ted Dekker
Now to tag someone: I tag Christy and GiBee for this one!
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Thursday Thirteen
6. Whence Came a Prince by Liz Curtis Higgs
7.In the Grip of Grace by Max Lucado
8. The Left Behind Series by Tim Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
9. The Newpointe 911 Series by Terri Blackstock
10. The Love Comes Softly Series by Janette Oke
11. Three by Ted Dekker (Actually anything by him)
12. The Annie's People Series by Beverly Lewis (Or any of her series!)
13. The Hidden Faces Series by Brandilyn Collins
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Would You Eat It?
I was reading this post on Holymama's blog, and it totally made me think of something hilarious that I haven't shared with you guys!
It's not about something being dropped, but about something questionable being eaten. So here's the deal, my cousins Christy and Tracy and myself were at an outdoor concert. (I want say where to protect the innocent bad-toothed emcee!)
Anyway, the emcee for the event was walking by and he was eating one of those yummy, strawberry shortcake bars from Good Humor. Everybody was like, "Hey, where'd you get those. The emcee guy pulls two out of his pocket and threw them to random people in the audience."
Those I would have eaten. Those were in the packaging, but what came next blew my mind. Some guy, maybe 17 or 18 years old yells out, "Hey can I eat the rest of yours?" And the emcee guy GAVE it to him, and the kid ATE it!
Now Christy and I were grossed out, for multiple reasons. First off, the kid didn't know ANYTHING about Mr. Emcee guy. He could've had some contagious disease or something. Secondly Mr. Emcee guy had bad teeth. I mean seriously, I wouldn't have eaten anything after him. After all, I've told you how I feel about bad teeth. So anyway, Christy and I were sitting there thoroughly grossed out, and Tracy says, "Man, I wish I had spoken up before that kid. I really wanted one of those."
Christy and I were like, "Are you crazy?" I mean it was really hot out there but still!
Of course, we shouldn't really have been shocked, I mean she talked here about how she was tempted to pick up a gatorade bottle from the side of the road because she's so addicted to Gatorade.
Seriously though, my question to you fellow bloggers out there is this, Would you have eaten the strawberry shortcake ice cream bar that had been half-eaten by a bad-toothed stranger?