Do Ya Feel The Love? The Bloggy Love? I Do!

I've recently been gifted with some fantabulous bloggy awards! Who doesn't love awards? I know I'm not about to turn them down! LOL

Here's two of them. Be on the lookout for more in the fairly near future!

First, I was given the One Lovely Blog Award by Ryan Ashley Scott @ Optimistic Cynicism.

The Rules for this one are that there are no rules. Woohoo!

I'm going to give it to:

Stacy @ Stacy's Random Thoughts - She's fantabulous and she's always makes me laugh.

blueviolet @ A Nut in a Nutshell - I just started following her recently but she's always got something fun and interesting going on over in her little part of the world.

Rebecca Jo @ Knit By God's Hand - I just started following her recently too. She's got a heart of gold and if you don't believe me, just go read her story of her Zoe pup.


And the Fabulous Award from Tina @ Life's A Journey has awarded me (and anyone else that wanted it ;0) ) with the Your Blog is Fabulous Award. The condition of this award is that I write 5 obsessions I have and tag my 5 favorite blogs.

So my top 5 obsessions (in no particular order)

1. Coffee
2. My phone

3. TV
4. My pillow
5. Books

And I'm going to pass this on to:

DiPaola Momma @ Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom - Not only does she do fabulous giveaways, she's got a sense of humor that will have you cracking up daily!

Mamarazzi @ Dandelion Wishes - She is so much fun. And her daughter Jordan gets in on the blogging too. Fabulous!

Katie @ The Gumdrop Tree - She's fairly new to blogging and needs to feel the bloggy love. She is FABULOUS!! She's got two of the most adorable kids and she is Mrs. Creative!

AmberP @ Kiss My Cheek - A single mommy to three. She's going on vacation soon and I'm jealous! lol She's got a hard job raising three alone, but she does a fantabulous job! You can just tell.

Karin Katherine @ Mommy Matters - She overcame infertility an now has four of the most precious kidlets. She is inspiration to me!

This post has taken FOREVER to do because of my stupid computer, so I'm going to just hit publish now and maybe actually take a shower now that's it's almost 4 pm.

Q & A Reminder

Don't forget that you can ask me whatever your little heart desires and I'll be answering all your questions next week for my 100th post!

(And if anyone knows how to keep this at the top, please let me know. I thought I knew how to do it and then I tried and it didn't work. Thanks! =) )

Sorry, I don't have too much to say today plus I'm supposed to be getting things wrapped up around here so I'm a bit absent.

Gimme my ball back!!

Dreams

Don't you hate it when you have {bad} dreams that are so real you wake up feeling like it really happened?

Yeah, I've had a few of those lately.

I have a friend that lives only a few miles from me. I haven't seen or really heard from her since the end of November.

A couple weeks ago, I had a dream that there was a party at her house. Sometime during the party, a group of people decided to climb up onto the roof........and it caved in and the whole house fell to the ground and some people died.

Last week, I had another dream about this same friend. It wasn't exactly a bad dream, but in my dream I had wondered why I hadn't heard from her in awhile. She finally contacted me and told me they had moved..........to OHIO! What the heck?

So I emailed her and told her that she needed to contact me for real to put my mind at ease because I was worried about her or something. She's fine. They have not moved, their house has not crumbled to the ground, but she is pregnant! I'm so happy for her!

THEN, last night, I had a dream that Kyle cheated on me. Oh. My. Gosh. The devastation I felt in my dream, I can still feel it inside me right now. It was SO real! I know that he never, ever would, but man. I just can't imagine what I would do if he ever did. I just want this uneasy feeling that is filling me full of anxiety to go away!

Side note: Bloggy Awards

I have recently been the recipient of lots of wonderful awards! Yay me!

Thank you to all that have passed them to me. I feel so special. heehee

I have not forgotten about them and I will be passing them on in a few different posts over the next week or two. Be on the lookout! ;0P

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Happy Birthday, Kyle!

Happy Birthday, Honey!

I love you, The Most!

Great. Just. Great.

I was just laid off.

We are so screwed! No savings. Insane amount of bills. No insurance now. I don't know what we're frickin gonna do!

Dammit! This economy sucks so badly!!!

