My Celebrity Look-Alikes!

Thursday Thirteen - my first one!

Thirteen Things I Did Today 1. Called off work - cramps. 2. Read and responded to personal emails a few times. 3. Read work emails (mine and boss's) a few times. 4. Ate breakfast. 5. Talked to boss on the phone. 6. Watched TV. 7. Ate lunch. 8. Talked to Mom on the phone. 9. Took a nap. 10. Cleaned out stuff for yard sale on Saturday. 11. Ate dinner. 12. Talked to youngest sister on the phone. 13. Read blogs. An exciting day, huh?!

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My New 'Do"

I took the plunge today and got my hair cut. I wanted something different instead of a perm - my hair is naturally straight...and thick. Here's the result:


I wonder if I can style it the same tomorrow morning?!

My Artwork

I came across a little booklet of artwork from when I was in third grade - 33 years ago! Wow, that's a long time ago! I asked my friend Linda to scan my two contributions and she did. The scanner picked up the pages on the opposite pages - it's a mimeographed booklet. Remember mimeograph machines? I loved smelling papers that had been done on a mimeograph machine! I used one when I was secretary at Grace Baptist - our bulletins were done that way before we acquired a copier. Anyway, below are my two contributions to Mrs. Miller's 3rd Grade Class's artwork:


Apparently, happiness was not playing with my two sisters! The horse is not my artwork - it belongs to Brenda F. Her picture was on the back of mine.

I remember going camping as a family when we were younger. This past summer, we tried it again, and it was much fun!

A Lovely Day for a Wedding

I went to a wedding today. I haven't been to a wedding in about 4-5 years. Jennifer, from church, married Jim; and it was a lovely ceremony. It was great to be at a wedding where both the bride and groom know Jesus!

The officiating pastor recalled that at last night's rehearsal, he asked "Who giveth this woman?" And Jennifer's dad answered, "Her mother and I are thinking about it!" That cracked me up! I know he said that because he loves Jennifer; and she is an only child.

I didn't go to the reception, so it was neat that at the end of the ceremony, the wedding coordinator introduced the bridal party. And Jennifer and Jim greeted each guest by dismissing each row of attendees. They took care of taking all the pictures before the ceremony. When folks left the wedding, they headed to the reception and could start eating right away. It was a Baptist wedding. And you know what's said about Baptists! I'm a Baptist! Anyway, I thought it was great that they did some not-so-traditional things but also kept it a traditional wedding. Jennifer's Dad offered a prayer of blessing on the new couple and also gave thanks for the food so, literally, people could go to the reception and start eating!

I had my camera with me, but it was too dark in the sanctuary - I knew the pictures wouldn't turn out. Hopefully, I can get a picture or two from Jennifer in a few weeks.

Congratulations Jennifer and Jim!

This week in review

Monday - Labor Day - went to Mom and Dad's for a picnic. Tommy had to work and Ben, Wendie, and the boys had other plans, so it was just Mom, Dad, Corie, Caleb, and me. The highlight was when Dad let Caleb drive his tractor! Caleb was so excited and proud!

Tuesday - Work, followed by dinner with Vickie and Andrew at Friendly's and going to Vickie's for coffee and her homemade chocolate cake with peanut butter icing! MMMMMM!

Wednesday - Work, eye exam and eye dr. appointment. In July, I was diagnosed with arterial membrane basement dystophy, which means I have cysts on my cornea in my right eye. I use eye drops during the day and ointment at night and, thankfully, the condition has not worsened. My eyes were dilated on Wednesday afternoon, so I didn't do much when I got home because I couldn't see very well!

Thursday - Work during the day and I spent the evening at home.

Friday - A vacation day! I was going to go to a Boyds Bear event, but that fell through, so I stayed home and cleaned a little bit and prepared for a Get Together at my house. Corie was the host, but I have my rec room turned into my CM room so she and her friends came to my house for the event. The ladies were real chatty and enjoyed making their ShortStory Cards. Corie brought an apple pie and served it with French Vanilla Ice Cream or Ice Cream Sandwich Ice Cream, both by Edy's. Y-u-m-m-y!

