Life!

Today is just one of those days where I’m overwhelmed by every little thing!

Matthew 11:30- For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Yesterday I had a real heart to heart with one of my teachers who is a God sent. She has been a huge spiritual mentor for me. I was able to share with her my heart and some of the things I’m struggling with. I’m going in a good direction and I know yesterday was a huge breakthrough for me.

After the conversation and leaving school I was emotional as it was, then I come home, check my mail and get a kind letter from my car insurance company that they had dropped me. Seriously, I about lost it. If there was Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in my freezer, it would have been gone in two seconds flat. My insurance company has really been cutting back, and I’ve had my share of accidents in the past, none lately thank God, but apparently in their eyes I’m more of a liability then an asset.

Sooooo, it’s off to shop for new car insurance, and that’s in the works except they need a down payment, which I DO NOT have.

Jehovah jireh- God our provider!

Thank you God for that!

So that’s been kind of stressful.

I had plans to go out of town over Labor Day weekend and visit a friend, I need the getaway in the worst way, but when it came down to it, I didn’t have peace about going. I knew financially it wasn’t the wisest thing to do, and I know I need to focus on school this weekend and focus on some other things. I was really looking forward to it. But in the end, I had to cancel.

Huge bummer! I know I did the right thing though.

Also, my Granny has been diagnosed with a pretty aggressive lung cancer. She just recently found out and so it’s still all in the early stages and they’re figuring out the course of treatment right now and she’s already battled with cancer once before. She made a statement to my Mom about why hadn’t I called her lately (it had been a week since I talked to her) and asked her if she had done something wrong to make me upset.

I felt HORRIBLE!!!

So I’ll be taking this Friday night to go over to her house and spend the night and have some time with her. I think it will be good for her. I know she needs people surrounding her right now with love and encouragement. And it’s easy to let the days go by and before you know it, it’s been a week since you called your Granny. Also, next Monday marks one year since my Grandpa passed away and I know that will be hard for her. We’ll be celebrating his birthday and homecoming all in the same day. I carry a picture of he and I as a baby in my car and there’s not a day that goes by where I don’t think of him.

If you would, please keep my Granny in your prayers as she fights this cancer and on Monday, as she remembers her husband, and we remember a Dad and a Grandpa!

So there you have it…..

Life!!

My baby shower observation!

This morning I went to my friend Wendy's baby shower!

It was so much fun.

I literally did not know a soul barely. In situations like this I can go into my shell and sit back and observe, but I actually ended up making conversation with a few people there and they were so incredibly sweet and it ended up just being a really wonderful time.

Lame, but these are the only pictures I got.

Me and the mom-to-be.


Don't mind my hair. You might also recognize Wendy from the well-known Christian rock band Fireflight :)

The food table with yummy food.


This is her first baby and the cool thing is they are not finding out the sex. So it will be a complete surprise (obviously, ha). She got sooooo many wonderful gifts.


Yeah, my camera was dead so just got these quick photos with my phone.

This is the gift I got Wendy.


I had this signed made by Jennifer for the nursery. She has an Etsy store "Show Me A Sign". Go check it out. Plus all the proceeds benefit her future adoption. I've also had her make another sign for me and I have not been disappointed. She's just great and so wonderful to work with.

Sooooo... If any of you have ever been to a baby shower you know about the game where you are given a clothes pin and you can't say certain words, and if someone hears you or you hear them, you can take the clothes pin from them and whoever ends up with the most at the end of the shower wins.

Well, observation... there is always, and I mean always, that one person that takes this game WAY to seriously. Like for real, that one person that literally is just sitting there on the edge of their set waiting for someone to mess up and ends up with like 11 at the end.

We couldn't say baby or the word cute. And nevertheless, I was without clothes pin at the end, ha! It was actually quite liberating when I lost the battle of the clothes pin... how can you not want to say baby and cute at a time like that. And once I lost that sucker I tried saying baby and cute whenever I could really loud so she could hear me, ha! Oh, I kid. But what made me laugh is the person who took it from me and was VERY serious about this had like 11 clothes pins and she was just dying to win, but someone beat her by one clothes pin.

She should have won just for her efforts alone. Quite a shame really.

Doubt, Fear, and Confusion!

Sounds like a pretty light-hearted post, huh?

I bet each of you reading this has dealt with these emotions at one time or another.

I’ve had this whole week off from school. It’s been very nice. It has also given me a lot of time to think and re-evaluate my priorities and what I consider important to me.