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The email from the owner letting everyone know:

Hi gang it is with even greater sadness than before that I am letting you know that we are at a point that we have to trim staff once again due to the economic conditions we find ourselves in. This last week I was the recipient of bad news on three different occasions by our bankers with decisions that could have an effect on our long term viability without significant action now.
I know this is hard for all of us but this time for me the cuts are really hurting more deeply. This afternoon I want to let you know of three new staff departures here in the office.
Megan will be here through February 6.
Cindy and Jim will be here through February 13.
The basic plan right now is for Robin to move to the front keeping part of her current work load. With the significant reductions in platting activity Loree will be assuming a big portion of Robins workload. Karen will be working with all the affected parties to iron out exact details.
Jims work load will either be handled by Jim on a very part time contract basis or will be taken over by David (his son) on a part time basis.
Please keep praying. Despite all the challenges we have been and are continuing to face I know that God is in control and will see all of us including those leaving through.

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Also, the General Manager *just* came up to me and told me that he is personally going to find something / somewhere for me. He said I'm definitely the best they've ever had and it sucks and he's sad that it's come to the point that they have to let me go. So he wants to make it his mission to find me another job. He's awesome and great and I'm going to be so sad to leave this company!!!

What Do You Want To Know?

Soooo..........I'm going to hit 100 posts next week, I think.

Now is your chance to ask me anything. I'm pretty much already an open book, but if there is something you're just dying to know......ask. Then, I'll answer.

I may or may not combine this Q & A with something else for my 100th post. Haven't decided yet.

But this will give me a start.

Get to asking! Now. Snap, Snap. :0P

P.S.

I'm trying to get around to everyone's blogs and those that have started following me and have commented recently. It's just taking me awhile. Sorry!!

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.

What have I NOT done this week?

Well, let's see...I did NOT get irritated at my boss when she sent me an email, on her first day back from being gone for two days, and before she even said anything to me, saying that we need to meet to talk about my "work load" because I have some "extra" paperwork on my desk. I would NEVER have excessive paperwork piling on my desk because I am perfect and I certainly would NOT be irritated to have it thrown in my face like I'm a little child that doesn't know how to do my work. Nope, because remember, I'm perfect.

I did NOT have a craving for Arby's when I don't even LIKE Arby's and I definitely did NOT give into my craving by stopping there on my way home from work one night.

I also did NOT have a craving for IHOP. Again, I don't LIKE IHOP! And hubby did NOT deny me my craving causing me to have to make dinner. And that dinner was NOT nachos with ground beef and cheese smothered on top of the chips. We eat much more healthy than that around here!

I did NOT go to Target this week and among other things purchase a large, pink box of pantyliners. And the checker did NOT have the nerve to ask me if I wanted a BAG for the BOX OF PANTYLINERS! Duh! Like I would want to carry it out for all the world to see what I purchased? Um. No. I did NOT give him a, possibly snotty, 'yes' when I answered.

I do NOT wonder how much longer hubby is going to leave the very dead Christmas tree in the living room because it is NOT still there. We got rid of it right after Christmas. Yup, we sure did! Yup, yup.

I did NOT go to Presentation Sunday service yesterday and cry my eyes out and get prayed for by many people, including a four year old little boy. And I definitely did NOT get to see a picture of it because one of the pastors did NOT capture it on film. I was NOT totally and completely blessed by the service.

And I do NOT need to leave now to go and pick up lunch for a weekly staff meeting that occurs here in this office. And I'm NOT going to be totally jealous of the yummy, "homemade" cookies they get to eat. I'm definitely NOT going to be hoping that there are leftovers so I can have one when the meeting is over. Nope, I have better control over my food intake than that!

What have you NOT done this week?

Presentation Sunday

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers the past couple days everyone. It's encouraging to know that one: we're not alone, and two: that there are people out there that don't know us personally (and some that do =) ) that are keeping us in their prayers.

The service today was wonderful. The pastor comes into my place of business occasionally to meet with the owner, so I "know" him, but I've never heard him preach before. He told us today that in the course of his marriage, they've experienced 11 miscarriages, including one at 6 months along. Because of that, he has more empathy towards infertility situations than he thinks he would if he hadn't been through it himself.

