Perhaps, one day.....

We have all have people we trust, we all have people we can talk to, share our hearts, thoughts and dreams with. For some of us that's a friend, a parent, a sibling, a spouse, a boyfriend/girlfriend, etc. But occasionally do you ever have those things that maybe you just don't feel like you can share with anyone? Maybe it's ideas, thoughts, dreams, plans, wishes, mistakes, problems......things you wish you had done different, hadn't done at all, could change, could re-do. People you could take back things you said or did, or things you wish you had said or done. I think maybe we all do - no matter how wonderful or "best" of a friend we have. No matter how honest we are with them there are always going to be one or two or even three things we just aren't brave enough to say out loud. Things we feel like people we love would judge or criticize or make fun of. Things that we've said or held to for a long time but we know that if people knew we had changed our minds they'd laugh or say "I told you so". Things that maybe you feel but you know that someone you love doesn't feel the same way or wouldn't think the same as you do. It makes you keep it inside, hold back and just repress it. We feel silly and overwhelmed by our own minds and feelings and emotions sometimes. Don't we? Or perhaps I am all alone in this! I sometimes think there are things I want to say but I just hold back because I am too unsure of myself. I talk myself out of so many things because I just make myself think about how those around me would react and I suddenly feel far less confident in my thinking. Sometimes I wish I had that overly confident mind that just felt like everything I thought, felt or believed was right and I could say it, go with it and not care what people think. I wish I didn't feel an overwhelming amount of guilt when I said or did something I felt displeased or upset someone else. Yet I'll let people walk all over me.......sad, isn't it. I struggle with finding the balance of standing up for myself but still being respectful and courteous to others. I struggle with expressing myself - I don't feel like I can "change" my mind or my heart on something I've always said or done. Does anyone else ever think that or feel this way?! I hope so, or else this blog was simple a jumbled up mess of nothing! Sometimes I think I react to these "repressed feelings" by over reacting to other, smaller things. I let these things fester in my mind until all that pent up frustration spills over by me freaking out over something my husband says, or something my daughter does, or how someone treats me. Perhaps one day I will find my inner voice, and it will be brave enough to speak! Perhaps I one day I will not care what other thinks of me changing my mind or my heart on something, perhaps one day......

10

1. Today, on my 20 minute drive home from my in-laws house, I randomly started thinking about jobs I think my hubby would be really great at and here's what I came up with.....

a. English teacher (he remembers all those little rules about

when you use certain words and spellings and all that!)

b. Professional organizer - I think he would do great organizing

people's house for a living!

c. A golf pro - he loves golf!

d. A music producer - he just hears stuff that no one else does

when it comes to music.

Who knows why I thought about that but I did so I thought I'd share it! Haha!

2. We finally got our phone order straightened out with AT&T. We ordered the phones last week so they should have been here by like Friday. But I realized the other day through an order tracking number that it said our order had been canceled. So I spent like an hour on the phone (and half of that on hold) trying to figure out what happened. They never could really tell me why it got canceled but they reprocessed it and hopefully we'll have our lovely iPhones by Monday. I'm going to order cases sometime this weekend, already have mine picked out!!!

3. I think someone tried to scam me on Craigslist yesterday/today. Ugh. It's been quite a process trying to get out of a deal where I'm not sure what was going on except that they wanted to pay me way more then I asked but then have me ship my iPod Touch to Nigeria which was going to cost me a small fortune even if they paid me more it still probably wouldn't cover it so I canceled it and sold it to my sister instead! Lol!

4. My diet is going well, since starting Monday I've lost about a pound, which isn't bad especially at the point that I'm at in my fitness. I actually kinda like the diet plan I'm on, I'm still watching my calories but it's amazing how many calories carb items take up. So when you don't them.....I had deli ham, cheese and boiled egg whites for lunch! Love it! I do eat veggies and fruits too. Dinner was steak, spinach salad and carrots. Lovely! Oh and I'm drinking 64 ounces of water a day! Woohoo! Water and absolutely nothing else, not even Crystal Lite.

5. Watched the premiere of The Voice last night and I loved it! SOOOOO much better then American Idol (which I hate and refuse to watch now!). The celebrity judges are great - Cee-Lo Green (all around genius!), Cristina Aguilera, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine (Cute!). And the whole idea is so fun! I really loved several of the contestants last night and can't wait to watch next Tuesday night.

6. My parents and brothers are coming to town this weekend to do a few things and celebrate my sister's birthday which is Friday. I'm excited to see them and also excited because we're going to be opening up the pool and getting it ready to use! Right now it looks like a swamp, we cover it during the winter so that nothing gets in it but during a storm a few weeks ago the water on top got so heavy it popped and fell in spilling all the leaves, dirt and junk from over the winter into the water. So now it's a huge mess. I'm just ready for some serious sunny days so I can lay out and get a little color before I head to the beach. I would go to a tanning bed but I've never gone and it seems a waste of money when I can lay out and get a real tan! I think most people who spend a lot of time at the tanning bed (not all!) look like over cooked bacon!