You’re more than welcome to skip this post but I’m writing this for me more than anything. I just need to type this out and process my feelings. I really feel like I haven’t lived up to my potential when it comes to school. In fact, I know I haven’t. It really all boils down to laziness. I can’t chalk it up to anything else. Sometimes it’s my own fear of failure that holds me back. And it’s true that one can be afraid of success. Have any of you ever dealt with this? How did you work thru it?

I’m also really trying to get out of some debt and the debt isn’t going to get rid of itself on its own. I have been living way beyond my means and I really didn’t realize just how much so until recently. It’s nothing I can’t get out of with a lot of hard work on my part. But I’ve found myself living in a lot of fear this past week concerning my finances. Worried that I’ll never get my head above water. Worried that I’ll always be living paycheck to paycheck. And frankly, that’s what I’m doing right now. I feel like I’ll never get out of this receptionist job that I’ve been at for 7 years. Yes, 7 years. But praise God, it’s a job, when so many people out there are jobless, and my needs have always been provided for. My bills have always been paid and I’ve never lacked. And I always try to remember that when fear wants to overtake me. I try to remember that there will come a time when I can live comfortably and will have a house to call my own someday.

There will come a time when school will become a distant memory and I’ll be established in my career and making a life for myself. But I’ll be honest, that day seems so far off and often times I find myself crying out to God, “There has got to be more to life than this”…, and still at times am doubtful that I'll see the completion of school. But I try to remember this verse:

Jeremiah 29:11 - 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'

These words give me so much encouragement when sometimes I’m just so confused as to where I’m at in this season of my life right now. Some seasons are shorter than others and this one has just seemed like a very looooong one.

But nonetheless, it’s a season in which God is trying to teach me, stretch me, and mold and shape me to prepare me for the next season of my life. I’ve begun to look at myself though, I mean really look at myself…. And I think I’ve been resisting to try to see what God is trying to do during this season because I’ve been pouting away in my little corner and a little upset with God because this season has lasted far longer than I’ve ever wanted it to.

I’ll be honest, at times I feel like I’m a forgotten one, and that I’ve been left on this path to walk around aimlessly with no direction. BUT I know this is not true.

So, have you found yourself in a similar time in life filled with doubt, fear, and confusion?

2 Timothy 1:7- ‘For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.’

Philippians 3:14- ‘I press on toward the goal to win the prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward.

So this is where I find myself right now. Putting myself before God and asking him to show himself in the midst of my doubt, fear, and confusion.

These are the moments.....

To my sweet niece MacKenzie:

These are the moments,

I thank God that I'm alive.


These are the moments,

I'll remember all my life.


These are the moments,

I know heaven must exist.


These are the moments,

And I could not ask for more.

Princess and the Frog!

There's always been this theory.

I've heard it many, many times.

Sooooo....

Do you think if I...



Kiss this thing....



I'll find my prince?!?!?

Meet the frog that's made it's residence on my porch. But it's always running (or hopping in this case) away from me, so don't know how the kissing thing will work???

Ha :)

But where there's a will, there's a way.......

A first for me!

The theme on the blog this weekend seems to be movies, ha!

There have been many, many times that I've wanted to go see a movie but have been to insecure to go by myself.

Well, today I thought, you know what, I'm going to do it. And I LOVED it. It was nice to have a little "me" time. It turned out to be a rainy day here, so it was the perfect movie day.

I bought my ticket.


And I went to see "The Switch".


Before I went into the movie I went to the pretzel place and got some pretzel bites and a soda. I couldn't remember if the movie theater lets you bring food and drinks in now or not. So I asked the guy working there and he said I don't think so but you can always put it in purse and sneak it in.

Pretzel guy, you're full of great ideas.

Guilty as charged.


Don't tell me you've never done this, LOL!!! In my defense, if they didn't charge an arm and a leg for their food and drinks we wouldn't have to break the movie law. BUT I did run out of my drink from the pretzel place BEFORE the movie started, so I did have to get another drink from the movie theater, and so they did get some of my money, haha!!

I sat pretty far up in the theater and had a row all by myself, and then people started piling in. And wouldn't you know that a group of 4 people came up and sat right next to me with a million other empty seats. I hate people all up on me like that, so I told the gentleman I'll move and give them their space (more like I needed my space) and his response, Oh..I'm sorry, didn't even see you there.

Dude, I'm alone but not invisable, ha!