He said that he started these services 21 years ago. At the beginning (first 10 years or so) there were only 1-3'ish couples that they would pray for. Then word of mouth brought more and more couples in and today, I think the majority of the congregation went up to be prayed for. Plus he said there are churches around the WORLD that do this service on the last Sunday of January, just like this church. He said in Australia and India for sure. He has seen hundreds of babies come as a result of couples being prayed for at these services.

After the worship, the first thing was two baby dedications. One of the families had five kids, all of them a result from a Presentation Sunday alter call.

There was one lady that tried for 13 years. She got pregnant at 46 and lost the baby. Then she got prayed for at this service and now has a daughter. After using an embryo that had been frozen for four years that gave her her daughter, she started a program, which is embryo adoption agency. Interesting. If it gets to that point for us, we may look into this.

There was another lady from Iran that was Muslim and through someone at her college, she heard about the service (after having a dream about a church service). She had tried for 6 years, I think, and she got prayed for (and is now a Christian) and now has a 6 year old daughter. She was pregnant 15 days after the service.

They also talked about a foster program that has been started at the church. It's a very large church with a gazillion different programs for anything you can possibly think of. The lady that started this program had two biological children then adopted a brother/sister group and now does foster care as well.

When the pastor called the couples that wanted prayer to the alter, we went. We prayed, we cried, we had many hands laid on us, including a little 4 year old boy. SO SWEET!!

After that, I was handed a necklace that has Be Still & know that I am God. Psalm 46:10 written on it. One of the pastors stopped us and showed us a picture he took of us with little boy laying his hands on us and praying. Then he invited us over to his house for lunch and games!! Thankfully my step-sister and her husband had previously been invited as well so we at least knew them. But it was great getting to know these people and know that they're going to be keeping us in their prayers as well.

Overall, it was a wonderful, touching service and a great afternoon.
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I've heard about this service, that only happens once a year, for a few years. We have never either been able to go or made it a priority to go. I told Kyle that I want to go this year so we're getting ready to do just that. Below is a description of what the service is for.

I just pray that we have boldness and courage to step forward, out of our comfort zone. We've never gone forward, at any church, to be prayed for.

Jesus be with us and bless us during this service.

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In commemoration of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple by Mary and Joseph 40 days after His birth, we have designated the last Sunday in January as Presentation Sunday. On that day Cedar Park Church, along with a growing number of other churches in the area and around the world, will be praying for couples who are desiring to have children but have encountered difficulty in doing so.

Hundreds of babies are known to have been born in response to previous Presentation Sunday Prayer Services. Some babies arrive miraculously, some with the aid of fertility treatment, and some by adoption, but all are in response to prayer. There is no disagreement with doctors or fertility experts. Most all that come to this service have experienced some degree of frustration. No promises can be made, or are made, but we offer our prayers to any couple who desires it.

In many ways this particular Sunday morning is like any other Sunday morning. People will come and express their faith in worship and participate in the fellowship of believers. There will be a few testimonies from those who have been in previous services. At the end of the service, an invitation for prayer is given to couples who have had difficulty in conceiving a child. Couples come to the front of the church and kneel at the altars. Pastors and others lay hands on these couples and pray that God will grant their prayer.

It is not necessary to be a part of our faith tradition to attend the service. People of many religions, as well as some with no religion, come to the service. Everyone is treated equally. All are welcome.

If you have struggled with infertility, we invite you to the services. We would consider it a privilege to pray for you. If you are be unable to attend but would like us to remember you in prayer, you can let us know by following instructions for a prayer request on this web site.

Tell Me Your Infertility Success Stories

I've been thinking about this A LOT lately.

Like, how in the world am I supposed to KNOW what we're supposed to do?

I can say that in the past year, my heart has definitely become more open to adoption. But I don't even know how we would go about doing that, let alone PAY for it.

But at the same time, I so desperately want to have a biological child. I want to be pregnant. I want to feel a baby move inside of me. I want to breastfeed and have the sleepless nights that every mother wishes she didn't have to have but at the same time wouldn't trade for the world. I want the late night / early morning snuggles.

I just want everything that comes with being pregnant, although I know the last couple things I listed I could have with an adopted baby, too.

But right now, we do NOT have the money, any money, to do fertility treatments.