7. More kitties have been born over at my mother in law's cattery. So far the three cats that have had kittens have all had them on Tuesday's, each a week apart! The first cat had 5 and they are all the same color, I can't tell them apart at all! The second had four, one grey and 3 tabbies which all look exactly alike! And this last one had her babies last night - I was there for awhile, she had one and then couldn't get the next one out. They ended up rushing her to the vet and did a emergency c-section because the baby was stuck in the birth canal. She had two chocolates, one grey and one lilac/cream! There are at least four more momma's that are due to have kittens within the next month. The first ones have their eyes open and are starting to move around - pretty soon they'll be running around and be big enough for Gianna to play with and she can't wait!

8. I'm still loving Turbo Fire - it's amazing! So fun! I really haven't had a work out I didn't like. I sweat like mad and I love it! I'd love to get a spin bike at some point too just for extra cardio and something different. I'm also looking at getting a few Zumba dvd's - I think Gianna would get a kick out of doing some of the dancing. We usually turn on the dance music channel on the TV and clear the living room and just spend some time dancing around and being silly! She loves it and I do it - it's fun time with her and we're burning off energy! So I think some Zumba would be fun to do......

9. My hair is just not growing fast enough for me! I'm taking my hair, skin and nail vitamins but I just want it to be long already! I see all these cute hair do's - ponytails, buns, braids, curls, etc. and I'm dying to be able to do that! I tried using my hot roller's the other day and when I took them out it just made my hair look like a bad 70's bob! So for now it's just the straight look......

10. I'm totally over all this Royal Wedding stuff. Really. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love weddings and love and royalty and all that but seriously. But I will say Kate Middleton is B-E-A-utiful and she will be a stunning bride! But personally I think Prince Harry is WAY cuter then William! Lol! I think it's amusing they can't kiss at their ceremony because Westminster Abbey won't allow it, I am anxious to see her dress because that is so important and why are they getting married on a Friday? Guess they aren't holding with traditional Saturday weddings.

(Oh, and 11. (lol!) I think I need to go on the show Survivor, those people lose some serious weight!)

Here's A Clue

So today was my first day on my "new" diet plan. I'm only 16 days away from going to the beach now and I'd like to drop about 5lbs. (or more!) before I go. But I've also hit kinda of plateau. Which happens with everyone who is on a serious quest to lose weight. I've been doing this for over a year and a half now and it's finally coming to a stand still. So I've decided to try something a little different - going low carb and low calorie this time around. Focusing on eating very few complex carbs like bread, pasta, potatoes, etc. Today was Day 1 and it actually went really well. I will say I missed my big bowl of bran flakes at breakfast but other then that I can't say I missed the bread or anything. Now I can't guarantee that's how I'll feel a week down the road. But today for a snack Bug and I went by McDonald's to get her an ice cream. I got a cheeseburger and took of the bread - ate the cheese and burger patty! That was kinda funny. Hardee's used to have a low carb burger that was wrapper in lettuce instead of having a bun.....now I'm wondering if they still have that!

Another big thing today - I drank all my water. Yup. I've mentioned it before I have a hard time drinking, anything really. It's not that I don't like water, I actually really do. Growing up we weren't allowed to have a lot of juice or anything. Usually we could have a glass at breakfast of juice or milk and other then that we drank water. Rarely ever had a soda and on special occasions my mom would make sweet tea! I know that drinking water is very important and really good for boosting the metabolism. So I'm trying to focus on getting all my water in - you are supposed to drink half your weight in ounces. So for me that's about 62-64 ounces. Goodness. But I pre measure it in a large drinking bottle and keep it in the fridge and drink it through out the day. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time running back and forth to the bathroom today! Lol! Hopefully my body gets used to it soon and will handle that much liquid a little better.

But I am inspired to get back into things hard and heavy, besides the fact that I'm going to the beach and I wanna feel and look good. Yesterday I had my hubby snap a picture of me and it was awful - not his photography but me! Lol! And that's always my clue that I'm letting myself slip too much. When I'm where I'm supposed to be weight and fitness wise I love having pictures taken of myself, when I start hating them I know it's time to get back and get serious!

My hubby and I have a little competition going to see who can lose to their "goal" first. Not our ultimate goal but our "first goal" so to speak. I make little goals towards my big goal. It helps it not feel so overwhelming. He has 8lbs. to lose and I have 5lbs. I laugh because I swear all he has to do is not drink soda for a week and he'll be down those 8lbs. I'll have to go carbless, work out like crazy and hopefully lose what I wanna lose....but we'll see!

