Beautiful Monday!

For Today:

Outside My Window: It's still dark....and very quiet.

I am thinking: I love this time of morning, and really don't want Rob's work schedule to change. They might go to 12 hour shifts and start later. That means he wouldn't get home till after 7 every night probably. Yuk!!! But, we'll deal with whatever comes as long as he has a job, I shouldn't complain!

I am thankful for: The wonderful services at Church yesterday. The fun I had with Rob this weekend. Friday we just ran errands and shopped all day, and had a little date at El Napol before going to Ollies, one of our favorite stores!!!! Rob did drag around that 55 pound heater for me until I found a place cheap enough to ship it. He's so sweet, he never complained!! Saturday we went to yard sales, then came home and worked around the house. Rob just amazes me with his talent to fix anything he sets his mind to. We wanted a yard light pole to match our new outside lights. They didn't make one that matched, so he bought another fancy light pole set, took the lights off of it, and is making our own! Now that's awesome. Who would think to do such a thing? My hubby, that's who!!!!!!

I'm also thankful for the new mailbox we found a Ollies. It's copper and HUGE!!! Great for eBay shipments! Well, wouldn't work for all the shipments I have today (Praise God for em!!!), but I could get 5-6 pairs of jeans in there easy!!!!!!!

From the Kitchen: Something in the Crock-Pot. Gotta go to the garage and see what I have. I hope to make cupcakes today, but I have to work work work, so don't hold me to that family!!!!!

I am hoping: To get this bucket of winter clothes listed in the next couple of days, so I can go back to JUST jeans!!!!

I am reading: NightLine Devotions for couples, Through the Bible in a Year, that's all today.

I am creating: A strategy for balancing eBay work and housework with family & hubby time!

I am praying: For a special family who's struggling with several issues right now.

I am hearing: Me sipping coffee, otherwise....ahhh, SILENCE

One of my favorite things: My new mailbox of course. Yep, i get excited over a mailbox. It's beautiful!!!!!!

Around the house: Things are still pretty clean because most of my buckets on inventory are still outside. Laundry is caught up, dishes are caught up (well, there ARE clean dishes in the dishwasher, but Mommy will take care of that when she gets here). She's sooo good to me!!!

A few plans for the rest of the week: Take Rebs to the vet one day, can't do it by myself so I have to see when Bobby is off. Could that be it? No other plans for the week? Yay, maybe things will be easy this week!!

Marriage Enrichment idea: 12 ways to improve your marriage:

Be honest, but in a loving way.

Support one another's goals and achievements. Celebrate your spouses accomplishments!

Love and Respect each other. A woman's greatest need is unconditional love from her husband. A man's greatest need is respect from his wife.

Take time to share dreams and goals on a regular basis with your spouse. Don't shoot down your spouses ideas. How boring would life be if you didn't have dreams and goals!!!

Consider daily dialogue as a means of improving your communication. Spend 10-20 minutes a days just talking with your spouse without interruption.

Laugh together at least once a day. The couple that plays together......

Fight fair. Don't say "You always...." or You never...". Say "I feel____when you...

Stick to the facts and don't belittle your spouse during an argument.

Be willing to forgive. Be more willing to ASK for forgiveness!

Remember kindness towards each other is a great gift.

Share your daily expectations.

Make decisions about finances, disciplining the children, chores, vacations, etc., together.

Take time to be alone together working on your intimacy. Schedule dates or romantic getaways.

Here is the picture I am sharing:

The blog button at the top of this page! Every time something crazy happens, my family says "You're not gonna put that in your blog are you?" Haha, everybody is afraid of making the blog!!!!!!!!

Rob working on the Camper! (Yea, I was vegging on the sofa and snapping pictures out the window while he was hard at work!)



And this picture just cracks me up! When Sarah used to wear leg braces, PaPa Jr. would walk her around the house. Her favorite thing back then: Going to the bathroom and "Pretending" to throw up! She's ALWAYS been CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!! That's my Sarah!!!!!

Have a great week everybody! Remember, do something nice for somebody in need! YOU will be blessed :-D

Are you Thankful???

Woohoo, it's Thankful Thursday!! Where do I start?

I'm so thankful that everybody seems to be on the mend in this house! Sarah's cold is gone, Rob's is too I think, Bobby's cold is getting there, and mine never got the best of me, Praise the Lord!!!! Sarah's pressure sore is looking much better, I just pray that this bleach solution we're using doesn't start eating away at the good parts! I'm a little leary about putting bleach into my baby girls innards, that's just bizarre!! But hey, if it works, I'm good with bizarre :-)

I'm thankful for the flowers Rob gave me last week, that still look so pretty, they just smell like diarrhea. I've changed the water and even put bleach in it (hey, if it's good for Sarah...), but they still smell.

