If I had the means to adopt, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

I've had the great pleasure in being able to follow the blog of an amazing family who lives all the way across the country. I just love reading their blog and getting a sneak peek into their lives. Their story is truly inspirational and has led me to the joys of adoption. Please take the time to read their blog, and watch their Gotcha Day video. It is truly amazing. If anyone reading this has ever considered adoption, or is currently considering it, please please please follow through. I believe that this is the BEST gift anyone could ever give a child. The gift of FAMILY, the gift of LOVE. God Bless!!!!!


http://weloveourlucy.blogspot.com/

HSN like I've never seen before...

I'm sure all of you have seen the Home Shopping Network on TV. That show that you probably will never buy anything from, but you always catch yourself watching for at least a good 5 minutes of. With the sweet old ladies selling clothes, jewelry, make-up, home gadgets, and almost anything you can think of. Actually....I'm just going to take the word "almost" out of that last sentence. ANYTHING you could imagine buying, they have a show on TV to sell it.

Last night I got into bed and decided to watch a little bit of TV before I fell asleep. It was probably about 10:00pm. I'm searching through the guide, and nothing much is on....but something catches my eye. A show called "Erotic Goodies" on a home shopping channel. So I'm like Huh?? What the heck is that?? I turn to the channel. It's a freaking Kink version of HSN. I don't think it was actually HSN but the whole,

"Yes you can buy this for only 3 easy payments of $19.95!"
"You must hurry because supplies are going fast!"
"If you buy today, shipping and handling is FREE!"

Sweet ladies talking about these wonderful products that they have on show for today that come with all of these wonderful features. But instead of talking about a toaster, they are talking about a dildo.

Instead of,

"Look at how wide these slots are, perfect for bagels! And this nifty little dial that lets you choose the amount of crispiness you'd like! It comes in an assortment of colors to match your kitchen!"

its,

"Look how big and long these are! And this nifty little dial that lets you choose the amount of vibration! It comes in an assortment of colors to fit your preference!"

WOW. Just WOW. What is this world coming to??!?

When my kids are older, I am DEFINITELY never going to let them watch TV past like 2:00pm. And if they ask for a TV in their room?? "Yeah sure, when you turn 18. Oh What? All your friends get to have a TV in their room? Yeah well all your friends are going to grow up to be porn stars!" GEEZ!! I am officially afraid for my kid's future. PLEASE God, let them grow up to be normal. Maybe become a priest or a nun?? That would be GREAT. Thank you God. Amen!

This guy is freaking HILARIOUS!

So I would like to give praise to some 40-something year old guy who is freaking hilarious! I would only hope to be at least 1/8ths as funny as this guy one day. Enjoy!! :)

http://stephanpastis.wordpress.com/

Meat is NOT my friend...

First off, I would like to point out that my blog layout has changed. Hopefully you have noticed before reading this post, and hopefully you like it.

OK back to MEAT. Especially steak. Not my friend at the moment. You see, I have a mouth. A mouth full of teeth. Teeth that bite things, teeth that chew things, teeth that grind things in to bits and pieces for easy digestion.....so on and so fourth. You get the point. Well I believe one of my teeth has a cavity. Actually, the cavity is in between two of my teeth. Every single time I eat steak, I get a piece of meet stuck in between these two teeth, and it is a B*tch trying to get the meat out. Now that I have a cavity, as soon as I start picking at this spot to get the meat out, it will hurt all day. No fun.

I really need to go to the dentist but don't want to. It's not because I don't like going to the dentist, my dentist office is actually pretty cool. Trips to this place are actually fond memories of mine as a child. The office has a big double sided aquarium built into the wall with all sorts of fish, magazines for children, and a really cool book that tells stories of the bible with really cool pictures in it. This book has been in that office ever since I can remember. And every time I step foot in that office and see that book, it brings me back to my childhood. Another awesome thing about this place, if you go into the bathroom, the toilet seat is clear and sparkly. It has all sorts of dental tools built right into the seat, it's really fun to look at. I remember telling my mom that I have to go to the bathroom as soon as we got there, just so I could admire this toilet seat (kind of gross now that I think of it, sitting there admiring a place where people put their naked behind, lol). So as you can see by all the awesome things that this office as to offer, this is NOT a place to dislike. My reasoning for not wanting to go is....yup...you guessed it! MONEY! Also an arch enemy of mine! I have no dental insurance, and such trips like these are pretty costly.