So let's do this thing!!!

100 Things About Me (2nd Twenty-five)

1. My favorite food would be steak and potatoes! Can't get enough of it.....

2. My dream job would be naming other people's kids. Oh, yeah. I hate how generic some people name their kids. I hate when I know like 6 kids named the same thing. I mean, really? There are so many amazing names out there - people just get lazy!

3. My toenails are always painted and never chipped. If they chip they immediately fix it or take it all off and start over.

4. I never paint my fingernails, it never stays on between showers and washing dishes.

5. I wish I could draw, I can barely make a stick figure.

6. I'm scared of birds, being in the dark alone and heights.

7. I'd love to visit London, Paris and Sydney one day.

8. I'm starting a low carb, low calorie diet today - which should be interesting since I LOVE carbs like bread, rice and pasta.

9. I hate drinking, anything. Not just water but anything. I can go an entire day and maybe drink 16 ounces of liquid. I'm trying to change that....I'm supposed to be drinking 62 ounces of water a day. Dear Lord, I foresee lots of bathroom breaks!

10. I LOVE breakfast, can't imagine not having it. I'd much rather skip anything other meal. Breakfast is my "coffee" in the morning.

11. I completed and graduated from Cosmetology school in 2005, three days before I got married.

12. I want to live anywhere but where I live but I have no idea where I'd want to live if I moved!

13. I actually look forward to my daughter dating - I think it'll be so sweet!

14. I quit piano lessons. Not because I don't love piano but because I just wasn't putting enough focus into it. I was forcing myself to go because I didn't want to be a quitter.

15. I'm getting an iPhone this week! Good Lord, I'm over the mood excited. Already have my new case picked out and I'm going to order it tonight! Hooray!

16. My favorite part of my body is my legs and my least favorite part is my arms - they just won't define like I want them to.

17. If Gianna had been a boy she would have been named Rocker Jack - a family member informed me after we found out she was a girl that God wouldn't give us a boy because we had such an awful name picked out! (I think they were joking? Maybe.....)

18. My favorite old TV show is X-Files. My hubby and I have seen every episode at least once, some of them more then that. My favorite current show is Fringe (I'm re-catching up via Netflix right now.)

19. I think Robert Pattinson is gorgeous. Period. (don't worry, my hubby knows and his "Robert Pattinson" is Haley Williams from Paramore. I'm good with that.)

20. If I could switch bodies with anyone it would be Jessica Alba.....mmm, hmm, she has the perfect body!

21. I've recently been watching "older" romance movies on Netflix so far I've seen Return To Me with Minnie Driver and David Duchovny (who I will always see at Fox Mulder! Lol!) and Sweet November with Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron (not my fave.)

22. I'll admit sometimes I like cheesy love stories and I'm kinda looking forward to see the new "Prom" movie....shhh, don't tell my hubby! He'll laugh! Just kidding....

23. I still like writing old fashioned hand written letters. So if you wanna be a "pen pal" let me know! I only have one friend that still writes me letters and I write her in return and I absolutely love getting letters in the mail!

24. My blog name came from 1. The fact that I love music and 2. The name of the Dean Koontz book I was reading at the time!

25. I love cats - I'd rather have cats then dogs or any other pet. They are so much sweeter, quieter and more self reliant. I like that!

Link up and share your 100 Things About Me with me!

Easter

Um, so yeah, my pictures are backwards. I mean, as far as order goes. This first picture should be the last and the last the first. But whatev. I'm not not in the mood to change it this late. I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and a wonderful day. We certainly did....as you can see from this first picture! Lol! Bug came in to watch some TV with me after all the "festivities" were over, suddenly I realized she was being awfully quiet so I looked over the edge of the ottoman to see her completely conked out! Bless her little heart! Too cute!

(Too much fun!)

(Me and my girl - dang, she's getting big!)

(Beautiful glittery eggs - actually far less messy than I thought!)

(One serious little egg decorator!)

(Our pretty sandals)

(Isn't she adorable?!)

(She was put out with pictures!)

(Cuteness.)

(Our sweet little family.)

(Can you tell I'm sick? Yeah, nasty sinus/allergy crap. I have felt

pretty crappy for the past couple of days....getting better though!)

(My <3's!)

P.S. Egg hunting photos coming soon! They are on my mother in law's awesome camera,

I have to retrieve them later!

Stuff.

Ok, so he might shoot me for posting these on my blog but I just thought they were too darn cute (and pretty sexy too!) to skip posting! The Hubs was fooling around at his mom's tonight and we both grabbed cameras and snapped a few pictures. Honestly, I'm proud of my hubby - I'm proud that he's not only a talented, smart, hard working man but that he's really nice to look at too! I'm glad he has a physical job that helps keep him in great shape instead of sitting on his butt being a couch potato! So yeah, I'm happy to call him mine!