However, I have a friend that has so graciously told me that as soon as she gets out of her first trimester, she's going to donate some of her costly fertility drugs to me.

To me, that's a total blessing. I don't want them to go to waste but at the same time, I don't know where we're going to get the money to even DO an IUI with injectibles. At the same time, is this a blessing from GOD? Is he trying to tell me that we're SOME HOW going to get the money to pay off what we already owe to the clinic, plus get the opportunity to do another cycle?

I just don't know and I don't GET HOW I'll know WHAT we're supposed to be doing! I've been praying so much about all this, lately. I'm so confused and conflicted because of the unknown.

What I want to know, from those of you out there that have gone through this, is HOW you knew. Did God provide the way? Or was it something that you were just able to do on your own because of insurance coverage, savings, or something else?

Because right now, ANYTHING we do is going to have to be through God alone. I'm trying my darnest to put my faith in God and let him lead and provide the way, but at the same time I can't stop THINKING about it! Like, my mind has been far from work because it's consuming my thoughts.

Tell me your stories. Please.

The Strangest Football Game Ever Played

Yesterday morning on my way to work, I was listening to the radio as usual. Every morning they have a "Good News Story of the Day". Below is the story that was read. Got me a bit misty-eyed. Here's the ESPN link.
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They played the oddest game in high school football history last month down in Grapevine, Texas.

It was Grapevine Faith vs. Gainesville State School and everything about it was upside down. For instance, when Gainesville came out to take the field, the Faith fans made a 40-yard spirit line for them to run through.

Did you hear that? The other team's fans?

They even made a banner for players to crash through at the end. It said, "Go Tornadoes!" Which is also weird, because Faith is the Lions.

It was rivers running uphill and cats petting dogs. More than 200 Faith fans sat on the Gainesville side and kept cheering the Gainesville players on—by name.

"I never in my life thought I'd hear people cheering for us to hit their kids," recalls Gainesville's QB and middle linebacker, Isaiah. "I wouldn't expect another parent to tell somebody to hit their kids. But they wanted us to!"

And even though Faith walloped them 33-14, the Gainesville kids were so happy that after the game they gave head coach Mark Williams a sideline squirt-bottle shower like he'd just won state. Gotta be the first Gatorade bath in history for an 0-9 coach.

But then you saw the 12 uniformed officers escorting the 14 Gainesville players off the field and two and two started to make four. They lined the players up in groups of five—handcuffs ready in their back pockets—and marched them to the team bus. That's because Gainesville is a maximum-security correctional facility 75 miles north of Dallas. Every game it plays is on the road.

This all started when Faith's head coach, Kris Hogan, wanted to do something kind for the Gainesville team. Faith had never played Gainesville, but he already knew the score. After all, Faith was 7-2 going into the game, Gainesville 0-8 with 2 TDs all year. Faith has 70 kids, 11 coaches, the latest equipment and involved parents. Gainesville has a lot of kids with convictions for drugs, assault and robbery—many of whose families had disowned them—wearing seven-year-old shoulder pads and ancient helmets.

So Hogan had this idea. What if half of our fans—for one night only—cheered for the other team?

He sent out an email asking the Faithful to do just that. "Here's the message I want you to send:" Hogan wrote. "You are just as valuable as any other person on planet Earth."

Some people were naturally confused. One Faith player walked into Hogan's office and asked,

"Coach, why are we doing this?"

And Hogan said, "Imagine if you didn't have a home life. Imagine if everybody had pretty much given up on you. Now imagine what it would mean for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you."

Next thing you know, the Gainesville Tornadoes were turning around on their bench to see something they never had before. Hundreds of fans. And actual cheerleaders!

"I thought maybe they were confused," said Alex, a Gainesville lineman (only first names are released by the prison). "They started yelling 'DEE-fense!' when their team had the ball. I said, 'What? Why they cheerin' for us?'"

It was a strange experience for boys who most people cross the street to avoid. "We can tell people are a little afraid of us when we come to the games," says Gerald, a lineman who will wind up doing more than three years. "You can see it in their eyes. They're lookin' at us like we're criminals. But these people, they were yellin' for us! By our names!"

Maybe it figures that Gainesville played better than it had all season, scoring the game's last two touchdowns. Of course, this might be because Hogan put his third-string nose guard at safety and his third-string cornerback at defensive end. Still.

