Cooper County Candles

I don't know if everyone knows that I am a Independent Distributor for the best candle company there is. They really are great candles and I am a huge "candle snob" and have tried them all, so that is saying something. The scents (over 100 of them) are strong and true, meaing that the Lilac really smells like a Lilac bush in bloom.

Anyway, I wanted to announce that our company just released new prouducts. In the bakery line, they added three new pie candles: Strawberry Cream Pie, Chocolate Dream Pie and my favorite, Key Lime Pie. I have the Key Lime Pie in a jar candle and it is to die for! They added a new car freshner scent, Bayleaf and Cloves. We now have melts in Banana Cream Pie and a new foaming hand wash in our signature scent, Sweet Orange and Chili Pepper. I will be placing an order soon!

I offer any of my friends and family a 25% discount for ordering through me. If you are reading this, you are considered "friends and family"! Or if you are interested in having a home party or a book party, let me know.

Lunch Date

I went to lunch today with some friends that I used to work with. Two of them still work for Woodhaven while Hope and I no longer do. It was good to get together and visit. We went to eat at my favorite restaurant, Bob Evans! It was funny...during the meal, Jennifer and Mary were answering pages and having to make phone calls and complaining about work. I looked over at Hope and asked "Do you miss it?" She just shook her head and smiled. I had to laugh because I don't either! Oh, I miss a lot about it but certainly not the pager or having to have my cell phone with me at all times.

Kaelyn Funny

Oh my gosh, Kaelyn just said the funniest thing! She went to Vacation Bible School tonight and seemed to have a great time. When we got home, she was telling me what they did. She started telling me that the class planned to make some food for God. She elaborated that some people do that and angels come down and get the food and take it to Heaven for people to eat. I was a little puzzled, so asked her what kind of food. She answered "spicy burritos!" I burst out laughing and she quickly backtracked and said, "I mean spices. They grind up spices." Oh! That made more sense. But I have to tell you that the image of Jesus and the angels sitting back eating some Taco Bell takeout really, really cracked me up!

Dreams?

Is it strange that I still dream about Woodhaven almost every night?

Dark Knight

Kevin and I saw Dark Knight yesterday afternoon. It was a good movie, maybe even a great movie. The special effects were awesome. The story was good. The acting was very good. And yes, Heath Ledger definitely deserves a posthumous Oscar for his performance as the Joker. But I didn't enjoy the movie. Maybe I am just getting old or maybe this type of movie isn't my cup of tea. But I was ready to walk out of the movie thirty minutes into it. It was so dark...there wasn't anything light about it. It wasn't relaxing to me. Now I realize that not all movies are made to be relaxing, that some are to be thought provoking or educational or just plain funny. But I found this one almost disturbing with it's darkness. It's like there was no HOPE in it at all. I felt the same way with the last movie we saw, I Am Legend. Again, a great movie but it scared the beejezus out of me. I guess I am just a romantic comedy type of girl!

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the Lord. ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope."

This scripture was shared today at a bridal shower I went to. The bride-to-be has been through some dark days and is now facing a bright future. She told us how this passage helped get her through some really bad days.

My life has undergone so much change over the past three months. The job I had, and left, was my life for eleven years. I realize now that since having Kaelyn and later Kate, I had been trying to hard to reprioritize my life and I wasn't succeeding. The job was still coming in first place. I often justified it by telling myself that I was doing "God's work" by helping to care for those that needed help. My work filled my heart with joy and made me feel good about myself for a long time. The only identiy that I felt I had was my job. Leaving this job behind me in April was one of the most difficult things I have had to do in my life. I have had to use these past few months to heal and to get to know myself outside of my job. I used to joke with my co-workers/friends that I could never stay home with my kids. They drove me nuts! But now I realize that this is the most important job I will ever have and it's a one shot deal. Oh, they still drive me nuts some days but it's a good nuts. I feel like a new person these days. I have such a feeling of contentment and serenity.

so, today I reflected on the passage from Jeremiah 29:11 and know that I do have a future filled with hope. God has led me to be right where I am supposed to be.

Potty Training

We have been working on potty training with Kate the past few weeks. She is doing so awesome! She is going in the potty all the time while at home. We haven't been anywhere to try her out away from home so that will be next. I am still putting pull-ups on her at nap time and bed time though. She is so cute, after she goes, she runs out of the bathroom, singing "I went! I went! I went!" and doing a little dance. She usually goes in there without telling us but sure lets us know afterwards. Of course, we all make a big deal about it and clap with her. Kaelyn had a friend over the other day and you should have seen her face when she looked in the little potty bowl that Kate brought to the living room to show everyone. It was filled with little poops! Her eyes got big, she much have thought we were all crazy. Yes, I am a proud mama! I have been doing diapers since April 2003...over five years now. I won't know what to do with myself.