So Mariah finally had her babies yesterday, super early in the morning. April 20th. She had four and three are cute little dark tabbies but there is one that's a grey tabby (this little fellow above.). I'm pretty sure he's a boy (you can "see" he is! Lol!) and I'm already getting really attached to him. I haven't picked him for sure or anything because they are so little you can't really know their personalities just yet. But some you can tell are more laid back, some are a little more whiney and needy, etc. So I'm not saying for sure but right now of the nine kittens so far he's my favorite!

The two at the top are a couple of the tabby's Mariah had....the two on the bottom are two of the five Eowyn had a week ago. They are getting so fat and sassy now, their eyes will start opening soon too. It's amazing to see how fast they grow.....in a couple of weeks they'll be up and playing! So adorable.....

Sorry my blogging has been a bit off lately. The past couple of nights have been rough - Bug has been sick, I'm feeling a little "off" myself and I've been having trouble sleeping the past few nights too. It may be because there are a slew of frogs that insist on making the craziest amounts of noise once we go to bed. But I've noticed every few months or so I go through a couple of nights where I just can't sleep. I can't pin point it to anything in particular it just happens. Who knows....

Tomorrow we're "Spring cleaning" - loads of fun, I know. well, it has to be done. I'll feel great once it's actually done.

Oh so random.....

So along with growing out my hair, I've now decided to grow out my bangs too. Again. Yeah, I tried this one before and it drove me crazy and I ended cutting them off again. But now that it's starting to get warm my bangs are already starting to drive me nuts. They get stuck to my forehead and that annoys me. So I'm trying to grow them out so that I can at least style them off my forehead. I started today parting them and drying them a little differently, can't say I love it but I think it's supposed I'll get used to and end up liking especially once it get super hot and I'm spending lots of time by the pool. So I'm trying again.....I'm growing out my hair, growing out my bangs and not coloring it for the next year (or however long it takes to get rid of all the color I have on it.). It's funny because I really have no need to color my hair but when I walk down the aisle with hair color I desperately want to grab that box of silky black hair color and soak my hair in it! Lol! I know, it sounds silly but I just love how clean and sleek my hair looks right after I color it. I also forgot how my red my natural has in it. I have about 3 inches of my natural showing now and it looks so red in the sunlight compared to the other color. Most people won't notice a difference because the tones are the same just one has a blacker tone and my roots have a redder tone. Sorry, to ramble on about that, it's the Cosmetologist coming out in me! Haha!

I didn't sleep well last night, strange dreams and every little noise woke me up......but I ended up getting up earlier then normal because I just couldn't sleep so I guess that was good. We had a bit of an "uh oh" while I was working out this morning. I was getting to a part where I was doing a lot of kicks so I told Gianna to sit down on the couch till I was done with that part because I couldn't focus on kicking and watching out for her. So she was on the couch for a few minutes then while I was in the middle of a kick she jumped off the couch right into my kick! I felt horrible! She cried for a bit but then seemed fine and her face looked fine. But after lunch I noticed she has a bit of a scratch at the top of her eye and a little bit of a bruise forming on her cheek bone. Bless her little heart! She's pretty tough though and ultimately handles it well as long as there is no blood or shots involved!

And big, exciting news for me - I'm going to the beach next month! And not just any beach.....and not any of the crappy beaches around here in NC or SC. I'm headed to Gulf Shores, AL which has some of the prettiest beaches. Blue water and white, powdery sand. It's gorgeous. And we're going in May - so lots of hot sunshine to soak up! My littlest sis, D, is graduating high school *little tear* and since she was home schooled she opted out of a ceremony or party. Instead she just wanted a trip so since my mom's birthday and Mother's Day all fall right around her graduating we decided to make it a big girl's party. So it's me, my two sisters and my mother heading down to the coast for 4 days. You have NO idea how excited I am! Going to the beach for one but getting away "by myself" with only me to really take care of?! How lovely. And I know my wonderful hubby (and mother in law) will take great care of Bug, she'll be thrilled to have them all to herself for the whole weekend! And so now the next few weeks are just going to drag by......but I'm going to go ahead and pre-tan by laying out some before hand. It's getting hot and sunny enough in the afternoon to soak up an hour or two of sun. I soak it up pretty quick....in fact the other day I sat outside on the sidewalk and read a book for about an hour. It was chilly but sunny and I had on a tank top and I already have tan lines! Sheesh! I try to avoid bathing suits with straps and if they do have straps make sure they are super thin so they aren't really bad tan lines!

But yeah, so exciting things to look forward too. I can't believe Easter is Sunday. I've got to get some eggs for Gianna. This will be our first year celebrating "alone", or without my family around. But it'll be fun and Gianna has an adorable dress to wear, I just hope it's warm that day so she won't have to bundle up like we have on other Easter's.