So I'm stuck, with a cavity, in between my teeth, in my mouth, on my body, sitting at this desk, writing this blog post, on this computer, in this building, on this street, in this town....I could go on forever but some of you might get bored. So I will stop there. If any of you have some mad dental skills, hit me up! My teefers would greatly appriciate it! :)

Random thoughts for the day...

9:40am

***What the heck is wrong with my car??***

We got it fixed, and I drove it yesterday, today it wont start.

***I hate people who thrive off of drama***

It's annoying.

***more people in the house equals more fun***

...lets hope that's what it equals.

***I have too much stuff to do in the next couple of weekends***

Don't want to do it all.

***I really want to go out to my Momma's house***

I haven't been out there for a while.

***I really like to wrap up in my warm blanket at work***

It's warm and fuzzy :)

***Brian and Jess crack me up***

Which comes first in the alphabet? A or B??

***I'm so happy I got to talk to Boo and Nina***

Email is a wonderful thing.

***Swimming sounds really good today***

Hopefully it's hot when I get home tonight.

***If I had the means to adopt a child from a 3rd world country***

I'd do it in a heartbeat.

***Is it lunch yet?***

I want to go home.

***What should I eat for lunch?***

This is a very hard decision.

***I really like the smell of the hand sanitizer on my desk***

It smells good, it's called Morning Fresh.

***Hopefully Morgan doesn't follow my blog***

I totally copied her idea for this random thoughts post.

***I wonder how many people follow this blog***

Hmmm...

***people who stress out, make me stressed out***

Just deal with the issue and fix it.

***Brownies with frosting sound really good right now***

Yum!

***What can I make out of ground hamburger***

Besides tacos, hamburgers, or hamburger helper?

***Is it time to go home yet??***

Nope! Two more hours...

3:07pm

Balloons for an Angel...

Yesterday was the 31st Birthday of my cousin that passed away on April 26th, 2009. We all got together at the cemetery to send up some balloons for her to enjoy. It was such a beautiful sight and for a lot of people, closure.

She was a very sweet woman and by far, one of the silliest people I knew. She had so much life and such a great spirit. I know she's looking down on all of her family and friends, still gracing us with her presents, still part of all the family gatherings, still slapping her knee when she laughs, still smiling, still enjoying life and everyone who was part of it. She's in each and every one of our hearts and souls and she will never be forgotten.

I LOVE YOU TAMMY JO! :)

TV is the Devil! And cars, and money....What's opposite of the Devil you ask? Michael Jackson's song, "Beat It".

We have realized that my three year old son has turned into a ZOMBIE. And what's the cure for a Zombified child?? Take away their life source, the TV. It's really sad when you have a great yard to have all sorts of adventures in, and you have to throw your child outside and lock the door before he starts clawing his way back into the house chanting (in a "zombie" voice) "TV, TV, I want TV." So we took the TV out of his room, and are allowing 1 hour of TV per night. Last night we treated him to a movie of Transformers since he did such a good job during the day and kept busy with outside play. He had a blast with the sprinkler, we turned on the music and danced around, and he's starting to get back into coloring and playing with puzzles. Hopefully we will have a cured child by the end of the week!

You know what else is the DEVIL?? CARS! Especially Ford UN-Focus'. We are still battling with that stupid car! He spent all night Friday night just trying to find out where the heck the starter is located, and all day yesterday to take it out and put the new one back in. After all that work that him and his mechanic friend did, the car STILL WONT START! Grrrr!!! So we are going to pay his friend to find out what the problem is. THANK YOU, Honey, Baby, Sweetie, and any other pet name you can thing of, for spending all your time trying to fix the car. I GREATLY appreciate it!