After the game, both teams gathered in the middle of the field to pray and that's when Isaiah surprised everybody by asking to lead.

"We had no idea what the kid was going to say," remembers Coach Hogan. But Isaiah said this:

"Lord, I don't know how this happened, so I don't know how to say thank You, but I never would've known there was so many people in the world that cared about us."

And it was a good thing everybody's heads were bowed because they might've seen Hogan wiping away tears.

As the Tornadoes walked back to their bus under guard, they each were handed a bag for the ride home—a burger, some fries, a soda, some candy, a Bible and an encouraging letter from a Faith player.

The Gainesville coach saw Hogan, grabbed him hard by the shoulders and said,

"You'll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You'll never, ever know."

And as the bus pulled away, all the Gainesville players crammed to one side and pressed their hands to the window, staring at these people they'd never met before, watching their waves and smiles disappearing into the night.

Approaching 100 Posts!

Hard for me to believe that I've kept with this. I had no clue that I'd get so addicted to it.

I blame it on all of you! All of your blogs keep me coming back and make me want to continue blogging as well.

So, I know that others do something "special" for their 100th post and I want to as well. But I need ideas. I don't think I'm ready to do a give away just yet, so anything but that I would consider.

Give me your ideas. I'm at 85 posts so not too many more to go.

Inspire me!

P.S.
I want to thank everyone that has come and visited my Saucy Blog! It's been so fun getting to know more of you out there in bloggyland and finding new friends to make me laugh. Seriously. Thank you!! =D

Wordless Wednesday - Frosty Morning Sunrise

100 Things

Major's Mom was doing it and I thought I would join in too. Feel free to borrow it. If you play along, leave me a comment so I can see your list.
Bold whatever you have done.

1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band.
4. Visited Hawaii.
5. Watched a meteor shower.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyland.
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sang a solo.
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Adopted a child.
16. Had food poisoning.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitch hiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you're not sick.
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping.
27. Run a marathon.
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise.
33. Seen Niagra Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.
35. Seen and Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language.
37. Had enough money to truly be satisfied.
38. Seen the leaning tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo's David.
41. Sung karaoke.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted.
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class.
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served in a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Gotten flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood, platelets, or plasma.
65. Gone sky diving.
66. Visited a Nazi concentration camp.
67. Bounced a check.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square.
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job.
76. Seen the changing of the guards in London.
77. Broken a bone.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book.
81. Been to the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the paper.
85. Read the entire Bible.
86. Visited the White House.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating. (Um.. ewww.)
88. Had Chicken pox.
89. Saved someone's life.
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby.
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake.
97. Been involved in a lawsuit.
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.
100. Read an entire book in one day.

Happy Anniversary To Us!

7 Years ago today, Kyle and I became Husband and Wife after dating for (almost) the same amount of years.

I will never forget our wedding day. It was crazy and long and exciting and so much fun!

The day started out with rain. I hear it's good luck.

All my bridesmaids, and our mom's, sisters and I gathered at Gene Juarez Salon to get our hair done. We were there for a couple hours. Then we headed to the church. I had handed decorating over to my mom. I didn't want to deal with it, plus she's a whole lot better at it than me.


Since our wedding was so close after Christmas, my Mother-in-law (MIL) went to a tree lot the day after Christmas and got 23 trees for free. We kept them in their backyard till two days before the wedding, when the decorating started.

Our "theme" was Winter Wonderland. I was SO happy with how everything turned out. It was like a dream. So gorgeous. Trees. White lights. Tulling. Ivy. Candles. It was perfect. Better than I could ever have imagined.

Side note. When they were first decorating, I was out doing last minute stuff. When I got back to the church, my dad told me to look up at the platform. What did I see? I saw a deer sticking out from the trees! I laughed and said that I LOVED it! My mom comes up and says that I can NOT have it in my wedding. It's a joke from my Father-in-law (FIL). I told my mom that it was *my* wedding, I loved it and it was staying. During our vows, the pastor says to everyone that the deer was Kyle's way of saying he loved me Deer-ly. LOL

Back to the day.