But the moral of the story, it was a great movie, I highly recommend it :)

Ohhhh, and the previews, there are SO many great movies coming out!! Fall deems to be a GREAT movie time.

Allow me:

"You Again"


"Morning Glory"


"Life As We Know It"


"Little Fockers"


I am excited about ALL of these movies!!! And such great casts in each of them!!!

So, what about you? You like going to movies alone?

If you haven't, I suggest you give it a try. You just might enjoy it :)

Hope all of y'all have had a great weekend!

Nicholas Sparks, he does it every time.....

I've always been a HUGE fan of Nicholas Sparks.

He's a great author and his books make for some wonderful movies. Hello, remember The Notebook? HAHA!!

And he makes you cry.

I wish you could see me right now.

I am a sobbing mess.

Everyone warned me, admist the jokes about Miley's teeth and voice and etc., I was warned.

Warned that I would need a box of tissues.

And that was no joke.

I just got done watching the Last Song.



I don't know if it was the whole father/daughter relationship. It made me want to pick up the phone and call my dad who I really don't have much of a relationship with, just to say I love him.

I don't know if it was the cancer story. My Granny is battling lung cancer right now.

I have not cried during a movie that hard in a VERY long time.

Nicholas Sparks, he does it every time......

What is your favorite Nicholas Sparks book or movie???

It was a date night with me, myself, and I.... And it's a good thing it was just me, my crying self with mascara running down my face might scare someone off, LOL!

They're wrapped around his finger!

Looking back I NEVER would have thought my brother would be the first one to get married and have kids, and two kids at that, and TWO girls.

I love it because my sister-in-law will upload her pictures to Wal-Mart and then email them to us in case we want any of the pictures.

I can never get too many pictures of their cute family!

My brother has turned into a wonderful husband and father.

It melts my heart to see him with his girls.

I just have to say, only in the country will you find this!!! My brother and his girl shooting skeets. My niece can be girly or she can be country. And from these pics, no denying which one she is at this time, HA! And as you can see she dressed up for the occasion, ha! My niece was in no way harmed :)





And lets not forget this cutie!!!! (and Mr. Photogenic)


Cannot wait to get my hands on her this weekend!!!

So, what do you say, have they got themselves wrapped around Daddy's finger??? :)

For your entertainment!

I have a few fun things to share with you this morning!

We have a local Orlando radio station called XL 106.7. Jayde from the Johnny and Jayde show entered a contest to be co-host on Live with Regis and Kelly and she WON along with a few others. Yesterday she filled in for Kelly and she did a fantastic job. Every now and then I tune in to this radio station but my mom and sister and a lot of others I know were so happy she won and voted like crazy. She did a great job.

Here’s the link if you want to check it out. Click here.

It was pretty exciting for us Orlando people. Did any of y’all catch it? Today the radio station is airing from Central Park. So cool.

Another thing.

Have y’all seen this Geico Commercial?



You can download this ring tone. It’s awesome!!! I seriously just want to call myself over and over again so I can listen to it, ha!

Go to www.geico.com and you can download it for free.

Also, there is a casting call for the show Mad Men and someone I know submitted their picture, you can go to the website and vote. She has many votes but still needs a whole lot more. Her name is Whitney and the picture she submitted is amazing. You can vote each day. Would you please go vote? Go here. Thank you!! She recently just got signed on for a two year contract on the show Law & Order. This girl is going places!!!

I hope everyone is having a good week. It's been pretty uneventful my way, so explains the lack of posts!!!

Almost Friday, YAY!!!!

The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes: Chapters 1-10

I joined an online book club that Blue-Eyed Bride and Rachel put together.

Check it out here.



This is only the first week and we were to have read Chapters 1-10 and answer discussion questions. I actually read thru the whole book but still am so eager to see everyone's take on it, answers to the questions, and answer them myself.

1.What was your first impression of Tim?

My first impression was that he was charming, handsome (I’m just guessing, can’t remember if she ever described him in the book). I never fully understood why a college student would want to be interested in a 16 year old, and obviously that question is answered further on in the book. You can tell he knew exactly what a woman wanted to hear and how to persue and there was definitely motive and manipulation behind this.


2. If you were in CeeCee’s position, would you be willing to help your boyfriend in the way that she is willing to help Tim?

No way, No how. I would never have the guts and it would go against all I know to be right and it's dangerous and not to mention I’d be breaking the law.