Right now, the car has a brand new battery, new (but old) starter, and when turning the key the lights come on, radio and horn work, and it makes a "clicking" noise. For any of you who want to give some input on what might be causing my car to give us such hell, all suggestions are welcome! Just comment below!

And last but not least, MONEY. Damn you money! Why can't there be enough of you???

As for things that are not the devil? Michael Jackson's song, Beat It. While my son and I were having a dance fest, Ashley was in her jumper watching us dance and sing along. Beat It came on and every single time I would say "Beat It" she would crack up hysterically. Who would have ever thought that Michael Jackson would be the second thing that caused my daughter to laugh hysterically. It's so cute when she does it, and at this point laughter is sparse with her...so we will take whatever we can get. I can't wait until she gets a little older and we can hear that cute little laugh all the time!

Living the simple life...

On Friday my car died on me in the parking lot at Wal-Mart of all places. I thought it was the battery so I went into Wal-Mart and got a new one. Turns out, it wasn't the battery. It's the starter, and my alignment is all screwed up. I've been having to drive a Bronco around town for the past couple of days, which I don't mind at all. What I do mind is while I have the break down of my car riding over my head, the bronco decides that it wants to give me hell as well.

This morning I was at the intersection of Rose and Myra, first car in line at the red light, and about 10 cars behind me, and can you guess what happened?? YUP! It DIED! Plus I had my kids with me. That is not the idealistic situation that I want to be in. A nice man asked me if I needed any help pushing it to the side of the road, which I did. We got it to the side of the road, I tried to start it again and it finally started up! I was sweet talking that Bronco the whole way to my destination, saying "PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be nice to me and keep on going until I get to work." Luckily it did.

After all of the recent events that have happened to me over the past couple of days, I've decided to quit my job, buy a horse and buggy, move up to the mountains, and go fishing every day! No more cars, no more work, no more this, no more that. I'm living the simple life! Who's with me???

Mt. Dew and Reese's, oh how I love thee....

I have been having a MAJORLY not so bad but bad enough to be bad day. I don't know what it is about today that is making me feel this way. Maybe because it's Monday?? I think I will blame it on something that happened at 1:30am.

My wonderful significant other's alarm clock went off at 1:30 in the morning. Now his alarm isn't some normal "beep beep beep" alarm. It's some random, annoying, scare the crap out of you alarm....and it went off while I was having probably one of the best nights of sleep a girl with two kids and a new house could have. So that happened, and of course he couldn't hear it go off. So I stumbled out of the bed, found the alarm clock a.k.a. Cell phone, and pushed a bunch of buttons until the sound went off. Climbed back into bed, and as soon as my head touched the pillow, again "@gir%44$tgCF*" (that is the best way I could describe the sound of this alarm). I then climbed back out of bed, this time waking him up to ask why the hell his alarm is going off at 1:30 in the morning. He looked at the phone and was like "oh, my phone thinks I live in New York". Those damn New Yorkers! He was supposed to get up at 4:30am to leave early for a business trip and some how, his phone thought that we were on New York time.

I woke up at 5:30 only to feed my daughter and put her back to sleep. Then I fell asleep on the couch until about 7:00. I never sleep in that late, but did it today and still managed to be on time (in a late way). It's just been one of those days to where you don't want to do ANYTHING...at least not anything at work. You have to drag your way through the day, and just hope and pray that the phone doesn't ring. I feel really bad for the people on the other side of the phone, I've put on my fake smile, but I'm sure they can tell through my voice that I'm not on top of my game today.

I finally found a cure for my bitterness, Mt. Dew and Reese's. I think it gave me enough caffeine to last until 5:00, then I can crash at home. Even though none of the people I've helped on the phone is going to read this, I still wanted to say SORRY for not being in the best mood ever. Hopefully tomorrow will be better....it's one day closer to Friday. :)

One day at a time...

Children are great. Especially your own. There is no other love like the type of love that you have for your kids. It's an unconditional, selfless, do anything for, everything for, no matter what I will be there for you, type of love. The kind of love that makes you do things that you don't even want to do. Love that pains you to do it, but you do it because you LOVE them. Where am I getting at with all this love talk?? PUNISHMENT!