And thanks to the benevolence of my parents, I have a date with my husband today. Kevin had a job from 1 to 3 pm today, and then a break until 6 pm, when he has to be at his other job. I am going to meet him at the movie theater where Dark Knight starts at 3:10! I havn't been to a movie in ages and have been looking forward to seeing this one. I took a shower, put on make-up and am dressed up. Kaelyn and her friend came downstairs and Kaelyn stopped and said "Ooh! Look at my mom!" She makes me smile.

And that's all for now. I'll post a movie reveiw later tonight!

???

It's been a really uneventful week. So uneventful that I can't even think of something to write about.

Madison County

I found my old copy of Bridges of Madison County on my bookshelf when we were painting our bedroom. I set it aside to read when I got the chance. Ever since our trip through Iowa in May, I have been wanting to reread this book.

I got the chance yesterday and read the entire book (it's a short book). I was again swept away in the romance and beauty of this book. It's such an amazing love story and this time, while reading, I could picture the places described in my head. Set near Winterset, Iowa, which is a charming little town. I would have loved to have had more time to explore. Now I am going to have to rent the DVD and rewatch that!

Here are a couple of the pictures we took while at Roseman Bridge in Madison County.

My New Feather Duster

It's been a really good week. I feel like I have gotten a few things accomplished. I am really proud of my house! I have been keeping up with the cleaning, picking up, dishes and laundry. I even managed to get a few extra jobs done like straightening my closet and washing mini blinds. I am so proud of myself that I rewarded myself with some Fly Lady tools. I got them in the mail today. I never thought I would be so excited to receive a feather duster!

I also got a timer to use because the Fly Lady motto is "You can do anything for 15 minutes!" This works great with Kaelyn. We do 5 minute room pickups by setting the timer and racing against the clock. Of course we have to do this after Kate is in bed because she tears it out as quick as we put it up.

I love our home and I am filled with such happiness to see it at it's best. It had really gotten away from me this past year. I was always so tired after work and getting the kids settled in for the night that housework came last or often not at all. Oh, we did what we had to do but usually that would have to spend all day Saturday or Sunday just cleaning. I was grouchy, Kevin was grouchy...it wasn't good. Things are so much better now. I feel such a peace and want to be at home. Life is good!

Sisters

I was sitting here at the computer, watching last night's episode of Big Brother because we aren't getting our local CBS right now. I realized that it was pretty quiet in my house. Quiet is unusual with two girls. There is always some drama, or a need that only I can meet. I peek into the living room and this is what I see:

They were acutally laying on the couch TOGETHER and not arguing! I realize that the arguing is only going to get worse, and that some days it will seem like they never stop. That is why I plan to cherish all of these moments that I can. The moments where Kaelyn comments that Kate has such a beautiful smile. Or the moments when Kate runs across the room and throws her arms around Kaelyn...all of the moments when it appears that they understand when I tell them that a sister is a best friend for life.

Letter

Subject: Letter
To: YOU
Date: TODAY
From: GOD
Subject: YOURSELF
Reference: LIFE

This is God. Today I will be handling All of your problems for you. I do Not need your help. So, have a nice day.
I love you.


P.S. And, remember...If life happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do Not attempt to resolve it yourself! Kindly put it in the SFGTD (something for God to do) box. I will get to it in MY TIME. All situations will be resolved, but in My time, not yours.

Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold onto it by worrying about it. Instead, focus on all the wonderful things that are present in your life now.

**I got this as a forward today and had to share it. So simple and so true.

Domestic Goddess

That's me! A domestic goddess! Here is a picture of a homemade Key Lime Pie that I made today. Except our little part of the world doesn't carry Key Limes so I had to use Persian Limes. And the graham cracker crust was homemade by the Keebler Elves. And from my internet research, Key Lime Pie really shouldn't have any topping, but I love merangue so mine does. It sure looks pretty, doesn't it? And it tastes pretty good too!

And here is a picture of a hydrangea that I grew myself, in my very own yard. I can't post a picture of my actual flower gardens because I need to weed really bad, and it's been too hot to do that.

I have been trying to keep my house neat and tidy with the advice of The FlyLady (www.flylady.net). She emails out daily missions/reminders of ways to take care of your home and yourself. The FLY in Fly Lady stands for Finally Loving Yourself!

The Fair

This week has been busy with our town fair. Our town has a population of around 200 people but the fair is a really nice one and draws a good crowd. The fair comes for four days and by the following Sunday (today!) we are all ready for it to be gone and for life to return to normal. Everyone had a great time though and here are some pictures of the week.

Thursday night was the PetParade. We entered Bella as the Great White Bark and the hermit crabby family representing our theme of "Life's a Beach".