I think I may also plan to do a yardsale here soon.....I've never done one without my mom but I figure my sister my pitch in and we could do one together. We have lots of stuff we need to get rid of. We try to make it a point to clean everything out every fews months so that we aren't just keeping stuff to keep it. I clean out Gianna's clothes and toys fairly often. I never want her to be one of those kids that keeps everything. I hate it when people keep EVERYTHING their kid has every gotten, then dedicate a whole room to keeping all that crap for them when they never play with it. So crazy! I'm so glad my hubby has taught me the art of getting rid of stuff! Lol!

Still in the mood for Cracker Barrel and cinnamon rolls....not good!

Monday's 100 Things About Me (First 25)

Stephanie over at Polos, Pearls & Pacifiers started this thing, 100 Things about her, and she's breaking it up into four Mondays and doing 25 at a time. She decided to link people up and get others involved. I'm going to attempt my first 25 today although everytime I start to do something like this my mind goes completely blank and I end up telling people stuff they already know. So bear with me! Lol!

1. I was 18 when I got married, 19 when I got pregnant and 20 when my daughter was born! Yeah, I totally jumped into adulthood with both feet!

2. I currently live in my parent's old house with my husband and daughter. They abruptly moved back to AL. to live with my grandfather who has Alzheimer's. We moved in to help them out and to help us out.

3. Right now my favorite girl name is Poet and my favorite boy name is Brompton. But since we aren't having any more kids they are fairly useless to me! And they change randomly too.

4. I adore downtown Greenville, SC and one day when I'm rich I'm going to live down there in an amazing apartment above one of the many uber cool shops down there!

5. I'm not a big fan of cartoons but if I have to watch one it's most certainly going to be Phineas & Ferb! Love those guys!

6. Even though I may not be the world's best or most interesting blogger I absolutely love blogging and following all the other amazing bloggers out there. It encourages and inspires me!

7. I am looking into starting a bit of a "home career" soon - still thinking about it but it seems like something I could do. But I tend to doubt myself too much and I'm so afraid of failing that I tend to not step into things without a lot of caution.

8. I'm still taking piano lessons. I've felt a bit discouraged and uninspired with it lately but I'm hoping that's just a phase I can work myself out of.

9. The highlight of my week (not including the weekend with my hubby and daughter!) is Zumba. I really look forward to getting out of the house and just having a fun work out with other women. I've been doing this work out thing by myself for so long that having other people to work out with even once a week is so exciting for me!

10. I tend to worry about what other people think about me too much. It keeps me from saying how I really feel a lot of time. I don't want to hurt people's feeling or make them mad at me.

11. I have a hard time saying No. Especially to Gianna, I probably give in more then I should.

12. I originally was going to name my daughter Eisley Tatum but for some reason during the first few months of my pregnancy (when I was sicker than a dog!) the very thought of that name made my stomach turn ( no clue why!) so I decided to change it. Originally wanted to change it to Giselle, then settled on Gianna. And yes, her middle name Elyn is after Tiger Wood's ex-wife, Elin. We just changed the 'i' to a 'y'.

13. I have a thing for shoes and purses but I never buy expensive ones. What's the point? I'm only going to use it for so long and then I don't feel guilty getting rid of it. Someone bought me two super expensive purses a long time ago and I held onto them for years even though I didn't like them anymore simply because they were expensive. That's no good!

14. My favorite coffee shop treat (when I'm not watching what I'm eating!) is a Mocha with an extra shot of chocolate. When I'm eating right I get a sugar free iced peppermint tea. Yummy and refreshing. Mocha's always give me a tummy ache later, I think it's too much sugar at once!

15. I LOVE hard boiled egg whites (detest the yolks! gag!) with hot sauce! So, so, so good!

16. I actually don't mind mowing our huge yard with a push mower. It's a great time to listen to music and get some seriously great exercise!

17. I talked my hubby into adopting our cat, Gandalf, from the Pet Center at PetSmart simply because his name was Gandalf and my hubby is a HUGE Lord of the Rings fan.

18. I love Twilight, and I'm not ashamed to say it.....lol! I think it's a beautiful and well written story. And yeah, I admit, I'm a sucker for a good love story, chick flick!

19. I am an avid reader, my favorite authors are Stephen King and Dean Koontz. They are both brilliant writers and they have just about an endless supply of books they've penned so I'm never out of reading material!

20. My current favorite band is Elbow but my all time favorite is still Coldplay. Something about their music is just magical.

21. Favorite songs right now are Jesus Is A Rochdale Girl by Elbow and On The Floor by JLo. Yeah, don't ask! Haha! It's just so catchy and dancey and fun!