I'm thankful for the beautiful card my hubby left me this morning that says I have the key to his heart. You are so romantical Rob, I love you so much & I'm so glad you're mine too!!!!!

Gag, Puke, Gross....ok, enough talk about my man. Let me just tell him real quick, since he reads this at work: Guess what Babe, I'm up to Song of Soloman in the through the Bible a year now!! Read THAT with your spouse people, it's an awesome love story ;-)

I'm thankful for the heater I sold for $200 on eBay. Now, if I could get it shipped, I'd be doing great! Got 3 more to go, hope to get rid of them soon. They take up too much room in the garage! I'm thankful for Bobby who helped us get the heaters at such a huge discount. That's the good thing about my boy working at Wal-Mart, lol!!!!!

I'm thankful that Amanda and Stephen are coming over for dinner tonight. Can't wait to get to know him better! We're so thankful for his service to our country and happy he's back home safe and sound and able to enjoy some Lasagna. He's been wanting it so bad, I just hope he likes mine. That would be messed up if he didn't, haha!

I'm thankful for my Mommy, who helped me move tons of buckets and suitcases out of the house yesterday, so things won't look toooooo bad for my company tonight. There's still plenty of them left in here. My bigger buckets have 100 pairs of jeans each in them. They're a LITTLE too heavy to move around!!!!

I'm thankful for the time I got to spend with Dreama at Shoney's Tuesday. We don't see each other often enough, so when we do get together, look out! I don't think the waitresses like the fact that we sit there for hours just talking, but.....

I'm thankful for the girl at Shoney's who gave me two bags of coffee when I told her how much Rob liked their coffee. She also ordered me some bigger bags. That was VERY nice. Can't remember her name, but she was a great waitress!! I'm enjoying that Old Mansion coffee right now, yummy!!

I'm so thankful that the Lord has restored my health and I'm able to do everything that I do these days. God is faithful in the little AND big things, and he proves it more every day! I want to serve Him with everything I have within me. He's blessed me in so many way that I could never repay, but I can pass on the good news that Jesus heals...bodies, hearts, minds, whatever hurts so bad you think you think there's no hope....God can and will restore!!! I'm living proof :-D (Hold on while I do my little Happy Glory Shoutin dance right here in the living room)

Well, I better go for now. I have a delicious little Angel Food and Fruit Trifle to make for tonight, and some laundry to do. I'll do it with a song in my heart and praise on my lips, cause that's how I roll (today anyway, lol) since I'm feeling very Thankful on this Thankful Thursday!!

Be Blessed! Share a smile with somebody today why don't cha?

Blessed be the Lord, for He has shown me his marvelous kindness....Psalms 31:21

I'm blessed!

For Today:

Outside My Window: There's a gorgeous pink and yellow sunrise! Wish I could see it from my living room window every morning instead of having to go outside to view!!

I am thinking: I am blessed, and happy, and content.

I am thankful for: A lot of time this weekend to catch up on housework. No eBay all weekend except for yard sales Saturday morning, and buying something special on there for my Daddy and Rob!! A great cupcake date with my hubby last night. Who says dates have to be expensive? A little Food Lion, a little cupcake, a little laughter, and lot of love and affection! It's all good :-)

From the Kitchen: Don't really know yet, but something good that makes leftovers. Rob's working 12 hours all week, and I need a good substantial lunch for my man!

I am hoping: God knows what I'm hoping, even if I can't talk about it. But God is faithful, and I have lots of faith, and it's gonna be alright!

I am reading: Same great devotionals and through the Bible in a year. Now it talks to me, so I can listen instead of read. That's kinda cool, but a little distracting.

I am creating: Surprise, another eBay strategy. No work at all on the weekends. It worked out pretty good this weekend. I need that time for housework and time with my hubby! And, my mommy will be happy she doesn't have so much laundry to do on Monday mornings!!!!!

I am praying: For Bobby to find a job with insurance. For our Church. For Sarah to be healed and able to go back to work. For Rob to have strength this week working 12 hour days.

I am hearing: Nothing. Bobby just went back to bed after going outside to see Katybug. Everything is sooo quiet except for the occasional car going down the street.

