Blog/Scrap Challenge - Bonus Topic

What 100 things could I not live without??

Randomly, here we go:

1) Faith
2) Sterling
3) Divine
4) Sterling II
5) Chocolate
6) Vegetables
7) Hot Water
8) Fav pillow
9) Tivo
10) Netflix
11) Color
12) Sports
13) Music
14) Bible
15) Vitamin Water
16) BBQ Grill
17) George Foreman Grill
18) Ice Cream
19) Affection
20) Computer
21) Internet
22) Fruit
23) Starbucks
24) Toiletries
25) Books
26) Printer
27) Scanner
28) Toothbrush
29) Toothpaste
30) Milk Soap
31) Cell
32) Sleep
33) Voicemail
34) Caller ID
35) Friends
36) Loved Ones
37) The Red Lily
38) Tennis Shoes
39) Swimsuit
40) YMCA
41) Employment
42) Fluffy Socks
43) Heat
44) A/C
45) T.V.
46) News
47) Radio
48) Sex
49) Laughter
50) Pedicures
51) Manicures
52) Jeans
53) Scrapbooking
54) Sight
55) Hearing
56) Speaking
57) Feeling
58) Touching
59) Carmex
60) Target
61) Shopping Online
62) Baggy Sweats
63) History
64) Memories
65) Lipstick
66) Mascara
67) Eyeliner
68) Jehovah
69) Christ
70) Freedom
71) Scrapbooking
72) Sun
73) debit card
74) wireless bras
75) nail polish
76) library
77) love songs
78) girlie movies
79) red lobster rolls
80) airplanes
81) boston baked beans
82) camera
83) education
84) cc’s pizza
85) lilies
86) white roses
87) barq’s rootbear
88) candles
89) sentiments
90) strength
91) humor
92) smiles
93) a good cry
94) success
95) failure
96) respect
97) healing
98) beauty
99) rain
100) heals

what's yours???

Adieu!

Blog/Scrap Challenge Week 2

Man....I'm running a little behind but I'm just in time because Nesa hasn't put up next weeks topic yet!! *whew* So for this week, well I guess I should say last week....anyway, our topic is to give insight into our Home Surroundings, those little things that make our house a home.

Sweet Home Surroundings

I am deeply grateful to have a "home" with my family! Growing up we never really had a place to call home because there were either so many of us living in one place or we were moving to a different apartment or house frequently. So as I sit and think about the "home" that we have been blessed to provide for our family it makes me extremely thankful, blessed and happy that my children don't have to feel the way I felt growing up.

I love my "home" because it's where I feel the most comfortable. You know I can where my pj's all day or wear my sweatpants that are 2 sizes too big or I can unzip my pants while I eat fried chicken, okra and candied yams!! LOL

My "home" is still a work in progress but I love it here and we've thought about moving a few times because we could use a little bit more space...but I just love it and am not ready to let it go just yet! There are a few things that make my house a "home":

1. I love the smell of my home...I always have a scented candle burning...I love candles and this one has become my favorites Yankee Canlde - Juicy Grapefruit man does it smell good!! And a
Pier One - Reed Diffuser is great to have sitting around the house too!

2. I love elephants and have them all over my house, when I first saw this table and mirror at the furniture store I had to have them both!!

3. It's very important to me that anyone who comes into my "home" can tell that we live here and it's not a show room! Yes, you can put your feet on the coach and sit on the furniture in the living room and no we don't have plastic on our couches...boy do I remember when my grandma had plastic on her furniture because she did not want it getting dirty! LOL Yea right...that's so crazy to me, ummmm maybe it's just me but we actually live in our house.

4. It's so important to me that my "home" is tidy at all times, just in case someone happens to be in the neighborhood and wants to drop by and say "hello" you know so I don't have to leave them hanging outside the door for 2 minutes while I stuff everything in a closet!! LOL Now that I have a husband and 2 children I've settled for just a little messy!!

5. I love color and have been trying to add a little bit here and there, still haven't gotten up the nerve to paint yet so the walls are all still off white. Dh has been bugging me to paint the living and dining room for the past 6 months but I'm so scared so I've added some colors to my kitchen...hey you gotta start somewhere! LOL

I love buying accents for around the house!

Like these, there's an event held here in Charlotte every year called Juneteenth, we bought these from one of the vendors after I had been tormenting myself for almost 3 months about what to put up on the ledge over the foyer. These were perfect!