22. Gianna starts pre-school in August and I'm really excited! And so is she, I know how much she loves being with other kids and loves learning and I know she's do great. She already has her backpack, I just have to take it and have her name put on it.

23. I hate doing laundry. Seriously, I will let it go as long as I can before I actually do it. Then I just spend all day working on it! Lol!

24. I can not wait to get all brown and tanned this summer! It's my favorite part of summer.

25. Friday is my favorite day of the whole week - it's the first day of our weekend. My hubby works four 1o hour days and then we get three days off for our weekend! It's wonderful!

So if you decide to "play" along, link up!!! And leave me comment and let me know so I can check out your post. Also leave me any questions you'd like to ask me and I'll answer them! anything goes (Maybe!!!! Lol!)!

No Rhyme or Reason

1. You probably already know this but I love working out - seriously! Yeah, I do have days where I feel like maybe I don't feel like it but once I get going I love it. And I LOVE the way I feel afterwards. That adrenaline rush, that feeling of accomplishment, that feeling of being exhausted because you know you put 110% into it! Yeah, it's amazing. And I honestly can't get over how fun Turbo Fire is, I sweat like a dog and I'm usually sore after the sculpting work outs where we use the resistance bands (yow wee!). But I feel so good doing it. And I seriously think I may need to get a few Zumba dvd's for the house. Not really to use on a daily basis or as my main work out but just for fun with Gianna. She would love it! The fun music, the high energy and just dancing around. I look so forward to Tuesday evenings now, getting with other ladies and just enjoying our work outs. It's really great!

2. The weather is great today - sunny but not too hot. But I am really ready for the hot weather to show up (I say that now....) mainly because I am ready to get the pool open and get some sun on me and Bug! I love laying out - I've never been to a tanning bed in my life and I doubt I'll ever go. Simply because I just love to soak up the sun! Laying out there, reading a good book, sipping on ice cold Crystal Lite (Lime Margarita is my new fave!) and indulging in shameful amounts of chilled watermelon! Oh my, my mouth is watering as we speak.....I think I'll go on a watermelon "diet" this summer - sun and watermelon! Haha!!!

3. Water For Elephants comes out soon.....like as in Friday. Yessir. I'm debating wether I want to go that night or wait and see an early showing on like Sunday when it's less crowded. There is really only one movie I'll brave the masses for and that's the Twilight movies. And mainly because that's more of a "tradition" kinda thing. I saw the first Twilight with a "friend" (who is now an ex-friend! Lol!), I saw New Moon by myself and actually enjoyed going alone, I saw Eclipse with my hubby and a friend.....and with this next one, Breaking Dawn, I'm thinking about going it alone again. I like to just soak up the movie and not worry about what the other people with me are thinking. It's so much easier to get a good seat by yourself, you just squeeze in between odd little groups that don't want to touch each other! Lol! But yeah, back to Water For Elephants. I think it's going to be an amazing role for Robert Pattinson. He's brilliant and I've read the book and can totally see him as the character he's playing. But yes, I do plan to see it next weekend. It's a must.

4. We got our old couch moved out.....goodness, I didn't realize how crappy that thing was until we moved it out. And heavy, sheesh! I got a nice bruise on my bi-cep from it. But I'm proud to say my hubby didn't need anyone else to help him move it. This strong, 5 foot tall girl got in there with her muscles and did it! That's where working out comes in handy! But the "new" couch is fabulous, I said "new" because it's new to us but we got it from my sister and her hubby who simply just didn't want it anymore......thank you!!! I love it and it opens up our living room so much more.

5. Still waiting on "my" cat to have kittens over at my mother in law's cattery. It's funny because I've kinda pre decided which cat I wanted a kitten from based on past litters they've had but I know I'll probably end up getting one I thought I'd least be inclined to get. That's what happened when I picked out sweet Gypsy (can't believe he's already been gone two months. *sigh*). I had no intentions of getting a "white" cat, I wanted a chocolate but then just absolutely fell in love with him and couldn't help it. But the kittens have to be four months old before they can come to live with their new owners and so I want one that's been born before the 23rd of this month that way it can come home on my birthday in August!!!! I have names picked out already (sorry, not sharing just yet!) - I plan on getting a boy but just in case I have a girl named picked out too.....

6. It's time to go shorts shopping.....I officially own one pair of shorts! Lol! Yeah, I have 2 pair of work out shorts but I'm talking like nice shorts. I bought them last summer for like $8 at Plato's Closet. And I love them! I bought a couple of other pairs too but I have long ago had to get rid of them because they were too big (*smile*). But it's getting warm enough during the day now that I'm in the mood to wear shorts but I can't wear the same pair every day! I'll probably head back to Plato's Closet at some point because you just can't beat their deals.

