I Hit The Jackpot

During SITS Spring Fling!

Wow, I was so excited with the first email I received. I had actually WON something! I NEVER win anything!

Then as I kept getting the emails letting me know I had won something else I was just beyond shocked! I couldn't believe everything I had won!

I spent 14 hours straight on the computer and I entered over 300 of the giveaways. It was an insanely long day, but it so paid off for me! And it was so much fun!

1. Gourmet Popcorn (Double Dipped Sweets) - Alas 3 Lads
2. Pre-school Musical - Simply Anonymom
3. Coffee Cozie - A Thorn Among Roses
4. New Header - April Showers
5. Binder Clips / Push Pins - The Dark Side of the Chalkboard
6. Sound of Music DVD & Year Subscription to Parenting Magazine (had sent to my sister) - Mama Michie's Musings
7. Gap Perfume / Bag / 5-way Flashlight - Honest & Truly
8. Poppie Decal - Mrs. Cox's Slice O'Heaven
9. $25 GC to Things That Make Scents - A Simple Kinda Life
10. Debutante Divorcee - Life With Liane
11. Handmade Soap / Bath Bomb - Messes & Mudpies
12. All Purpose Sauce - Stacy's Random Thoughts

Thank you to everyone! I know random.org was the number picker for a lot of these, but still. Thank you! I'm so very excited. And with my prizes, I was able to say to Kyle "See, I won something else! My day on the computer was worth it!" as he rolled his eyes with a smirk on his face, every time.
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And to another friend that doesn't know about my blog:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HEATHER!!

Not Me! Monday

First of all, please remember to keep the MckFamily in your prayers. They're not out of the woods yet and still desperately need all of our prayers!

Kori (life as a CFer's wife): Will you please email me? I was trying to get a hold of you but don't have your email address. Thanks!!

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So now that it's Monday, once again, here is some of the things that I certainly did NOT do last week.

On Tuesday, I did NOT leave the house to do some errands and then come home to a missing wall. Uhhh...where did it go? It went outside to the back of Kyle's truck...I think. Kyle did NOT decide to take out our half wall after we had just talked about it. I did NOT realize he was going to take it out so soon.

This was NOT just perfect timing since Chewy's sister, Molly, was coming to spend a few days with us. Now I did NOT have a giant space right next to the hallway, which Molly did NOT try, first thing, to jump off of. YIKES! And her daddy was NOT standing right at our front door either. I did NOT immediately barricade the hallway with bags of clothes that are waiting to be donated.

These two dogs did NOT drive me up a wall. Chewy is NOT Mr. Mellow and Molly is NOT Miss Hyper-always-on-the-go. I did NOT totally enjoy all the loves and cuddles they gave me though.

I did NOT get a bowl of cereal one day and realize after I had poured the milk that it was 10 days expired. UGH! Thankfully it wasn't spoiled, but just the thought of putting expired milk on my cereal just about made me want to puke.

I did NOT pray for Stellan lots this week and on Saturday night I did NOT pray for him even more and decide I was going to put him on the prayer list at church, only to wake up with an awful tummy ache, along with nausea, that prevented us from going to church. I do NOT think it was Satan working against me. Well, neener neener to Satan, I emailed the prayer request into the church anyway!

Don't think MckMama is going to get a Not Me! Monday post up today, but go visit her anyway to find out the updates on little Stellan and pray, pray, pray!!!

What have you NOT done this week?

Praise & Worship Sunday: Praise You In This Storm

"Praise You In This Storm"
(Click the title to go to YouTube)

I was sure by now
God You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

And I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
And every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to you
And you raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You

But as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth

I LOVE this song. Well I just love praise and worship period. But this song touches me to the core every time I hear it.

How many times in our lives do we just go about our business and try to get through our "storms" on our own? I know I do way too much. This song reminds me that we are to "praise him through this storm" no matter how big or small the storm may be. He's with me (us) and he'll be there right beside me (us), maybe even carrying me (us) if I need him to.

It seems like I always hear it on the radio at just the right time and it makes me cry.

Join Brittany at Sweet Nothings for more Praise & Worship Sundays.

Week-End Wordle / Six Word Saturday

Join in on the Week-End Wordle with Shannon at Last Shreds of Sanity. Link up and see what everyone else is coming up with.

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Six Word Saturday:

Picking Out Pretty Paint Colors Today

This is the before.

This is my Kermit-the-Frog-green bedroom.

I hate it.

Three years ago when I picked this color out, I didn't know it was THIS green! Had I been home when it was being painted, it would not have continued. However, I was not, so here we are.

FINALLY I get to pick a new color for my wonderfully talented hubby to paint my bedroom with.

Stay tuned!


Join Cate at Show My Face for more Six Word Saturdays. She is the creator of it, after all.


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ROXANE: Please send me your mailing address if you still want the VHS workout tapes. If I don't hear from you by Monday, I'm going to give them to someone else. Thanks! =)

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For all those who have to tolerate the humiliation at the OB-GYN office...

In Melbourne, Fl. one of the radio stations paid money ($100-$500) for
people to tell their most embarrassing stories.

This one netted the winner $500...

She said:
I was due later that week for an appointment with the gynecologist when
early one morning I received a call from his office:

I had been rescheduled for early that morning at 9:30 am. I had just packed
everyone off to work and school and it was around 8:45 already. The trip to
his office usually took about 35 minutes so I didn't have any time to spare.
As most women do, I'm sure, I like to take a little extra effort over hygiene
when making such visits, but this time I wasn't going to be able to make the
full effort.

