Gratitude

Friends By: Liz Lemon Swindle

I am SO THANKFUL for the love of a kind Heavenly Father.

I am SO GRATEFUL for a Savior that knows and loves me.

I am SO BLESSED to have the knowledge of the

Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life.

I am SO HONORED to be a wife and mother.

My heart is full of GRATITUDE.

Happy Thanksgiving

A message of Thanksgiving

16 Candles (for the last time)

Sixteen years ago today my baby was born:)

He was my biggest, baldest baby and he stole my heart the moment I saw him.

He is now my tallest and thinest baby with the best hair in the family!

He still owns my heart and his big brown eyes still make me melt!

Justin was a "surprise" we were done after Josh, we thought!

I can not even imagine life without him, he has made our family complete

and I will be forever grateful for our amazing surprise gift:)

Happy 16th Birthday Justin, We love you tons:):)

Hilary Weeks

I love Christmas music, I pretty much will listen to it all year!

This year Hilary Weeks has a new CD out to add to the collection:)

She has such a beautiful voice, check it out HERE!

And see how you can win one HERE.

GOOD LUCK:)

Distressed

I have always loved the thought of seeing things through the eyes of a child. Kids have an incredible way of seeing things differently than adults do, mostly they are just plain pure and blunt about what they see. Even though my kids are getting older they still have the ability to see things so differently than Joe and I may. One such occasion with Justin recently illustrated this point!

Everyone has been effected in one way or another by the state of the economy that the world is in right now, we are no different. In an attempt to find ways to cut back and keep our business in the black Joe and I have been working non stop to cut costs. One such way of doing this has been to have me take over all the accounting and office management. Knowing that I would be working full time from home and needing an office to do so in, I set out to make a nice little office space in Kate's room. I searched high and low for a desk that would meet all the important criteria of setting up an office in this space. Along with the typical office paraphernalia I had to find a desk and this desk had to be of a certain color, shape, and size and most importantly it had to be the right price! After days and days of searching I came across one that I thought would work perfectly!

This was actually a piece of furniture that had three drawers for all the office goodies and the color went perfectly with paintings that hang in the room. The only thing that I would have to change were the ugly handles, not a problem, a quick trip to Anthropologie and I had three drawer pulls that made this piece perfect!

As you can tell from the picture, part of the charm of this piece is that it is distressed, as are a lot of the pieces of furniture in our home. I figure one way or another every piece of furniture is going to get a bump or scratch so buying it distressed just makes the ones to come just a bit of added character.

I have had the "office" decorated and in full operation for about two and half months now and it is working out great, so much so that I have found the boys taking over my office when I am not using it.

After one such occasion I went into the office to begin another day of fun accounting work to which I was greeted by a smiley face, a smiley face CARVED into my new perfectly colored, perfectly sized, distressed piece of furniture-UGH!!!

I set out to find the culprit that would be so bold as to carve into my new furniture, I didn't have to look very far. After getting the NOOOOO I didn't do that from Josh I moved onto Justin, when I asked if he did it he shyly said yes to which I told him I was proud that he was honest with me. Next came the most obvious question, WHY would you carve into the desk? He sheepishly looked at me and said " I was bored and the thing is a piece of junk anyway, it already has scratches and marks on it" picking my jaw up from the floor I then asked if he knew what "distressed" meant and why in the world would I buy a piece of junk for the office? "because your so cheap mom"!!!

He knows me to well, UUUGGGHHHH:):):)

Carded

Every occasion is different, will Joe buy me a card or will the kids end up

making me one because he either did not have the time (or the desire)

to pour over cards for an hour trying to find the perfect one?

Honestly I really do not mind, as a matter of fact some of my favorite

cards ever are the ones made by the kids at home at the last minute.

I do how ever keep EVERY card that I get

(yes even the ones from YOU!!!:)

So you can probably imagine that I look forward to the card

selection at each special occasion with as much anticipation

as the gifts themselves. This year for my birthday Joe picked

a winner, I laughed until I cried because it is sooo

cute and such a " me " card!

Front:

Inside:

Although my gifts were very thoughtful and great

(lots of goodies for my new camera:)

It was this card (and the words written by my boys)

that was truly the best gift of all! The only thing that

would have made it better is if Kate would have been here to sign it too!

ALREADY???

Can this be possible? Josh is going into his

senior year and turning 18 in August!

These are some of the senior pictures taken for the yearbook.

He's not a little boy anymore :(

Where has the time gone?

Cool Blue

When the sun is like this......

I am so grateful for this......:)

AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!

If you can't stand the heat.......

Oppressive:

1 : unreasonably burdensome or severe

2 : tyrannical

3 : overwhelming or depressing to the spirit or senses oppressive climate>

(Merriam-Webster)

4 : FLORIDA

Tampa Fl. Weather:

95°F Feels Like 106°F W/ 92% Humidity

courtesy of The Weather.com

UGH! This has been going on for at least four days in a row!

And we are in for more of the same!

How can anyone say they love Florida?

Photo of heat stricken raccoon here.

Jackpot!

I, being the kind and loving wife that I am :)

encouraged my dear hubby to take a trip. You see

his friend was leaving for a conference that he had

to speak at in Vegas and was having to go alone for 7

long days. For at least two weeks prior to leaving, Mark

would call, text and badger Joe to come with him so he

would not have to be there alone. Knowing that my dear

hubby has been so stressed, I figured he needed a

break; and since Mark was paying for the hotel and

car I figured I would be the supportive wife and send

him packing on his merry way to hang out with his

buddy for a few days of R&R.

(Of course there were rules applied !!)

What I didn't know until the night before he left was

that they were staying at the Bellagio.

Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Now for my boys this was cool because they are

HUGE Ocean 11 (12&13) fans. For me I was YES!