7. I've got to get on fixing our pool deck before we get the pool open. It's just plain wood and I want to get it treated and painted before the summer. It's going to take some serious work but I think it will look so much nicer once it's done. The grass is already growing at a ridiculous rate. Beej has already cut it twice and by the next day it's already looking like it needs cutting again. We've been getting so much rain it's super thick, green and growing like, uh, weeds?! Once it gets really hot it'll slow down some and only need to be cut every two weeks or so. But Spring it has to be cut weekly almost.

8. Pet peeve: Lazy people who complain constantly about being tired. Really? You sleep till 10am, sit around all day watching movies, take a nap and then go to bed and do it all over again. Geez, no wonder you're tired. No, but for real, it's crazy! I mean, yeah, I get tired at night but that's after working out and running around all day. But I have noticed this - there are two different kinds of tired. The tired you get after working hard and the tired you get when you've done nothing. I much prefer the tired I get when I've worked hard!

9. I think my cell phone is pretty much shot. It won't hold a charge for long anymore and it just randomly shuts off for no reason. If it's jiggled or sat down the wrong way it just cuts off. It's almost time for our contract renewal but we are kinda torn on what to do......we've been with Verizon since I can remember and they do have the iPhones now but we aren't sure we want to jump into paying the extra for data packages. But it seems silly to buy cheap phones again.....Verizon has this thing with their phones where 1 year and 9 months after you buy your new phone (You have it for a two year contract) it goes on the fritz, leaving you with a crap phone for the next three months and desperate for a new one by the time your two year contract is up for renewal. Oh, they know what they are doing!

10. I'm in the mood for Cracker Barrel. Have been for awhile. But it sucks that we have to drive 45 minutes to get to any Cracker Barrel from here.....I've thought about just making some French Toast and bacon but it just wouldn't taste the same ya know. Oh, well. But I do love breakfast food! I'm pretty sure I could eat it three meals a day and it would be totally fine with me!!! Biscuits, French Toast, Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, Cinnamon Rolls, cereal....you know, all the stuff that is so not good for you! Lol! I'll keep it to my bran flakes and banana.

Um, so that's about it. Random and pointless but sometimes that's how my brain feels! Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend, I can't believe it's over already. Goodness.

Hello, Party People!!!

1. the first five babies of the "season" over at my mother in law's cattery. only four days old. Aren't they freakin' adorable?! I am totally excited because we'll be choosing a new baby for our family out of one of the many litters. Most likely not this litter but the cat I want a baby from is due like tonight or tomorrow!

2. the tiniest baby

3. the biggest kitty - this big fellow was the last to be born and was stuck in the birth canal for almost three hours and was born "dead". My mother in law was able to revive it and now it's big, healthy and eating like a horse!

1. enjoying some early Easter goodies from one of my hubby's customers. He has some really sweet ones.....

2. enjoying some applesauce, it's weird sucking it out of bag but she loves it!

3. playing doctor this morning!

4. isn't she adorable?! I love her so.

1. fat kitty, Gandalf

2. me

3. my "set up" - I totally love it! iPod Touch and a Mac. I think I'm totally happy with that!

Saturday Stop-by's

So I wanted to share a few links with you to totally fabulous blogs or posts.......check them out!

I think Enjoying The Small Things is one of the most beautifully written blogs, period. Kelle has such a way with words and her two little girls, especially Ms. Nella, is an absolute delight! Stop by and check out this post about her "bag of tricks".

I also recently discovered Sometimes Sweet and my favorite posts are Tattoo Tuesday's where she show case different people with Uh-mazing tattoo's! I love some well done ink - absolutely. I think I need some new ink soon.....hmmmm.....

I really, really want to do this kinda post soon. I think it's very clever and fun. I just have to get all my photos together. Goodness.

The Anderson Crew just welcomed home their newest daughter, Ms. Elsa. I have been following them for awhile as they awaited her arrival all the way from Ethiopia. The joy and love this family has over their beautiful new addition is so heart warming!

This post was fun.....always the creative sort my sister posts the most interesting stuff. Seriously. Follow her blog, it's totally rad!

So yeah, take the time to stop by these blogs and these posts and enjoy them! Comment back and let me know if you liked them or if you decided to follow any of them.

Picture Collages and other stuff.....

Finally got my pictures in order and in collages. I just think they are neater when they are in collages instead of just stacked on top of each! Lol!

My mom was in town this past weekend. We spent most of our time in my sister's kitchen re-decorating. Or at least starting the process. We repainted her cabinets and painted her walls. All that's left is the floor - it needs to be replaced. But we had some fun in between! The day she left we went up to Asheville and had lunch at Doc Chey's, one of our favorite places to eat!