I have a three year old little boy and he is a handful! He's a typical rambunctious little boy who is curious about life. He loves to test the boundaries and he does it well! I’ve asked for advice numerous times and almost EVERY parent is willing to give their opinion on how to raise a child. If you have a question, they will most likely have an answer. Is it the right answer?? Most of the time, no. That doesn't mean that it's not the answer for THEM, but it usually isn't the EXACT answer for you. Sure, their information is very helpful as a foundation to finding what works for your child, but I've learned to not listen to anyone else except for my good friend, "motherly instinct". Ahh yes, that wonderful instinct that you magically receive as soon as that bundle of joy comes into the world.

Only if it were that simple.

Wouldn't it be nice to for some type of fairy at appear the foot of your hospital bed and say "HELLO!!" (in a high pitched squeaky voice, with an overly exaggerated smile, and beady eyes) "I am the Know-Everything-There-Is-To-Know-About-Parenting FAIRY, here to give you your magical parenting powers!" HA! That would be great!!! In reality, that would never happen, so we are stuck here, clueless….just TRYING to survive (and making sure THE CHILD survive at the same time!)….

So what works for me you ask??

1) The choice method. I give him two simple choices. The right(good) choice, and the wrong(bad) choice. "Do you want to stop throwing a fit or go to time out?" Most of the time, he will pick the right choice. I think this method is really helping him find himself as an individual. He's learning that he has choices in life, and for the bad choices he makes, there are consequences.

2) Level to level eye contact. If he continues to misbehave when I gave him a choice(and chance) to do the right thing. Then I get down to his level and stair him straight in the eyes. I use my stern "grown up authoritative figure" voice and tell him that it is NOT ok for him to have this type of behavior. I then give him ONE last chance to make the right choice.

3) Time out/spanking. If he fails with number one AND two, it's either a swift spanking or time out (or both) depending on the type of severity of his "offense"--for lack of better word. After he has suffered the consequences, I go and talk with him again, at the same level with eye contact. I make HIM tell me what he has done wrong, and then I tell him NOT to do that again.

This is how I parent my child and what works for US. He's grown sooo much (behaviorally and emotionally) since I have established this method of punishment. I'm glad that I'm finally getting this whole parenting thing down!

And don’t any of you experienced folk mention the pre-teen to teenager years. I’m not ready for that. I’m taking this ONE-DAY-AT-A-TIME.

**On a side note, I'm really hoping that Ashley is going to be A LOT easier than Isaiah. I have a feeling that she's going to cut me some slack and be the "easy child" of the group. Let’s just hope!!

Who ever said work couldn't be fun??

So I haven't really had much to write about for the past couple of days, I was just going to do a "Wordless Wednesday" and post random pictures that I have saved up on my computer. Kind of a cop out I know.

While I was going through all the pictures that I have, I found a picture of all my toys. Toys that are on my desk at work. I figured this post will be an ode to all the things that keep my day bright and cheerful, and reminds me not to take life too seriously. So here they are! TOYS!!!

And for EVERYONE'S entertainment. For those of you whole think I'm a complete dork. Here is a picture to back up your assumptions.

Have a great day everyone!!! :)

soaked on the side of the highway...

This weekend I went on my first ever "long distance" motorcycle ride. It was a lot of fun and a great experience. We left Friday after work and arrived at our destination at about 9:00pm. Thankfully it didn't rain and there were some awesome views riding along the river for most of the way. We spent the night with friends dancing and having a great time.

The next day we headed out at around 2:00pm, again hoping that we wouldn't run into rain. We weren't so lucky the second time around. We could see the clouds from a distance, and let me tell you...it looked UGLY! After a while of riding we stopped for gas and it was still sunny outside so I was hoping that some how we miraculously missed the storm. I was hopeful at this point. We started back on our journey towards home, and about ten minutes into riding it started to sprinkle. Then it started to poor. Big rain drops. HUGE rain drops. Then.......hail! It came on so fast, I blinked my eyes ONCE and a river appeared right smack dab in the middle of the highway. We were cracking up the whole time because it was so ridiculous. We had to slow down to about 10 miles per hour and ride on the side of the highway, hoping that it would stop (a little bit of me wanted it to continue because it was so fun!) Every time a car would pass, we would get soaked!! Probably the best part of the trip! It only lasted for about 10 minutes.