Saturday (today) - I'm just being kind of lazy this morning, but I should be doing laundry. Maybe I'll tackle that after lunch. Then I'm heading to church for a dinner for children's workers. I helped with the Preschool I class last fall and will be following them to Preschool II as their teacher. The new fall semester starts tomorrow, so I'll need to review the lesson again sometime today.

Here's most of the class from earlier this year. Aren't they adorable?!

That's it for now! Enjoy your day!

My new blog format

For the past several weeks, I've been reading blogs of not only friends and family, but also of Christian ladies that I happened upon when I received a link to visit Sarah's blog in Lisa Whelchel's (she's Blair from the "Facts of Life.") email. Lisa was requesting prayer for Sarah's daughter, Addison, who was facing heart surgery. Thankfully, Addison is doing well and thriving!

So, after faithfully reading these ladies' blogs, I've been thinking about changing my blog format and actually doing some writing. My sister and brother are both excellent writers. We'll see how it goes! I'll still post pictures every once in a while of my three adorable nephews and of my best friend Vickie's (and hubby Scott) three kiddos, who are also adorable. Well, Ashley isn't adorable. She's a beautiful 16-year-old.

Here are some of my favorite blogs to visit:

A Broad in Athens
Antique Mommy
Blessed Assurances
Blessed Beyond Measure (Sarah's mom)
BooMama
Bullfrogs & Butterflies
Callapidder Days
Everyday Mommy
In the Midst of It
Just Peachy
Kisses of Sunshine
Life with Little Women
Lots of Scotts
Minnie Moments
Raising Five
Rocking Chairs and Rainbows
Rocks In My Dryer
Unfinished Work
What Makes A Housewife Desperate?

Austin is 6!

Austin turned 6 on June 7, 2006. Vickie had his party on June 11th. It was a great day to be outside, thankfully!

It seems like yesterday that I was in the delivery room with Scott & Vickie waiting for Austin to be born. I was the first one he saw when he was born. Scott stayed beside Vickie, but I was where the action was! After 12 hours, he finally decided to say hello to the world! It's hard to believe he's 6 already!

The kids loved the water balloon battle and were disappointed when we ran out of balloons!

Scott was in Kuwait so he missed the party. But Austin talked to him on the phone (see picture below).

Everyone enjoyed cake and ice cream, and Austin received very nice and thoughtful gifts from his friends and family.

And what's a party without a pinata? The kids enjoyed that, too. A fun and memorable day indeed!

My First CM Product Picnic - 6/8-9/06

I held my first Creative Memories Product Picnic on Thursday and Friday, June 8th and 9th. Here are some pictures of my displays. My customers came to shop, crop, and of course, eat! Fun times!

Children's Sunday - 6/4/06

Children's Sunday at my church was held on June 4th. It was a great day to be outside! Vickie and the kids came (Scott was in Kuwait). Andrew and Austin enjoyed eating cotton candy, jumping in the moon bounce, and Austin liked the maze - he did that a few times and was a pro at it by the 2nd time! A fun afternoon!

Swimming Pool Fun - 6/1/06

Andrew & Austin got a new swimming pool and tried it out on June 1st. I, of course, had my camera handy and took a few pictures. They really didn't swim - the water was c-o-l-d!!

Memorial Day - 5/29/06

The Alvarez's came to our Memorial Day Picnic this year. The kids had fun on all of Mom's toys and they had a blast in the swimming pool! Ashley did some sunbathing! I, of course, couldn't resist squirting her with the water hose while she was sunbathing! Oh, and Caleb brought his lizards. The boys like them!

Andrew & Austin - 5/27/06

Since Mommy (Vickie) and Gram started scrapbooking, Andrew and Austin enjoy it, too! They were over at my house on May 27th to work on their albums. Andrew was a big help for Austin!

Benny & Matty - Part 2 on 5/25/06

I couldn't get these pictures to upload to the previous post, so it's a separate post.


Matty and Benny enjoy lunch at Subway!

Here they are enjoying ice cream!