Pictures were supposed to start at 1pm, I believe, so everyone needed to be ready, except Kyle and I weren't going to see each other before the wedding...bad luck and all. So Kyle did pictures with everyone and I did pictures with everyone, the whole time trying to avoid each other.

People were scurrying around doing last minute stuff. My aunt was there doing all of our make-up. Mom's are getting ready, all the girls are doing touch-ups. MIL is crying. We have a picture of her crying next to the "Cry Room" sign in the church. heehee I went into the reception area and saw my Daddy sometime during the afternoon and we had our special father-daughter moment. I pretty much just hung out in the nursery the rest of the day. At one point, my MIL came in and gave me something from Kyle. A card and a white gold chain bracelet. I put it on and wore it for the wedding. And every day thereafter, till it broke. I *still* need to get it fixed. Bad Megan!

The wedding was to start at 6pm but guests were still arriving so it started closer to 6:30. I knew which song each group was entering to so I was in the nursery listening and that's when my heart started pounding. Then it was almost my turn. My daddy came in and got me and we stood outside the closed doors to the church. Then my music started. I walked in to "Angel Eyes". The aisle was narrow and my gown was poofy so it was a squishy walk down the aisle with my daddy. When I'm nervous, I don't smile. I was nervous with everyone looking at me. (We had over 500 guests at our wedding!) My dad looked at me and told me to smile. lol

We got to the front and Kyle was standing there with a huge smile on his face. My dad handed me over to Kyle after a hug and kiss. Kyle and I stood there (his hands were ice cold!) in front facing the pastor and my dad went to his spot over to the left where he then sang "Butterfly Kisses". He only got choked up at the part in the song where it talks about giving his daughter away on her wedding day. *tears* (A couple years before I got married, I asked him if he would sing Butterfly Kisses at my wedding - I LOVE his singing voice - he said that he couldn't do it because he'd be a puddle of tears. But after I got engaged, I asked him again and he accepted my request. He said the only reason he didn't cry is because he couldn't see me - bridesmaids were blocking his view ;0) )

After he sang, we stepped up to the platform (after Kyle stepped on my gown and I tripped UP the stairs) where Pastor Les spoke about Kyle and me. He's known Kyle since he was 3 months old and he knew me since Kyle and I were in 5th grade. So it was special having him officiate.

When he was through with that part of the ceremony, my FIL sang "The Keeper of the Stars". That is Kyle's and my song, so it was special, too.

Then we said our vows and exchanged our rings. During our Unity candle, communion, prayer (which my dad did with us), my cousin sang a song that he wrote for us, called "You Can't Tell Me (It's Not Love)". He's got a fantabulous voice, too!


Then we were pronounced Husband and Wife and walked back down the aisle (after I tripped / jumped down the stairs...heehee).

We had a receiving line so we stood at the front of the church with smiles plastered to our faces for a loooonnnnggggg time!

AND THEN, we had MORE pictures taken while everyone was gathered in the reception area. The 20 minutes it was supposed to take for those? Yeah. Not so much. We spent a whole 15 minutes at our reception (but I'm not still bitter 7 years later or anything). We went in there for a small break, for the toast, and to cut our cake. Out of the 1000 pictures we have, only 3 are of only Kyle and me. (But I don't regret having this photographer. Nope, not me!)

ANYWAY, I loved our wedding. People still talk about it so many years later and aside from our reception, I have fabulous memories that are going to last us a lifetime.

I love Kyle more today than the day I married him...and I like him a whole lot more than the first day I met him in 4th grade. ;0P

Kyle is my most bestest best friend ever. We have so much fun together and because we've gone through life together, we have a lot of memories to look back on. We've been many places together and have many more places to go. We've had good times and not so good times. We have the unfortunate "privilege" of having no kids yet, but together we're working towards the family that we long for. He's the biggest dork sometimes, but he's MY dork that makes me laugh all the time and I can. not. imagine life without him.

I love you, Honey. THE MOST.

Happy 7th Anniversary!

She's All Growed Up Now...Sniff, Sniff

That is, my Sister-in-law. She's getting married! Her fiance proposed the middle of December (I'm bad. I can't remember the exact date). They've set the wedding date for May 9th...this year! Eek! (She was 15 at my wedding!)