The storm was like a switch. On and off. Once we got out from underneath that cloud, it was the most beautiful sunny day. You never would have guessed that we had just went through a horrendous rain/hail storm! The great thing about riding a motorcycle and being soaking wet at the same time?? In about ten minutes you are completely dry! It's great!! :)

Oooooohhh Lordy! Demo Derby Fun!

Last night was defiantly a fantastic experience! I had the opportunity to drive in my first ever DEMO DERBY RACE! It was a BLAST! My time trial sucked because that was my first time ever in a demo car, out on dirt. So I got like 17 seconds when everyone else was getting anywhere from 12-15. That crapy time put me in the first powder puff race, in the first row, on the inside of the track. So I DID have the best advantage. I won first place (hell yeah!). I'm pretty confident that I fought for my title and it wasn't that easy of a win!

I get out on the track. One of my best friend's in the car right beside me (her first time as well) Then my brother-in-law's aunt in the car behind me. Then a couple other poor victims to my hell on wheels (not really). We go around the first lap as our "start-up" lap, then the green flag is thrown.....AND WE'RE OFF! At this point I am paying NO attention to the other cars. I go around the first tire, which was really close to the side of the race track. Then the second. Then the third. And fourth...then BAM! I hit a dip in the dirt! Which then made me slide right into the big huge tire! Straight on! I get around the tire...all the way around the track again, then BAM! Again and Again. Probably about 3 more times. Into the SAME freaking tire. On the 5th lap I got passed when I ran into the tire, so I caught up to the car and T-boned their back door and made them spin out...getting back in 1st place. The white "last lap" flag was thrown and it was easy riding all the way to the finishing line. Even though I didn't really battle the other cars, that track was ROUGH! Plus by the 3rd or 4th lap, I hit that damn tire so many times...my seat belt was TIGHT!!! And right over my neck!!! I have the marks and pain to prove it.

All in all it was fun! When I went to the front to get my trophy, I was shaking so bad and had such a big smile on my face!!! My "coach" Allen ran all the way around the track from the other side to greet me and give me a big hug for my fantastic effort. I was proud of myself and glad that all of my friends and family in the stands got to watch my (probably unexpected) victory.

I am FOR SURE going to do it again. MAYBE I'll become a bad ass demo chick with tattoos that say "bad ass demo chick". I could enter in all the guy competitions and beat the socks off of them. Then I would enter the actual DEMO part and crash every single car in that ring with out putting a scratch on my baby which I would call "Bertha".

Probably not...but maybe. :)

Things that make me an adult...

So if you guys haven't noticed, I'm 22 and have two children. Isaiah who is 3 years old and Ashley who is 4 months old. Having children at a young age has forced me to grow up very fast for their sake. And even though I'm "grown-up", I'm still not an "adult". I still need to pick up a lot of (adult) characteristics. Here are some things that I've done over the past year that take me one step closer to my goal.

COFFEE- I HATE coffee. A lot of people like the taste of it (mostly adults). Well guess what??!? I actually found a coffee drink that I actually ENJOY! Blended Iced Mocha's at Coffee Perk are the only coffee beverage that I will drink. Even though it is a small step....it's still a STEP!

TOMATOES AND ONIONS-I hate hate HATE(ed) tomatoes and onions on my sandwich. Couldn't stand them! So one day (after years of requesting NO tomatoes or onions at the deli) an employee decide that they should ignore my requests. I now like the tomatoes and onions on my sandwich. THANK YOU OBLIVIOUS DELI EMPLOYEE!

