Baby Shower = Motivation

I haven't written anything in F-O-R-E-V-E-R .... sorry about that!  I tend to trudge through life at times not taking in all the glory and amazing-ness around me!  The goal, once again, is to post away.....

Today's event covered many a celebration amongst friends:  one of us is having a baby very soon, another is celebrating 11 years of being super naturally healed of Crohn's Disease, another is officially launching her business with the creation of her website, yet another of us is having a birthday in a couple of weeks AND I am also celebrating that I had people over to my home to enjoy time sitting around, chatting, and eating....my need to be a host is very clear to me....now.  This morning was incredible!  My home felt good.  It was accommodating and comfortable.  The timing of everything was good.  The food I made and that everyone brought was yummy!  We had a great time!  

MaryAnn and Jason are having a BOY!  He is not named yet but I have to tell you this baby is already so loved!  The three of us weren't able to be a part of the shower that was given to them at our church so we figured getting us girls together was important!  We chowed on an Egg, Mozzarrella & Spinach bake; Zucchini Muffins; Banana Bread; Maple Ham; Hashbrowns; & a fruit medley with strawberries, blueberries and apple.  I was able to use my pretty pitcher with the glasses for water and a couple of us enjoyed some coffee.  YUM!!

I decorated with the onesies that I bought and ironed ties on and a couple that I got from the Thrift Store.

Didn't they come out oh so cute!  The one on the left was my first attempt and I almost goofed!  I put the color up instead of down and actually put some of the color on my pillowcase I was using.  Oops!  I created these by printing out a tie template and then printing out the iron on sheet with the different backgrounds.  I cut out the ties and then placed them on top of the backgrounds and cut them out.  At the top of the tie I had to round the edge a bit to make them fit the shirt.  It was easy, peasy....

Elizabeth got MaryAnn some creative gifts that will come in handy...lol  The first of which I would not know about and have never heard of until today!  Do you know what the green thing is that is pictured below?  

That, my friends, is a Tee Pee cover.  Like I said, MaryAnn is going to have a boy so she will need "protection" when it comes to changing him.  I have girls so this was never a problem for me.  Elizabeth has all girls so she had never had one of these either.  Just for fun Mary Ann put it on her head.  LOL

A couple of the other practical gifts from Elizabeth were a book and also a framed print with the House Rules on it.  So cute!  Here's MaryAnn already learning about being a New Mom ....

Before everyone headed in all the different directions of our busy life we had a time of prayer for Baby Boy & his parents!  

It was a joy to hang with my Sisters in Christ!  

I am so very excited for all of you and your miracles/accomplishments!  

I enjoy "doing life" with you!

  

No More Tears

My girl, Brooke has one of the most sensitive heads I have ever heard of!  She tears up, cries, whines, yells, etc every time I even think about brushing her hair.  We resorted to putting a braid in her hair every single night to prevent daily issues.  You know, Cinderella takes her hair out of braids in the beginning of the movie.  And so, if a Princess wears braids to sleep in, then Brooke would, too!  This started when she was 3 years old.  She's now about to turn 7!  I can't believe she will be 7, sigh...  Anywho, tonight when we were going through the 'after bath' tears of getting her hair brushed, I asked her if she wanted to get her hair cut.  I explained that if there was less of it, then there'd be less tangles, less tears, etc.  She said that would be fine but that I had to cut her hair, she didn't want to go to "that place".  I'm not sure why there is a fear of the hair salon however home hair cuts are cheaper and if it makes her happy, I am ALL IN!

When I was a young girl, I remember flipping upside on the monkey bars in my backyard for my mom to cut my hair into layers.  We didn't have monkey bars available and so a bar stool would do just fine.  

                                                             
And so here are the results:

  

Before

Getting ready...

here we go!!

so far so good...

a little more here and there....

the biggest fascination was the fallen hair

                                                         

All Done... she is thrilled!  & so am I!  To top it off we brushed right through with the greatest of ease!  

No more tears!  Yea!!

 

It Doesn't Snow on the Outer Banks!...?!? Ha!

     Happy Winter!!  It has been a wintry winter for the first time in my adult life.  As a child, I know that when I was 4 my family moved to West Memphis, Arkansas and that winter it snowed and we built a snowman.  Other than that, I have never built a snowman until....a couple of weeks ago.  We are on the Outer Banks and since moving here I've had several of my friends comment that it doesn't snow here.  Well, yes it does!  Every week since January 14th we have had at least one snow day.  Craziness!!  The only snowman building kind of snow happened once.  We built a snow-chicky.  The girls named her Selena.  She was the tallest, most awesome-est snow-chic I've ever seen!!  My hubby is an amazing snow-chic builder.  He said this was the best snow for snow-chic building he had ever seen.  He's from Michigan so that's a big deal!  We had some help from a couple of neighbors, too.  She lasted 4 days!!  Some people say that any snowman that lasts more than 3 days is a predictor of more snow to come.  And....that happened....more snow...the following week!
     How does this Southern feel about snow now that I can officially say I have lived in a snowy climate?  I'm good.  I'm not crazy about being cold so I dressed the part every time we went outdoors but it really wasn't too bad.  I was a smart girl and I didn't drive in it.  The roads were quite clear before I ventured out.  I got a little nervous when this last snow happened because my honey was across the bridge.  I was afraid they would close the bridge and he wouldn't be able to get home.  We can see the bridge from our townhouse and the cars were going no more than 5 miles per hour.  Very, very slow.  Scary slow.  Other than that moment I am fairly settled about our new climate.  Of course, I took lots of pictures!  I hope wherever you are, you are safe and warm!

 

not enough snow for a "real" snowman so I did an outline of one and the girls decorated it.  :)

Our home sweet snow covered home

Our neighbors Ashley and her dad, Dan

presenting.....Selena!