The toiletries are going to be AWESOME!!!

I helped him pack his bags, got the schedule to take

over at work while he was gone and got the times to

pick him up at the airport. While preparing him to leave

I handed my dear hubby a Ziploc bag (gallon sized)

and said" fill it up baby and don't come home

until you can't close it!"

When it comes to hotel toiletries, I mean business!

We have a tradition in our family that when

anyone leaves on a trip they have to bring back

something for everyone. It can't be a cheap cheesy

souvenir it has to be something well thought out

for each particular person. Joe went to task and

looked hard and long for the boys, he scored big

for them bringing back a red Ferrari hat for

Justin and a black Lamborghini t-shirt for Josh.

They are both exotic car freaks and loved their gifts.

(I loved the fact Joe got them on sale:)

He was stressing out over the phone the night before

he was coming home because he had not found anything

for me yet. "All I want is you home safe and the booty

of toiletries I sent you for." I so lovingly said.

He finally got home from a long day of flying

(standby because he missed his flight:)

and opened his luggage to hand me my treasure..... JACKPOT!!!

all the bottles of shampoo, conditioner, mouthwash, on

and on it came, down to the loofah sponges

and bath salts! Oh my heart is a flutter just

thinking about it!!! How can a little bottle of lotion

make me so weak in the knees? Oh the joy

a tiny box of hotel soap can bring!

I am not ashamed that I stalk the maids cart when

I go on vacation, I am not ashamed that I take a bag just

for the bounty of mini mouthwashes and sewing kits

I can stash, I do not hide my face when housekeeping

comes to the door with more

(because I called them up requesting it).

I am not embarrassed that I have trained

my hubby to do my dirty work for me.

(OK maybe just a little)

I stand tall knowing that when and if the Lord calls on

me to trek across the plains I will stand ready and

prepared because I will be

armed with my many, mini bottles of toiletries!

I may pass out somewhere along the way

from a lack of food but by golly I will have clean

hair, fresh breath and my body will be

smelling of peaches and cream french milled soap!

Thank you sweetie!!!

Side note: If you are ever inclined to be gift me

for what ever occasion: I give you permission to "cartjack"

the maid at your local 4 star hotel

(I have standards you know :)

put the booty in a Ziploc and wrap it with a bow.

I will be your loyal friend for life:):)

(Just don't hurt the maid and remember

to leave her a tip please:)

(Picture of Bellagio found here)

Marseilles Dress SHABBY APPLE GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Marseilles Dress SHABBY APPLE GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Is it sad

What does it say about a woman who delights in

saving a dollar finding deals instead of spending big?

When you look into the soul of a woman that ENJOYS

meandering through the aisles at COSTCO

and almost every employee knows her name

and she theirs, what do you see?

Is it sad when the coupon book

from COSTCO is greeted with anticipated delight?

Is it odd that for her, joy can be found while

scanning the brightly colored bounty that a

BRAND NEW CRATE & BARREL

has to offer and being thrilled

beyond belief to find what you want at 75% off?

When you look into the psyche of such a lady what do you see?

This is what I see;

A happy woman that is content with

the little things in life. A woman that

knows that EVERYONE wants to feel important so

just saying HI and remembering a persons

name is the least you can do. A woman that gets a thrill

packing her car full of large packages of paper

towels, toilet paper and cheese.

And a woman that just scored major at one

of her favorite places to shop!

Life is GOOD:)

Fish Sticks

It was one year ago this week that we sent our

 oldest off for college.  She left us willingly and eager to 

begin her life of freedom and has by all accounts 

been drinking up every moment of the "good life". 

The time has FLOWN BY!

I am without a doubt very happy that Kate has 

found joy in her new life and has moved on with

 relative ease. I am however not so thrilled that this 

time in life has come upon me so fast! I can remember

 sitting my little ones around the kitchen table with

 small plastic plates holding the quintessential kids food-

 fish sticks and small cups of milk with lids

 (a must with Josh:). I would sit exhausted from a busy

 morning watching as they would use their chubby little

 hands to shove their tiny mouths full of the beloved meal. 

It seems so long ago and yet like it was yesterday! So many 

years, so much frustration and so much joy! Hours of no 

sleep and hours of soothing a little one! Days of endless 

cleaning and days of endless diapers! Comforting, teaching, 

driving, cheering, cleaning, cooking, countless hours of endless 

worry, years of unconditional love. As I plate fish sticks for 

lunch for two grown young men, it is hard to not watch them 

with a tender heart. There they sit at the table, just the

 two of them, there are no longer three. They are almost men

 now, tall with large shoes and chins needing to be shaved. 

No need for lids on their cups any longer

and the fingers grabbing the food are long and

 slender instead of short and chubby. 

They crack jokes to one another instead of playing

 with their food. It will not be long before there will 

be just one and then someday soon the table where

 they sit will be empty of fish sticks and milk. I have

 been told that being an empty nester is wonderful

and that it will be a great time in my life. I am not

 sure if that is true but as I stand to clean

the plates that hold the crumbs and watch

 my boys walk away I cannot help but think that

 no matter how hard these past 21 years have been, 

it has all been worth it!! 

I  have LOVED being a MOM! 

Joe told me the other day he is ready for Kate to find the

 right guy and get busy having kids! I think he is ready to see 

more chubby fingers grabbing at fish sticks around our table :)

It's raining it's pouring....

With the sun shining so brightly today, it is hard to believe

 that just days ago we were dealing with SHEETS of rain

 coming down upon us everyday for over a week.

So...what is one to do when you are caught in a deluge of rain?

 Why put on your rain gear and go play of course:) 

So glad the gear they bought for Alaska

 last year still comes in handy!

Rain or shine, my boys are ADORABLE :)