On Christmas Eve she asked me to be her Matron of Honor! Wow! I thought she would've asked her best friend. But nope, she chose lil ole me to stand by her side on her wedding day. *tear* Kyle and their other brother, Tyler, will be groomsmen in the wedding too.

So, yesterday they went and looked at wedding gowns. I rushed over there on my lunch break and when I walked in she was in THE ONE. I almost got teary-eyed seeing her looking so beautiful! My MIL was already crying. LOL

Two of the bridesmaids and their dresses. I think there's one or two other bridesmaids and then me. If you can't tell, the dresses are a deep, plum'ish purple with black detailing around the bottom. All the dresses are a little bit different but all have the same detailing.

My dress is black with silver. The detailing is just a little different than the other girls'.

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And then today, I FINALLY got my hair colored again. It's been 4 long months!

(Yes, similar to my profile pic...taken in the same spot, too. ;0P )

2008 Darwin Awards

Every year that these come out, it cracks me up at just how stupid some people are. Enjoy the laugh!

Yes, it's that magical time of year again when the Darwin Awards are bestowed, honoring the least evolved among us.

Here are the glorious top 10 winners:

1. When his 38-caliber revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a hold-up in Long Beach, California, would-be robber James Elliot did something that can only inspire wonder. He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked.

And now, the honorable mentions:

2. The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat-cutting machine and, after a little shopping around, submitted a claim to his insurance company. The company expecting negligence sent out one of its men to have a look for himself. He tried the machine and he also lost a finger. The chef's claim was approved.

3. A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the space. Understandably, he shot her.

4. After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies. The deception wasn't discovered for 3 days.

5. An American teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious head wounds received from an oncoming train. When asked how he received the injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how close he could get his head to a moving train before he was hit.

6. A man walked into a Louisiana Circle-K, put a $20 bill on the counter, and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cashdrawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register,which the clerk promptly provided. The man took thecash from the clerk and fled, leaving the $20 bill on the counter. The total amount of cash he got from the drawer... $15. [If someone points a gun at you and gives you money, is a crime committed?]

7. Seems an Arkansas guy wanted some beer pretty badly. He decided that he'd just throw a cinder block through a liquor store window, grab some booze, and run. So he lifted the cinder block and heaved it over his head at the window. The cinder block bounced back and hit the would-be thief on the head, knocking him unconscious. The liquor store window was made of Plexiglas. The whole event was caught on videotape.

8. As a female shopper exited a New York convenience store, a man grabbed her purse and ran. The clerk called 911 immediately, and the woman was able to give them a detailed description of thesnatcher. Within minutes, the police apprehended the snatcher. They put him in the car and drove back to the store. The thief was then taken out of the car and told to stand there for a positive ID. To which he replied, 'Yes, officer, that's her. That's the lady I stole the purse from.

9. The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a Burger King in Ypsilanti, Michigan, at 5 A.M., flashed a gun, and demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn't open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren't available for breakfast. The man, frustrated, walked away. [A 5-STAR STUPIDITY AWARD WINNER]

10. When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on aSeattle street, he got much more than he bargainedfor. Police arrived at the scene to find a very sick man curled up nextto a motor home near spilled sewage. A police spokesman saidthat the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline and plugged his siphonhose into the motor home's sewage tank by mistake.The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges saying that it wasthe best laugh he'd ever had.

In the interest of bettering mankind, please share these with your friends and family...unless of course one of these individuals by chance is a distant relative or long-lost friend. In that case, be glad they are distant and hope they remain lost. Remember... They walk among us!!!

A Mess - Updated

Sorry if my blog looks like a mess. I'm trying to get it to be 3 column. Bare with me. =)

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Ok, so I got the 3 columns to work. Now it's more difficult to find a background where you can see the side columns easily, but I like the 3 columns enough to work with it. (and ignore my old header till I get a new one made ;0) )

Rachael from little bites of heaven has been such a help to me. Thank you SO much Rachael!!

I used this website and followed the directions exactly. Be sure to save your HTML in Word so you don't accidentally lose everything. I also went through and saved the HTML codes to all my widgets. Nothing was lost when I did it, but I wanted to be sure I would know everything I had on my blog before proceeding, just in case.

I also downloaded Blogger Backup Utility, which Rachael recommended. Just google it and it will come up. Very cool tool!