Brooke, Madi and Ashley's son, Lance

2013

     Oh what a hard year it was!  I like to think that I have a Pollyanna type outlook on things but there are moments in 2013 that were absolutely unbearable.  January 17th started it all when I got the call that one of my best friends in college had passed away suddenly.  We had the same name, were involved in the same activities and were suite-mates in the dorm.  We stayed friends throughout the years.  I had just messaged with her on Facebook about an upcoming visit to Mississippi and then...BAM She's gone!!  She was only 47!  Her personality was vibrant, she was over the top in all that she did.  She made you feel loved - she made you laugh - she made you feel special!  We even looked a lot alike.  People would think we were sisters until they heard we were both named Tammy and just to let you know she was Tammy Lyn and I'm Tammy Lynn.  Crazy, huh?  This picture was taken of us on our last girls weekend together in Biloxi.  We had a blast!  Just like it is always said, tell those around you how much you love them because you just never know.  It's so true!  You ... just ... never ... know!

     In the summer we moved to the Outer Banks of NC.  It was a crazy awful and crazy wonderful move!  We have been sick over leaving family and friends...mostly sick over the norm that we had created.  Our norm was comfortable but yet we felt we needed to make this change.  14 hours is a long way!  We have grown to count our blessings, appreciate our now, thank God for all we have and not what we feel we've lost.  We have an amazing view from our rented town home.  We had 4 choices for rentals when we moved here.  I was perplexed over the first one, the next two made me cry and the 4th was this one and I swear I heard the Hallelujah Chorus start singing when we walked in.  :)  It had wide stairs....I could finally see how everything would fit.  They didn't allow dogs (non of the rentals did) and so our $1000 shelter dog is now staying with my girlfriend and her family.  She calls me with foster dog reports.  So sweet!  

     My mom has been irreplaceable with all of her help toward getting our stuff to us and getting our house on the market.  Money cannot repay her for all that she has done.  We could not have made it this far without her!!   

     We had a rough start however God has directed us in such a way that we are truly acclimated and feel apart of this community in the short time that we've been here.  I have gotten the opportunity to sing several times.  I  was able to play a couple of games of softball.  Steve and I will play together in this next season starting in May!  We are a part of an awesome church.  This church personifies the meaning behind having a church family.  They have already shown their love for us in so many ways.  The girls got the best First Grade Teacher and Kindergarten Teacher.  The personality of their teachers fit right along with the personality of each of our girls.  Such a HUGE blessing!  I have gotten the opportunity to substitute teach at a Christian Academy and will be taking the substitute teaching class starting next week so that I can teach for the county in the public school system.  We have some of what seems to be lifelong friends in the making!  I have 3 besties - one that reminds me of my girl that's listed in the beginning of this post, one that has 4 girls that we have enjoyed numerous playdates with (and a BIG DEAL to me as a momma is that I trust her with my girls and she trusts me with her's) and then my other bestie is the same age as me with a girl in Madi's class and we just clicked.  Each of them a huge blessing in mine and my family's lives!  

     I have been slow to getting stuff done but I am now almost done with putting Christmas away.  Part of me what's to beat myself up for taking so long to put it away and the other part of me is just so happy that it's getting done that I can't do anything but feel grateful.  For the first time, I actually went through what was in the boxes.  I am getting rid of an overflowing bag of Christmas stuff that we no longer need or use.  Yea, me!      I hope you are having a fantastic beginning to 2014 and I wish you blessings throughout the year!

     

Love It or Let It Go!

     Life is in constant motion...it's up to us to decide how our journey will go.  I don't mean that we have power or control over our journey.  What I am saying is that we have control and power over our reaction to how our journey develops.
     The everyday moments are what truly help me to look at all the blessings of my life.  Just recently, I was putting together rose bouquets for my hubby's work and my girls were helping me.  It didn't take long before they started working on some art projects of their own.  Ya know, big girl crafts aren't fun sometimes.  They took one of the reindeer ornaments, traced it and then created winter wonderland works of art.  I love that they can see past the paper, crayon, marker and trace of the reindeer to see a wonderland of possibilities.  They love to add lots of color.  Taking the time to notice the "moments" is the part of my journey that I enjoy the most!
     In our every day life, almost anything can be turned around to be a blessing.  For instance, the other day I was volunteering in my daughter's class.  It was a rainy day and so umbrellas were needed.  I did my hour with the children and then went on to pay the cafeteria some money and then I checked out.  It was then that I realized I had forgotten the umbrellas and so back into the school I went to retrieve the umbrellas.  Tucked nicely back into my van I realized my phone was not on me.  Back into the school I went to find my phone...it was no where to be found.  Yikes!!  I walked backed out to where my van was at first to retrace my steps.  On my way back into the school for the fourth time, there it was under the bench on the concrete.  So where are the blessings?  1) I found it  2) The screen didn't crack when it fell  3) It didn't fall into a puddle or get waterlogged.  Huge blessings!  My cell phone is probably a little too important in my life...LOL
     Since moving to NC from FL, from 2,700 square feet to 1,500 square feet I've been in continuous overwhelm with all of my stuff!  It makes me lag behind on normal chores when I'm spending so much time trying to find something through this maze we are calling a home right now.  My goal of the century, okay really my goal for January is to find a place for everything!  I have to!  For the love of my family and the need for some simplicity in our schedule so that we can ENJOY more, I absolutely NEED to get some of this stuff out!  Please pray for me as I make these very difficult decisions so that I can free myself from the clutter!  The clutter in my home, the clutter in my body and the clutter in my mind!  2014 is my year to LOVE IT or LET IT GO!!
Don't forget to look at the little moments that create joy in your journey & live 2014 on purpose!