And finally just one more thing that makes me love my "home" so much and it's the people in these pictures!! Our family photos hang on a wall right in front of our door so the first thing you see when you into our home is these photos and I love them!!

Adieu!

Blog/Scrap Challenge Week 1

I have been challenged and boy do I need it!!! Nesa has so graciously allowed all of us at The Red Lily to join into her personal blog/scrap challenge with a different topic ever week!

So let's get this party started right, one of my goals for 2007 is the show my blog a lil mo' lovin so this challenge is definitely right up my alley!

Jumpstart: Morning Routine
rise and shine at 6:00 am to get up with Divine so she can get ready for school. I normally set her alarm clock for her so by the time I get upstairs she's already up and in the bathroom. Unless she happens to get up early then I can find her all dressed and ready to go to school, watching tv or reading a book. Making sure she stays on schedule can be a challenge because her bus arrives at 6:45am. So she gets dressed and grooms herself, while she's doing that I'm on the computer checking email and on The Red Lily. Then we head downstairs for breakfast or if she's not feeling breakfast we'll just sit there and chat about some of everything. Her bus arrives right in front of the house which is so cool and I love it....especially in the cooler months! I kiss her and she runs out of the house screaming "I love you mom and tell daddy and brother that I love them too!" I think it's awesome that she never leaves out of the house in the morning without saying she loves us! And I yell back, "I love you too sweetie have a great day!"

Sterl leaves out for work right after Divine has left for school so there are plenty of days when he gets up with Divine and gets her on her bus and off to school.......on those days I get to sleep in for about 30 minutes longer, love those days and him!

After she's gone I run back upstairs for about 15-20 minutes of computer time before I'm off to shower, once out I go back upstairs to wake Sterling II to get him ready for daycare. He's such a sleeper, I always have to kiss him or tickle him to get him up! He goes potty, brushes his teeth and washes his face and then I get him dressed. He eats breakfast as soon as he arrives at the daycare so I don't have to worry about that with him. I let him watch a little bit of Noggin while I finish getting dressed for work.

Then it's time for the mad dash....see I have a state owned vehicle for work and he can't ride in it so I have to drive my car to drop him off at daycare and then come back home and pick up my van for work. Because of the flow of traffic in the mornings if this isn't timed just right I could very well get stuck in traffic and my whole day will be off schedule. After I return from dropping him off at daycare I park my car in the garage and run in the house for a few minutes, 3 to be exact.....that gives me enough time to shut off the computer, fix me a bowl of oatmeal in the microwave and pour and cup of milk. I use the same bowl and cup everyday because I eat my breakfast on my drive to work, I know it's a shame but it is what it is and I don't mind it one bit. Oh yea...I almost forgot, I'm always laughing and listening to The Steve Harvey Morning Show on my drive too!

Well that's my morning routine and it varies, could end up turned upside down.....depending on my kiddos cooperation!!! LOL

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

man 2007 is here already! it seems that 2006 just flew right by...hope 2007 slows down just a little bit!

Our Christmas holiday was awesome, spent a lot of time together as a family and I think it was just what we needed!! Christmas day was so exciting for the kids, on Christmas Eve we went to MacAdenville to see the lights, it's a tradition for us!! Those lights are amazing and so beautiful puts you right into the holiday spirit. The kids had been watching a Santa Tracker all day...THANKS LINDSAY! They were so excited about it and my dd was calling all of our family and friends to hip them on where Santa was arriving next. We baked cookies and once they saw how close Santa was they quickly jumped in bed and was sound asleep, it was so cute!!

They got up that morning about 7am screaming, "Santa was here!!" The dd started asking so many questions like how does Santa "really" fit down the chimney? How much does Santa "really" weigh? and How does Santa keep his red suit so nice and shiney going up & down all those smokey chimney's? It was so funny to see that curious little look on her face!! Then they tore into their presents and we had so much fun playing the games they got, doing baby doll hair and putting together a Thomas train set! Here's a pic of my two kiddos with their favorite gifts.

DD got an American Girl doll which she absolutely loves, got her the matching pj's too!

DS got a batman blow up sleeping tent which I can't keep him out of, we might as well pack his bed up because he's slept in his tent everyday since Christmas!

We got dh a 8 drawer tool chest from Sears he was shocked and had no idea which was awesome because he's so nosey we never can surprise him with anything but we got him this time! I got a few sets of silk pj's, house shoes (which I desperately needed because mine were so ratty), toiletries and gift cards! It was a wondeful day there were smiles and hugs all day long!