Hope that helps!!

Li'l Meg

My Megan is a tiny thing.

Her height...shhhh...I cannot mention;
But what she lacks in stature
She makes up for in...determin-ention?

(Now there's a word with quite a ring.
Hear it beg for your attention?
If you knew no better, though, you might say,
"It sounds like a poet's invention!")

But be that for now as it may.
The word is useful here,
Because it tells how strong Meg is
And of her bold intention.

You see, she has this boyfriend.
His name is Kyle Carlson.
He drives a truck. He saws and nails,
And Megan says he's awesome.

What can I say? She knows him best!
And he's known her since she was...littler?
Her minds made up. Don't try to sway!
You really mustn't mess with her.

She wants this man, and since I know her
I know she'll have her way;
And when I walk her down the aisle
Forever, his to stay,

It will be Kyle Carlson's absolutely, most positively luckiest day!

Daddy
Christmas, 2000

We had this printed in the wedding programs when we got married in 2002.

If only you could hear my dad reading it. It's even more perfect.

Our not-so-serious engagement picture.

My Daddy singing "Butterfly Kisses" at our wedding.

Wordful Wednesday: Flooding

My co-worker took these pictures. The location of these pictures is only a few miles from my house. It is what has been causing horrible traffic jams this past week. Thankfully the main road going through the flooding is re-opened as of yesterday.

Obviously these are the extreme. This area floods every year, but this year it was especially bad. It's all farm land and no one really lives down there. If they do, they're up a bit higher. But the pictures are pretty cool, I think, and show how crazy the flooding was. I guess there was a couple of feet of water over the highway. No getting through there for sure!

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These pictures are of the Snohomish Valley and they were take on Sunday in the late afternoon. This flooding that you see is a result of the Skykomish, Snohomish, and Snoqualmie Rivers all overflowing their banks and flowing into the Snohomish River.

I'M Saucy?!?!

No Way!!

What a fun thing to wake up to this morning! Tons of notices in my email saying that I have comments to my little bloggy blog blog. Woohoo! =D

Well, all you SITS chickadees, if you're visiting me for the first time, WELCOME! Thanks for coming on by! You might want to start here to find out about my hubby and me and where we are in our infertility journey.

If you found me and aren't really sure how or you already know me but are wondering what SITS is...it is The Secrets in the Sauce. One of the best places to get connected to other blogs in the blogosphere. It's a great place so go check them out!

Thanks for making me Saucy, SITS chicks!! Totally made my day! =D

Not Me! Monday

But first, my year old nephew Kingston had exploratory surgery this morning. We were hoping that they would find something that they could fix, but they did not. He has a slit down the middle of his swallowing muscles. He has to have a thickner added to his bottles and liquidy foods or else it goes down into his lungs and can suffocate him. The doctor said that there's nothing they can do about it at this point and hopefully with in the next year or two, it will heal itself on its own. The little cutie patootie was so good though. He's such a little love muffin.


Now, here is everything that I did NOT do this this week!

I did NOT wake up at 7:00 am (about the time I'm to leave for work) two days in a row. That does NOT mean that I didn't have time to take a shower. Nope not me. I smell nice and clean and fresh every morning!

I did NOT leave my house at 7:30 (late) more than once this week and on one particular day I was NOT an hour and a half late to work because of flooding in the area and blocked off roads causing severe traffic jams. I always give myself enough time to get to work!

I most certainly do NOT still have my Christmas tree up in the living room. We have definitely taken off the lights and disposed of the tree the correct way (whatever that is!). And we most certainly put away the Christmas bins that were sitting in my living room last Monday. Why would we want to continue to maneuver around them? We don't, so we definitely didn't just push them off to the side. Nope, not us!

We do NOT still have all our Christmas display stuff up outside. Nope not us. We would look pretty silly. But it has definitely NOT been snowing or raining since we stopped turning the lights on preventing any display breakdown. Nope, it's been sunny and we've just not gotten around to it. That's it! Mmm-hmmm.

Nothing too severe that I did NOT do this week, but I guess that's a good thing. No need to be too embarrassed.

If you want to participate in sharing with everyone what you did NOT do this past week, head on over to my charming kids and join on in!