Kaelyn and Kate riding the cars.

Kevin and Kaelyn on the big slide.

Kate had the most fun with these two inflatable unicorns that they won on the duck pond.

Extreme Master Bedroom Makeover!

Sorry, I have been taking a little hiatus from blogging our trip. I was busy putting my house back together. Here are some before and after pictuers of the Extreme Master Bedroom Makeover!!!

The BEFORE pictures of our bedroom and foyer:



And here are the AFTER:

Vacation Day Five

Tuesday morning, we woke to heavy rain clouds over the gulf. Rain was not on our agenda for our vacation! Christy had run to Walmart for donuts and our favorite coffee, Cinnamon Swirl with Cinnamom Vanilla creamer. I think the only time I drink coffee is with her!

We sat on the balcony and watched the clouds and the waves and drank our coffee. We discussed how to plan our day while Kevin slept in.

Here are some pictures we took that morning



We decided to go look around Galveston's various historic disctricts and the Strand and hope that they rain would pass by afternoon so we could swim. We pulled Kevin out of bed and headed out. The girls only wanted to swim so we had to pacify them with descriptions of the hermit crabs they wanted to buy.

Here we are in front of one of the best Souvenir shops I have ever been to

Kevin and Kaelyn walking down the Seawall. This boulevard and walk-way runs the entire length of Galveston Island. It is so pretty to drive it and walk it.

Another view from the Seawall

Galveston is gorgeous. Of course, I am a sucker for historical homes and great architecture so this was right up my ally. Here are only a few of the pictures I took while touring the Island. Special thanks to Eddie for driving around and getting out in the rain so I could see the giant homes.




The Bishop's Palace






Let's see, what else did we do? We had lunch at a place called Yada's, rode the trolley, shopped the Strand, went to a few antique stores. The girls were really patient and on their best behavior. Christy's knee was hurting her so I really appreciate that she made the trip with us. Later I went to Galveston Bookstore and bought some books on the history of the Island. Fascinating!




By this time, the clouds had mostly passed and the girls were more than ready to SWIM!

The day ended with a trip to Ben and Jerry's for ice cream and then Kaelyn and I took a late night walk on the beach. Whew! No wonder I was tired!

Vacation Day Four

Monday morning dawned with preparations to head to Galveston. We repacked the car, for the fourth time, and headed out after breakfast (biscuits and gravy!) We had to take two cars as ours was packed so we followed Grandma and Poppy.

I have been to Galveston a few times. The first time was my very first visit to Texas to meet Christy and Eddie. Kevin and I had been married about six weeks and I had yet to meet his Mom! I was so nervous. But that's another story for another day.

The quick visits we had made to Galveston had wet my appetite for a longer stay. After hours of searching on the web, I booked a condo for two nights. It is so hard to pick a place to stay, in an area where you aren't familiar, over the internet! Now I am not really picky and will make the best of any situation, but I was anxious that we had Christy and Eddie going with us. What if it was a total dump? Or as Eddie said, a flea motel? So, first thing we did was drive by the condos and check if we could check in. We were a little early but were able to check in with no problem.

We stayed at Seascape, a little ways down on Seawall Boulevard, but worth it as the buildings sat right on the beach. I was so happy with out condo. It was so cute and very clean. We had a great view of the swimming pool and the Gulf of Mexico from our balcony. Kate got so excited to see the "water" that she immediately stripped her clothes off and grabbed an innertube. We wamted a quick lunch first, and she was NOT happy to get dressed and leave the water. She screamed all the way to Whataburger but once there became my happy little monkey again.

After lunch we returned to the condo and got ready to head to the beach. It was a fantastic afternoon. The water was so warm, we swam and played in the sand. Kaelyn tried to build a sand castle while Kevin searched for shells. Kate just carried around her green innertube. After a few hours, we left there and took a quick dip in the pool. They had a sixteen inch wading pool for kids and we spend the majority of the time there.

Back in the room, Kevin and I jumped at the offer of babysitting services from Grandma and Poppy. We cleaned up and went to the Fisherman's Wharf for dinner. We sat on the patio and watched the sunset and had a great meal. It was so relaxing and perfect. When we got back home, we checked in on the family, and everyone was asleep so we went for a walk on the beach. We rolled up our pants and waded as we walked and had a chance to really talk. It was very special. And that was our day...absolutly wonderful!

Kate ready to head out to the water...except she forgot her bathing suit!


The view of the Gulf from our balcony.


Playing in the water


Kevin searching for shells and Grandma


Building sandcastles


The girls relaxing, watching cartoons, after spending the day in the sun


Kaelyn gets the top bunk


Kate gets the bottom


The sunset over Galveston Bay


The tall ship Elissa next to the Fisherman's Wharf