Awesome Giveaway & A Great Act of Kindness

Hey All! Short post but an important one. You know the Not Me! Monday lady MckMama?
She created that blog carnival and has a great blog. Well I read her blog everyday b/c she is funny, has adorable kids, takes great photographs, and I really enjoy the advice she gives on life. Anyway, today she directed all her bloggers to a couple trying to adopt a baby. In order to raise money for the adoption process, as it is quite expensive, they are giving away two awesome prize packages. For every $5 you donate you get 1 ticket for the drawing. Go read about them at In His Hands and if you feel lead to donate then by all means donate. I'm going over to donate right now! I also put up a button on my left sidebar that will take you directly there.

Thanks,

Somewhat Wordless and Very Random Wednesday

Yeah I finally bought this!! Circuit City is going out of business and with only 1 of these left in there store, I just had to have it!! I did get it for 40% off though. I kept asking Phill "Can I have it? Should I get it? What do you think?" To which he replied "I'm not saying anything" and walked away. Meanwhile his sister is saying "It's such a good deal, just get it, go buy it." I guess his sister won out!

It appears I have a problem of collecting TV series seasons:


Here's my grape kitchen. I just really like how it looks.

My Valentine's Day flowers from my honey:

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Wow, it's been awhile since I've done one of these! It was an exciting weekend though and very blog worthy. So what did I so not do this weekend and last week:

Well, everyday last week I did not survive the work days on 4 cups of coffee and 2-3 cans of soda per day. Not me, I'm cutting back on caffeine and trying to develop a more healthy lifestyle. I just haven't been sleeping the best as my brain won't shut off at night :(

Last Tuesday at bowling league I did not forget how to bowl and score a measly 109 the first game. I did come back to redeem myself though with a 171 and 186 respectively! I hadn't bowl in a few weeks and apparently my brain forgot how to do my much loved hobby.

This weekend we went to Dubuque, IA for the men's Iowa State Bowling Tournament. I went along as Phill didn't want me to be up here by myself all weekend. It was interesting to say the least:
-We did not get lost in Dubuque every time we went anywhere. We did not end up in Illinois and Wisconsin while trying to find the bowling alleys!
-But, the best NOT part of the weekend was our hotel! Oh wOw! I was not terrified of sleeping in the bed at the hotel. The bed did not look like it could be infestd with bed bugs, STD's, lice, and who else knows what can grow in beds. I did not throw that nasty bed comforter off and sleep on top of the sheets and sleep with the pillow and blanket we keep in the car for long trips home, and pray I didn't get bed bugs!
-I also did not dare to take a shower in there as I didn't have any flip flops to shield my feet from the dirt on the floor of the tub.
-I did not have to have my mother-in-law help me flush the toilet. It took an iron man to get that dang handle to go down.
-Seriously, my mother-in-law did not book this hotel room because they served waffles for breakfast and then she didn't even eat breakfast!!
-The ad said the hotel had been renovated and looked brand new. The only signs of renovation that we saw were lighted up palm trees by the pool! It's Iowa, why in the world did they need lit up palm trees. And for that matter, again it's Iowa, where it's too cold half of the year to be swimming outside!! Put an indoor pool in!!
-It did not take all four of us to get the adjoining room door closed in the hotel room for fear of a nasty drunk man coming in in the middle of the night. The lock on the door did not take all of our might to finally lock.
-Speaking of security, it also did not take all four of us to get into our hotel room. Those stupid swipe cards! It was freezing cold and we are all standing outside trying to get in the room. This did not happen every time we tried to get into the room. We are all intelligent people and can figure out a simple door. We were not kicking the door and screaming at the stupid cards to let us in. We also seriously did not dare to go ask the (super friendly) front desk.

This is what their website says:
"Leave your stress behind and immerse yourself in unparalleled relaxation at the Days Inn of Dubuque" HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Lastnight when we got home I did not vow to go to bed by 9 and not get to bed until 11! We watched Fireproof lastnight, which by the way, is an AMAZING movie! Phill even sat down and watched it. He said he was going to study while I watched it but ended up getting really into it and watched the whole thing. So so so good! I really want to order the book they used in the movie, The Love Dare. After the movie was over we so did not decide to order pizza at 10pm. I'm so about my new healthy lifestyle! After eating the pizza we did not decide to watch Burn Notice. Phill picked up season 1 and really wants me to start watching it with him. I did not love the show! Ugg, I so do not need another show to add to my list.

Well that's about all for me. This week is going to be a rough one emotionally. It's my mom's birthday on the 20th and I wish she was here to celebrate, and the anniversary of my dear niece Shaelynn earning her angel wings on the 19th. I'm going home this weekend to be with my sis. I plan on doing an update on the 19th or 20th about the last few years and how they have changed my life so stay tuned. The Bachelor is on tonight at 7 or 8 for anyone who cares. I'm even more addicted this season that last! Fans of Reality TV is my spoiler sight and I go there about 20 times a day!

Later Gators

Oops

Yeah so I am not the best computer handler. I tend to pick my laptop up by the screen. It appears that I will no longer be doing that as soon I will no longer have a personal laptop for awhile. The screen is going in and out as I type this. My hubby came home tonight and said "Your broke your computer!" To which I replied "But I made you cupcakes and chicken lip dip." He then said "Well I guess it's time to get you a new computer." hehe Thank goodness for cupcakes or I would be in some serious hot water right now! Let's just hope the sugar high doesn't wear off before this thing gets replaced ;)

A Poem for My Mom

Carolyn Sue Lair
2/20/1957-1/29/2009

For My Mom
The Things I Will Miss

I will miss you forever
My mom, mamasita, momma, and friend
You were and will forever be a huge part of me
And I can’t wait to see you again when my life comes to an end

I will miss our daily phone calls
Our online chats at work
I couldn’t wait for you to call or sign-in
Our conversations always made me smirk

I will miss our shopping days
Black Friday was always so much fun
Dodging in and out of those crazy shoppers
Trying to get the best deal before the sun

I will miss Sam & I’s fashion shows
We would come home with a bag full of new clothes
You would sit as we tried each one on
And ooh and aww as we would pose

I will miss your love of crosswords and word searches
Your beautiful handwriting too
Sending me cards in the mail for no reason
But to say I miss you and love you

I will miss the way you loved to clean
Your Dyson was your toy
You instilled in me the value of a clean home
Your methods I will forever employ

I will miss our Sundays of Lifetime movies
Laying around doing nothing but vegging out
Calling each other every week
To see what the soap operas were all about

I will miss being hurried out the door for events
You always hated to be late
This my mother I will try to work on
It’s hard for me to get to work by eight

I will miss your sense of honesty
Telling me when I was out of line
I always valued your opinion
And hearing Calie Marie was never a good sign

I will miss the way you took care of me
Rubbed my hair when I was sick
Never left me without a hug and kiss
And talked to me for hours when I was homesick

I will miss the way you smiled
The way you laughed, smelled, and touched
The way you would hug with your whole heart
These things I loved so much

I will miss your love of family
Getting together as much as we could
Keeping a close eye on all of us
Making sure we were all doing good

I will miss your courage and strength
You battled on for 3 and a half years
You were not willing to give up without a fight
You put a brave face on through the fears and tears

I will miss you forever mama
I know I must now say good-bye
You will live in my heart always
And I will see you when I look to the sky

I know you are with Grandpa & Grandma
And reading stories to Shaelynn Sue
You are looking down on us and saying
I will always love you too

I will love you forever and always momma,
Calie Marie