3. Why do you think CeeCee is so eager to please Tim?

I think CeeCee is longing to be accepted and loved in the way she has only dreamt about and in her mind I believe CeeCee feels this is a way to show Tim how much she loves him and to keep his love in return.


4.Who do you think has it harder? Tim or CeeCee?

I honestly believe both of them have it hard, but in different ways. To some extent CeeCee definitely has it harder. Tim’s situation goes to show that money and a life of privilege doesn’t always bring you true happiness and doesn’t make you exempt from the horrible circumstances we experience in life. And CeeCee’s life has lacked love and stability and in return has caused her to get herself in a situation that will forever alter her life.

5.What character trait(s) about CeeCee stuck out the most to you in these first ten chapters?

Her compassion is the main character trait that stuck out to me! Without giving away spoilers, in future chapters you find that no matter how knee deep she gets herself in this situation, that never left her.

6.Do you think CeeCee is as mature as she seems?

Well if she wasn’t mature in the beginning, she certainly was by the end of the whole situation. The scenario she found herself in caused her to mature and experience more things than any 16 year old would want to.

It's not too late to join the book club and I encourage you to do so!!!! If you are interested go by your local library because that's where I got my book.

The weekend!

I don't know about you, but for me, this weekend went way too fast!!!

I thought I'd get the weekend off on the right foot. I went and visted my sweet niece at the hospital.

She was snug as a bug! Couldn't you just eat her up with a spoon?


Saturday they were able to leave the hospital. I went back over there Saturday morning to see the babe one last time because I knew I wouldn't be able to see her again until next weekend. And seriously, I knew by then she'd be 16 and already have her license, ha. Oh I kid :) So I was able to see them off on their merry way to start life as a family of four.

The rest of the day was pretty low key. Did some things around the house, hung out by the pool and finished a whole book in one day. Seriously, I started it Friday night and didn't put it down until I finished it Saturday night, ha! Very productive day on Saturday as you can tell.

This morning I met my parents at church and of course it was a wonderful sermon as always and great praise and worship.

Then I went to none other than.........



Where else would one spend their Sunday afternoon?? :)

My Mom and her hubby treated a couple of the grandkids to a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. And who am I am to pass that up? I hadn't been there in FOREVER and felt like a kid again.

And their pizza is not half bad, and my Mom kept saying, why am I enjoying this pizza so much, it reminds me of school pizza, ha!!

And wash it down with a cherry coke and you're good to go, haha!!

This is when you know you've officially been to Chuck E. Cheese.


I am kind of embarassed to admit how much fun my Mom and I had doing this, haha!!

My Mom shooting hoops.


Skee Ball is my favorite game ever.


My stepsister and her daughter Emma getting pictures done :)


So what will it be, deal or no deal??


I may or may not have played this game twice!!! Love it. And frankly that banker was no match for me, ha!!

Mom's hubby Larry and Ian taking their turn at shooting hoops.


Emma and I.


Trying to get a picture sketch.


Picking out their prizes.


It was surprising how packed CEC was on a Sunday and early in the day!! But we spent about an hour and a half and went on our way.

Plus, once the tokens are gone to play the games, what fun is it then? Ha!

I came home and my friend Samantha asked me if I wanted to take a trip to the mall with her because she had to return something. So I went with her and I passed this at the mall and couldn't turn it down.



The heat today is suffocating and nothing tasted more better!!!

I hung out some more by the pool today and read some.

Another weekend gone too soon!

Hope y'all had a fabulous weekend!!

Cuteness brought to you by the "Paparazzi" (AKA: Aunt).

This morning we went to the hospital to anxiously await my niece's arrival into the world.

Today was joyful.

Today was wonderful.

The miracle of life is an amazing thing!

Here's all the pictures from today.

Brings a whole new meaning to the word "paparazzi" :)





Twins Heather and Stacey. BFF's of my SIL and was in the room for the birth :)


My Mom and I.


Big sister was anxiously awaiting too. She was soooo excited to meet MacKenzie!!!


She was excited to give her sister the stuffed animals!! :)


Love this girl!!!


The moment Lexi met her sister for the first time was so sweet!!!!








LOVE this picture. Melts my heart!!!!


The new beautiful family of four!
















Daddy and his girl!!














I know this is adorableness overload but couldn't help myself.

MacKenzie, we couldn't be more thrilled that you are here with us. I will spend the rest of my days being the best Aunt I can be to you. Love you!!!