So I rushed upstairs, threw off my dressing gown, wet the washcloth and gave
myself a wash in "that area" in front of the sink,taking extra care to make sure
that I was presentable. I threw the washcloth in the clothes basket, donned some
clothes, hopped in the car and raced to my appointment.

I was in the waiting room only a few minutes when he called me in. Knowing the
procedure, as I am sure you all do, I hopped up on the table, looked over at the
other side of the room and pretended I was in Hawaii or some other place a
million miles away from here.

I was a little surprised when he said: "My, my... We've taken a little extra effort
this morning, haven't we?", but I didn't respond. The appointment over, I heaved
a sigh of relief and went home.

The rest of the day went normal, some shopping, cleaning and the evening meal,
etc...At 8:30 that evening my 14 year old daughter was getting ready to go to a
school dance, when she called down from the bathroom, "Mom, where's my
washcloth?!?" I called back for her to get another from the cabinet. She called
back, "No, I need the one that was here by the sink. It had all my glitter and
sparkles in it."

Aloha Friday: A History Lesson

It's Aloha Friday over at An Island Life!

Answer my question and make sure you post one on your blog!

After that, go relax because today is Friday!!

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Yesterday I had a great afternoon. I decided to just head into a little town near me and walk around and take pictures. I didn't take as many as I thought I would, but it was fun.

I went into a couple shops, one that I'll be sure to go in again once I have my dream house...I'll need this store to decorate it! Then I went and got an ice cream cone and then drove around finishing up my errands.

It was nice to just go and do whatever I wanted and not be stuck in the house.

So my question to you for this week is:

When was the last time you did something just for you? What was it and how long ago?

Here's a few pictures from my afternoon.

Snohomish Washington is said to be the Antique Capital of the Northwest.
Click to learn more about Snohomish, if you so desire.

And here is the history of how Snohomish came to be.

Here's a little snippet:

A large number of different Indian tribes and bands inhabited the Pacific Northwest region with varied life-styles and different languages, dress, ceremonies, and adornments. Tribal characteristics are generally distinguished between the coastal tribes of western Washington and those of the interior. In general, the coastal tribes depended on the rivers and tidal waters for staple foods whereas the interior tribes relied more heavily upon plants and berries, as well as game and other animals.

The Snohomish and Snoqualmie River valleys were the traditional and current homeland for a number of Indian tribes of the Coast Salish groups including the Tulalips, Pilchucks, Snohomish, and Snoqualmie (Snuqualmi) Indian Tribes. Archaeologists and historians have verified tribal village sites throughout the Puget Lowlands including some reported sites that date 2,000 to 8,000 years before the Christian era.

BFF's

Last Saturday two of my best friends and I got together for lunch. It had been WAAAYYYY too long since we had seen each other! I always love seeing my friends and wish we could more often. But life gets in the way and then before we know it, it's been like 6 months since our last visit.

We decided to go out to my car, since the restaurant was so loud, to call our other friend Krista to wish her a happy birthday. Of course she was too busy celebrating to answer her phone so we just left a message.

And I'm the picture taker. So we always have to get a picture. We used the auto setting so we sat there for 10 seconds or whatever. We had some funny outtakes. Jewel started talking right when it took it one time and Colleen just had a dazed and bored look in one of them. I just sit there and smile pretty and try to position myself so my face doesn't look fat. LOL




One of my other bestest friends, Riika, is moving to Virginia. Her and her husband have had quite a rough couple years so they're moving because he's guaranteed a job there. She leaves on Monday and then her husband leaves with a truck of most of their belongings the next day.

I'm SOOO frickin sad that she's leaving. So sad!

Yesterday we got together for lunch so we could hang out one last time, alone, before she leaves. There's a going away party for them on Saturday and I know she's going to be surrounded by gobs of people and we won't be able to chat.

Here's us with her little guy, Keagan.


And just a cute one of the two of them.


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Wordful Pictureful Wednesday: Are You Ready For This?

DO NOT ENTER

That's what this door says.

When you walk down our hallway, you will always see this door shut.

Always.

What you are about to see is not for the faint of heart.

Do not try this at home.

Welcome to Mount Carlson.

Beware though.

Should you decide to enter and traverse this mountain...
you may not get out alive.

You've been warned.

BEFORE

All the clothes I had gathered from our room and the bathroom - thrown down the stairs to be washed.

Ignore the wall and carpet color. They were here when we moved in.

This photo is after the clean-up had begun. It was more of a war zone.

DURING

These are only half of my clothes! The other half you already saw, above.





These are clothes to be donated.

How many t-shirts does one guy need? No, I didn't count them. I should've.

AFTER

Mattress is being given away for free.
The bed hasn't been used in 10 years and we don't know where all the parts are to it.
Why do we still have it? Because I wouldn't get rid of it. I'm SO ready to let it go.

Three HUGE bags of clothes to be donated!

Whew, did you make it out alive?

Barely, huh? Man! I know the feeling!

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So there it is.

My BIG, EMBARRASSING Secret!

It's been like this for at least six months. I hate that it gets like this, but I refuse to be the only one to take care of the laundry. If I'm not going to have any help, he can just go digging for his clothes.

We've talked and talked and talked and hopefully...this time...we'll be able to keep it up and keep it clean and organized.

It would be nice if we could actually use the futon if needed.

I don't think any of my friends or family have actually ever seen this room and this would be the reason why.

K. I'm ready for my flogging. Don't be too harsh though.