One of my favorite things: The flowers Rob brought me last week! I finally got the dining room table cleaned off, and they still look so pretty sitting there!

Around the house: Well, gotta finish cleaning. The kitchen and dining room are great. The den is full of suitcases that need to be listed, but I think I'll take them out and bring in one at a time until I get them done. Yes, I've used up every storage container I have, and have moved on the the two sets of luggage that were up in the attic! Sooooo, there are 5 suitcases full of stuff in here!!!! The living room was free of containers for about a day. Then I started filling it back up. It's the only place I have to put the great big containers of jeans!

A few plans for the rest of the week: Wal-Mart this morning. Shoney's with Dreama one day I hope. Amanda and Stephen are coming over Thursday for Lasagne! That's about all right now.

Marriage Enrichment idea: Purpose for one week to do something nice and unexpected for your spouse every day. A kind and encouraging word, and chore without asking, bring her flowers or give him a backrub. Try turning off the TV and spend at least 20 minutes a day of uninterupted time with your spouse. At breakfast, after dinner, before bedtime, whenever you can work it in. But it takes commitment, everybody is so busy these days. I thank God that we don't watch a lot of TV anymore. When you go to bed at 8:30, there's not a lot of time to watch anyway, lol!! But think about this, is my favorite show more important that nurturing my relationship with my spouse? I hope you didn't answer yes to that question!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is the picture I am sharing: My kitty Mitzi! She's hilarious. Anybody who's ever been to my house knows that you can't pet Mitzi. She just won't allow it. Well, expect for Katybugs brother DJ. For some reason, she just loves him and he can do what nobody else has ever been able to!! BUT.... put a cat brush in your hand and she's all yours! She LOVES to be brushed. She'll come to anybody as long as you have her brush, but put it down and she's outta there!!!
She loves her brush so much that she brushes herself all the time. Here she is, that crazy, self-grooming cat, lol!!!!

Today is Monday. Monday. Monday. What am I thinking: WAKE UP & LOOK AROUND you crazy lady. There is soooo much to do. Why are you sitting at this computer? Ok, gotta blog, then I'm gonna get busy. My mommy is just gonna die when she gets here. I put as many dishes in the dishwasher as would fit, but there's still a sink full. I don't understand. I didn't cook all weekend. Where in the world did they come from? Haven't washed clothes all weekend either, and for me that means mountains of laundry in the laundry room, Bobby's room, my room, they're everywhere!!

I have to go pick Sarah up in a few minutes from Hopewell, but what's the point? She can't get through the front door anyway, there's not a clear path for her in this house. Yes, I aggagerate a tiny bit, but it doesn't matter anyway. If it's in her way and she can't move it, she just runs over it! Ask the dog. Or her retainers, or Bobby, lol!!

Today is not Thankful Thursday but guess what? I'm thankful anyway! Thankful for the little trip we got to take to the river yesterday! Thankful for the "Ice Cream" date on the way down!
Thankful Mommy provided dinner for us since we didn't think that far ahead! Thankful the coffee kept us awake on the way home! Thankful for all the ebay sales this week. Sold jeans for $50, $40, $20. Not too bad for $10 investment! Thankful for all the other sales and inventory I found this week!

Today I would love to be the domestic diva. Nice dinner on the table when hubby gets home. House sparkling clean. Dressed to the nines with make-up and high heels. But I'm gonna come on out of that dream world and be real. I'll be scrambling to put something in the microwave at 4:45 while up to my elbows in stuff to post and I already have my dinner attire on: old jeans, old (thrift store!!) t-shirt and lovely plastic shoes. I'm feeling a little like Cinderella today :-)

Ok, OK...you are not going to believe this! I'm still shaking like a leaf.....I get in the car to go pick Sarah up from Hopewell. It's 8:15 am and the windows are still a little foggy so I didn't notice right away....

Driving down Reformatory Road, and I hear a little clicking noise, and I see something moving at the bottom of my windshield. I take a closer look: it's furry!!!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh, there's a cat in my motor, and the paws are sticking out of the top of the hood! The clicking is the claws hitting the windshield I suppose! I keep looking while trying to stay on the road. They are not moving, except for the fur blowing in the wind. Oh Lord, I've killed a cat!!! He's light gray. So pretty. I think I'm going to throw up. What am I going to do? I can't open that hood and get that cat out! When my cat got into my Mommy's car motor and she (accidently!) killed it, she stopped on the side of the road and some man helped her take it to the vet. She was chopped up pretty good. I don't want to see that! I'm NOT getting this cat out by myself.