I also received my 2nd gift from my secret lily from the mb at The Red Lily!! Doing this SL swap was so much fun!! She knew exactly what I wanted and included ALL of my favs!! And here's all the goodies that CC sent to me!!

*MM Shimmer Kit with Stickers

*Lil Davis Vintage Wood Alphas

*7 Gypsies 97% Certifiable Seal Stamp

*Ranger Acrylic Paint Dabbers

*Lil Davis Glitter Glaze

*HS Ghost Letters

Yummy!!! LUV, LUV, LUV IT ALL........THANKS CC, you da bomb gurl!!

Here's to a lot of blessed and prosperous days in 2007!!! Wishing you all the hope, love, happiness, joy and life that 2007 has to bring!!

Adieu!

Back Again!!

yup and hopefully for good this time!! Let me say a big ole THANKS!! to blogger for beta switching because it has caused a big fat chester cheetah smile on my face! I got so frustrated because I would lose posts and couldn't upload any pics that I just gave up......the blogger tenacity was gone!! But, I'm back now and I was able to edit a few post and upload pics and I'm a happy blogger!! YIPPEE

Man, I'm sitting here drinking a cup of hot cocoa out of my NEW!! fav mug that was sent to my by my Secret Lily from The Red Lily message board. Why is it my fav...hmmmmm let's just say I absolutely LOVE Grey's Anatomy!! Check it out!!!

THANK U, SECRET LILY!!

Yup...yup, I know you're lusting over it right now but IT'S ALL MINE!!! I was so excited when I pulled it out of the box that I immediately poured a cup of eggnog latte that I had from Starbucks into it, kicked back and relaxed....enjoying my piece of Grey's. I was even tempted to run upstairs and watch a past issue of Grey's that I have on DVR!! LOL

Man the weather here was just nasty today, it rained all day, there were so many accidents and a parking lot of traffic on every interstate. I don't envy anyone who was out there wrapping up their holiday shopping in that mess.

But I do have 2 last minute gifts to get tomorrow so I'm so hoping for much better weather!!

So glad to be back blogging!!

adieu!!

Blog Challenge...who me?????

ok well since Nesa is our official blog challenge hostess for this month and I'm stuck in an airport because my flight is delayed I'm gonna do my best to catch up on the blog challenge at The Red Lily I know it's a shame to the blogger world that if I weren't stuck in the airport I probably wouldn't be blogging. BUT, can I defend myself???? I've had so much headache trying to post and upload images that its discouraging to even blog.....what not good enough???? LOL

Anyway, I've gotten the okay from hubby to switch to typepad if I'd like to do that. I would just hate to pay for something that I can get FREE.

MY FAV SUMMER MEMORY

well that's hands down the trip that we took to Chicago this year for the week of Independence Day!! we had such a great time...dude my hubby is from Chicago and we've visited many, many times but i've never seen downtown Chicago before this trip! I mean really see it, taste it and then see it again at night!!! And who can complain about ALL of the good eats in Chi Town??? Some of my favs are:

• Ricobeane..love their italian combo
• Lawrences Fishery...love their FRESH shrimp and catfish nuggets
• Giordanos...love, love, love their deep dish pizza there is NOTHING like it
• Leenora...love their lasagna
• Harold's Chicken....love of course their chicken, gotta try this
• House of Bing......the best chinese food EVER!!! Pepper steak is slammin
• And of course auntie Jean house for the best bbq ribs and potatoe salad

Speaking of auntie Jean she put together the most memoriable bbq this year, there were about 200 family members there. A few of her neighbors allowed us to use their back yards and it was soooo much fun to see everyone. Divine was trippin' because she didn't know she had so many little cousins!!! She kept saying, "mom is this my cousin too!?!?" she loved it and had a great time. Oh did i mention how the ribs melt in your mouth??? I did....OK!! It was such a good time, it's always good to meet family!!!

We also went to the 97th floor of the John Hancock bldg and had dinner, IT WAS AWESOME!!!! A view of the entire city and guess what I got a few points deducted from my scrappers card because I didn't have my camera!!! But, it's a view I'll NEVER forget, just breathtaking!! Oh and the Garretts Popcorn melts in your mouth!!! I bought a tub to take home and let everyone who came to my house get a taste!! We did some shopping at the mall, went to The Bean this thing is something else!!! We took some self portraits....I did have my camera this time!! The Taste of Chicago, well let me just say cheesecake and an India Ire and Anthony Hamilton conert that was off da hook!!! Later, on that night we went to a blues club and closed the place down!!