MOWING THE LAWN-I know I know I know....I should have mowed the lawn a LONG time ago, and this shouldn't be a stepping stone in becoming an adult...but this is MY stepping stone! To clarify me NEVER mowing the lawn...I was the baby of my siblings, siblings who LOVED to mow the lawn and would NEVER let me do it. Then when I moved away from the nest, I lived in apartments...so no yard! And when I moved into an actual house to where we had complete control over our yard.....life happened and I ended up single. A single mother with two kids and a HUGE lawn.....with grass. Actually NO. It wasn't grass....WEEDS. Weeds that grow 10,000 times faster than grass! So there you have it! I've mowed a lawn all by myself!

throwing bats might be as deadly as loving cupcakes...

When reading a book, mental pictures are painted for each character. We imagine the way they act, what they look like, how they feel, and the overall general description of this individual. I could conjure up a completely opposite image of who this character is in another person's mind. It's fun to read a book and have your own idea of how things should be, then to watch a movie based on that book and be able to look through another's eyes at what they've envisioned.

The same rules somewhat apply to the cyber world as well.

I follow 6-7 blogs daily. I'm interested in what they have to say, and I give my insight of certain things when needed. Out of every blog followed, I only know one blogger personally. The rest are complete strangers. Some even live all the way across the US. We will probably never meet, but I feel somewhat connected to them and their lives because they are generous enough to share their thoughts and feeling about every day life.

I did, however, get to compare my version of the "book" to the "movie" last night at my softball game. Well not really, I actually got to meet one of the bloggers. His blogs are very entertaining to read. He seems like an awesome guy who obviously loves his wife and children. He cares when people are disrespectful at "mini" graduations, and just seems like an overall great no "BS" type of guy! THAT is the type of person I envisioned him to be.

SO, imagining him to be funny, outgoing, and friendly...I was excited to see who this guy really was. WELL, let me tell you!

This is how it played out:

I was catcher.

He was up to bat.

The Pitcher threw the ball.

He swung.

The ball went high up into the air.

Out to the right fielder.

The fielder caught the ball.

And he THREW the bat on the ground.

With a good amount of force.

Now I'm not saying that he threw it across the field, or at the backstop, or even at the players. It landed right beside him, did a little hipity-hop, then he picked up the bat and walked to the dug out with a frown on his face.

It probably wasn't as dramatic as some of you might have painted in your head while reading this, BUT it wasn't my picture of how he would act in an ADULT softball game. ESPECIALLY when this is a family event, and he just got done ranting about how adults should be more respectful at family events such as a child's kindergarten graduation. There could have been a parent in the stands, watching the joys of their child catching that fly ball, and their utopia immediately interrupted by some guy, throwing a bat on the ground. I'm just saying....





BOTTOM LINE: Never throw a bat out of frustration; it could destroy a freshly painted picture.

--Now I'm sure he still is a GREAT guy, I just never envisioned him as the type of guy that would get that intense in a game of slow-pitch softball...I guess I was wrong. :)

Who's with me to go find an Escalade with a Dog inside of it??

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31205797/from/ET/

How much is that doggie that got stolen? $10K Debby Brown and her boyfriend, Chris, returned from a quick meal to find the window of their air-conditioned Escalade smashed, and their beloved Yorkie-Chihuahua mix gone. So they put out their bulletin: a $10,000 reward - no questions asked.
(Not a picture of the actual dog)


Are you serious??!? Do you know how many families you could have helped out with that type of cash??!? How many hungry children you could have fed??

But instead this couple gives $10,000 to some random guy that took their 3-lb dog. I'm all for animals, but really?? $10,000??? This makes me sick!

SORRY, just had to rant. That's all my negativity for the day...

Commonly uncommon...

uncommongoods.com

LOOK IT UP! This site has great gift ideas for those of you who have a hard time finding unique gifts. One of my favorites so far that I have come across is the NOVOPHONE Retro Phone Handset.

It is a regular hand-set phone that hooks up to your cell phone! Imagine walking down the street talking on one of these and seeing all of the looks passer-by's give you! It would be hilarious! Some people on the other hand (according to the reviews) find it VERY useful to use instead of their teenie tiny cell phone.