I call Sarah. "Sarah, I'm coming to get you and we're going straight to the Fire Dept. They deal with this sort of thing. I can't wait till Rob gets off work. I won't do that to him! So I get to Grandmothers house, park the car, and look up into the windshield. I still can't see anything but paws, and I'm getting sicker to my stomach just thinking about getting out of the van. So I finally get out, walk around to the front and take a closer look......................

Somebody will PAY for this little stunt!!!!!!!!! There, on my windshield, is this:









I don't know what these are, I don't know who put them there, I don't know why they didn't blow off in the wind. All I know is I just about fainted, threw up, had a wreck, had a heart attack....FOR NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I'm glad I didn't really kill a cat, but somebody (Bobby?) just about killed me this morning. I think I need a Valium after this one!

Well, not much to say after that, I'm pretty much speechless. So I guess I'll go for today. Just a couple more things I'm thankful for first: A strong heart and forgiveness. Cause somebody would surely pay for this otherwise, lol!!!!!

God Bless you and have a great (and stress free!) Day!!!!!

In Loving Memory: Jacob Harris

I know today is supposed to be Thankful Thursday, and I am very thankful for the blessings in my life. I'm just still so sad about Jacobs death, and how it affects so many young lives.

For those of you who don't know, Bobby's best friend was killed in a car wreck Thursday night. It still doesn't seem real. I can't imagine losing my best friend, and my heart hurts for him so bad. I remember the day Sarah got the email that her good friend from Woodrow had died unexpectedly, and the pain that she went through dealing with that. No mother wants to see their child hurting that way, but I know we all go through it at some point.

I still can't believe that we won't see Jacob standing in our living room, or sitting out in his car in front of the house, or hear Bobby talking on the phone with him all the time. Life will go on though, and things will get better. Memories get sweeter and less painful with time. But it's ok to cry and mourn the passing of someone so special to you Bobby. It takes time to get over something so horrible, and we're here for you whenever you need us!!

I really just can't find any more words to write today, so I'll leave you with a memorial of Jacob. Some are Bobby's senior pictures that included Jacob, some are pictures from Jacobs Myspace page, and some are off the video memorial that someone posted online.

We love you and miss you Jacob.

I love this picture of them playing aroundThey loved their trucks!

Jacobs "serious" pose, lol

I had to include this picture because Jacob took it!

Just one week before he died, they spent the week at Hatteras

Bobby and Katybug: His friends wore red to the viewing in honor of his favorite color

Roadside memorial

There were tons of cars like this

Gone but never forgotten.......

Thankful Thursday

Today is Thankful Thursday, and as seems to have been the case lately, I'm so rushed this morning that I have to make this short!

I'm thankful for the 4 1/2 day weekend I'm leaving for today. Didn't realize until last night that we would be going to the river for that long, so I have a TON of stuff to do to get ready before Rob gets home at 5.

I'm soooo thankful my Mommy is back from the river! I've done her job and mine this week, and it's exhausting! Imagine, I've had to wash my own clothes, do my own dishes, put up with Sarah's PMS......don't you feel sorry for me, lol?????????? I really am thankful for all the help she gives me.

I'm thankful for all the work I got done on eBay in spite of her not being here this week! I got TONS of jeans listed and old winter stock transferred over. It's been a good week work and sales wise!!

I'm thankful for my new living room window! We're one step closer to finishing the front of the house! Yay!!!! I love you baby and appreciate all your hard work!!!!

I'm thankful that I can read God's word on my computer every day! Honestly!!!! I've tried reading all the way through the Bible so many times, and always gave up. But because I'm on the computer every day, it's been so easy this time! It's September and I'm still reading! I never made it past the end of February before.

I'm thankful that Donnie and Ruby are coming back from vacation soon! Facebook has been dead without Donnie, although Lonnie is doing a pretty good job of taking his place and commenting on all our posts, lol!!!!!

I'm thankful that between my mom and Rob's mom, Sarah has a place to go when she doesn't want to go to the river with us. We would be lost without them!!!!

I'm thankful that Bobby has his car up for sale. Please Lord, don't let him buy anything else. One vehicle is plenty for a 19 year old without a full time job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm thankful for ALL of my family and friends. I pray that you have a fun and safe holiday! Remember us as we slave at our river place. Ok, well...Rob will be slaving over fixing the roof, I'll be relaxing and keeping him fed, lol!!!!!

He that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat. Proverbs 28:25

......I knew there was a good reason, lol!!!!