I had a ball in Chicago, my fav memory this summer.....it was so much fun, can't wait til next year!! We go to Chicago every year during this time of the year!!

Blog Challenge...Gotta Catch Up

First, I must vent.....I am so annoyed with blogger becasue I CANNOT upload any pics!!! It just won't let me, it goes through the motions as if it's uploading and after I click the "done" button.....huh??? what??? the pic isn't there!!! I don't know, I've tried everything I can think of and took the advise from some other bloggers plus I went onto the help group and still can't figure it out. UGH....it's really been discouraging me from attemping to blog at all!!!

OK so enough of that, I'm determined to catch up on a few of the topics from the blog challenge....this is long, "I said I was cathcing up!!"

Wednesday's topic was all about scrapbooking products. Well, I started scrapbooking with CM products and then I wasn't jumping up and down because they were da bomb rather I used them because I thought that CM was the ONLY scrapbooking product company EVER.....I know silly me!! So I'd have to say that I don't like their products but I love their tools. I would recommend their tools to anyone especially newbies to scrapbooking. And let's just say, right now I really HATE stickers!!! Oh and I am on my 4th trimmer...just can't find that perfect trimmer!!! I will say that the 2 Friskars are a bust, they don't cut a straight line at all, no way!! Come to think of it, I also didn't like the wacky tacky tape that I bought. Especially the so called vellum because it wasn't "see through"....you could "see it!" And I hated cutting it to use it!

I am such a tool hoarder....and not that I don't hoard other products because we all know I would be lieing if I even tried to claim that tale but I love tools so whenever a cool tool is introduced I'm all over it! I really can't pick out one fav because I just love my tools....from my punches to my crop-a-dile I just love em!! The best tool I ever purchased was my Wishbade Personal Media Cutter it's AWESOME!!! Initally, I was nervous about making such a big investment but everytime I use it I'm happy that I took the plunge!!

I love all different types of products, just depends on what mood I am in when I buy them & then what mood I'm in when I scrap. I've certainly bought a few products and thought they were da bomb and when I pulled them out to scrap asked myself.....WHY?? And I have some products that I just couldn't live without at the time and then NEVER used them or they sat for months or even a year until I used them. Like, some products that I've bought on QVC, when I purchased the products I thought in my mind all of the wonderful LO's, cards etc. that I would create but there they sat being ignored!!! But, we now have so many different, cool products now that there's such a variety to choose from and they keep coming wtih more and that makes me smile!! Plus, I think I now can recognize what products I'll use and which products I won't use....now that has made a big difference in my spending!!!

Thursday's topic was all about your siblings. Well, I have 2 younger sisters, yup I'm the eldest of 3 and I act like it too!!! I think being the eldest contributes to my need to be a control freak!! LOL no really it does because I have always had to be in charge. But, that's a whole different blog topic...LOL..so one is 27 & the other is 24 years old and I just turned 32.

Honestly, I really don't think I am alot like either of them as a matter of fact I am least like both of them. I believe its mainly because I've experienced a lot more than they have at this point and they are still trying to find themselves. I do love both of them very much but really wish we all had a better sisterly relationship, there are a lot of restraints that keep us from doing things together. Like, we've NEVER been on a trip together...you know just for fun...just sisters hanging out! That's something that I really hope that we get to do one day. I am more close to my sister that's 27 because she lives here in the same city with me. We hang out, she comes over and we just chill sometimes. But my youngest sister & I don't have a close relationship at all. But, we're working on it so I'm praying that it gets better!

Now on to Friday's topic, well there were 2 topic and the one that I chose was: What is your absolute favorite outfit?? Plain & Simple I love to wear a nice pair of "fitted" bootcut jeans with a crisp laundered (did I spell that right?) white shirt and a pair of black boots. That is my all time favorite outfit, I dont' know it just makes me feel sexy, cool, calm and collected! Plus, I have to search & search to find a pair of jeans that are "fitted" and by that I don't mean a pair that I can fit, I mean a pair that fit my waste, hips & thighs perfectly because I am "so bootylicious!!" LOL

man, it's late and I literally have 1 eye open so I'm calling it a night!!!

adieu!!