1. Bug at the entrance of Doc Chey's

2. Bug eating lunch with her chopsticks - she loves those things!

3. Bug and her "Janou".

4. My sister and brother in law.

I did mention before that I got my Mac! I couldn't be happier as I'm typing away on it's lovely white keys!!! I'm so glad to have left the world of PC's behind. All the problems.....whew! Not to mention it's looks good too. I don't understand why people go spend the money they do on a PC when for the same amount or less you can get a better machine - one that you will have far less issues with!

1. Me (my hair is growing out slowly but surely!)

2. DIY French pedicure

3. My lovely Mac!

4. Me ( I scrunched my hair Sunday because it was a little rainy out.....it looks so short!)

1. Bug

2. Bug being silly!

3. Bug playing on my sister's keyboard. She played loud and made up so super cute songs about a princess named Maleah who walked in the woods! She is so creative!

4. Too cute! Note the same hair do in all the pictures - we're growing her bangs out and this is the only way I can keep them out of her eyes right now. So you'll be seeing this hair do ALOT!

1. She crawled in my bed the other morning and fell back asleep and slept another hour after I got up!

2. Eating nachos at Grandma's

3. Playing in Grandma's yard

4. Isn't she a doll? See that little dark line in the middle of her forehead? That's her birth mark! Now that I'm pulling her bangs back you can see it now.

1. Our favorite dinner - chicken and broccoli with brown rice! So yummy and so filling and SO healthy!

2. Our old couch

3. Our "new" couch! My sis just randomly decided to get rid of her couch and it's still in great shape so she passed it on to us! I'm thrilled - so glad to see ours go.....glad this one is smaller so it won't take up so much room in our living room. Plus it will match our "style" a little better too.

And side note : I'm watching Extreme Couponing as we speak and it's NUTS! Are these people serious? They are pretty much hoarders but neat about it. They have like hundreds of boxes of cereal and thousands of cans of soup and tons of paper towels....some thing obviously don't go bad so I guess I understand that but like cereal goes stale, meat goes bad, dairy stuff goes sour, etc. So why buy so much of it? I don't get it. I would love to learn how to utilize coupons but not that crazy! But it kinda confuses me a bit! Lol! I need some couponing lessons....it would be great to cut our grocery bill down if I could do it. Maybe I should look into couponing, huh?! Lol!

What I'm Lovin'......

I was going to do a regular post tonight but I'm having problems with the program I normally use to make photo collages. And since I have a bunch of pictures to share I need to get those in order before I post them all on here. So I'll attempt that tomorrow sometime! For now I'll share a few things I'm lovin' right now!

1. My new Mac! Isn't she lovely? I'm still learning my way around, there are some things that you do differently with a Mac but it's so easy to learn and I'm falling into the groove of it very well! Not to mention it's so small and light weight I can actually take it places with me!

2. DIY French pedicures! I usually paint my toenails with color but I thought I'd try something new and do a French pedicure and I actually really like it. (This is a horrible picture of my feet, for some reason my ankles look swollen. But they aren't, I promise!)

3. My sweet little namesake, Alaythea Jade. Isn't she adorable?! I've yet to meet her, how sad. But she lives in AL, one of my dear friends from Cosmetology school is her momma and I was so surprised when she named her only daughter after me!

4. My hubby's hair cut. He finished "growing it out" and it was getting a little hot when he's out golfing and such so he had me cut it off the other night. I was actually getting used to it being a long and shaggy but now that it's short I love that too!

5. Toe rings - I've never been a fan but I think this summer I'm going to give them a try. I wore one today and I thought it was so cute! I think I'll be looking around for some cute ones.

6. Zumba was SO fun tonight! I absolutely love it. We actually got into actual work out's tonight. It was only a 20 minute express workout but we were all so excited about it that we all voted to do it THREE times! Lol! I'm already sore but it's so much fun working out with a group! I'm so glad that I started going.

7. Hot showers - nothing feels better after a good work out then a nice hot shower. And Gianna's at the age now where she'll hang out in the living room while I get a shower and she doesn't bother me much....it's really nice to have those few minutes of "me time"!

8. Turbo Fire is UH-mazing! The high energy blast work out's are great! I love working harder for a shorter amount of time. Chalene picks great music which I think is so key to helping keep your energy and motivation up. Not to mention she is just so full force it's totally inspiring! I've lost 2lbs this week! I've decided to only weigh once a week and that's Tuesday nights at Zumba because they have a great scale....mine are a little "iffy" I think.

9. Cottage Cheese Doubles. SO yummy! I love cottage cheese and it's good for you but I can only eat it in small amounts, even the smallest container at the grocery store just lasts way too long for me. So I discovered these at the Wal-Mart yesterday. A small amount of cottage cheese and a little bit of fruit topping too. I had the pineapple today and loved it! They have pineapple, peach, strawberry and blueberry. How cool?!

10. Eating right - I love it when I eat right. Truly. I feel so great! I don't know why I ever let myself get off track. But it's all good when I get back on track!