We're goin' to Kentucky, we're goin' to Kentucky!!! So I'm a little excited.. Sittin' at the terminal, waitin' to board the plane. We'll be there soon!!

Things I Love Thursday!

Remember how I said that my Wordless Wednesday had meaning to it?!?!?!?! Well... I wanted to post THIS picture instead...But I couldn't find it yesterday....

They are both very pertinent to this week, and to Things I Love Thursday. Why? Well, because I LOVE KENTUCKY! I know, I know, that picture is not of Kentucky. Neither of them are. But! They are both of me and my cousin Paige, who coincidentally lives in Kentucky! I could have said that the thing I love this Thursday is Paige. And I do.... but really, I love my WHOLE Kentucky family, and that wouldn't be fair. So instead, I have opted to LOVE Kentucky, (but thank Paige) because I am going to Kentucky this weekend, and I am going to see my WHOLE Kentucky family, and it's all because of her. My baby cousin is getting married on Saturday, and I'm going to be a Bridesmaid!!! And even if I wasn't, I wouldn't miss it for the world! I know.... I know... you all will miss me so much! But I promise it's for a good cause, and you have no choice anyway. I'll be back on Monday though! Maybe even in time for Mutt Monday.... but most definately in time to post on Tuesday all about my exciting adventures and great times, and most likely share some awesome photos too!!!!!!

In the mean time... check out my wonderful, amazing, and talented Mommy's new blogspot!

Wordless Wednesday Already!?!?!?

This rain is for the ducks!

So here in lovely "Sunny South Florida" (hahahaha) we have been dealing with rain for DAYS now. I don't just mean sun showers, summertime afternoon rains, or anything of the mild sort... I mean - big time, full blown, nasty, torrential downpours! With thunder and lightning to boot!  It's pretty disgusting. I am all for some rain. Really. Lord knows our grass needed it! My lovely landscaping was starting to droop, my grass was crispy, and I was starting to wonder if my tomatoes were going to make it much longer (even though I water them every day). No need to do any watering this week! Now I'm worried that a few of my "Florida" plants that don't require much water, just lots of sunlight, might be in danger! Only time will tell.....

I was out of the house for most of the day today, and when I finally came home (after the afternoon torrential downpour) there was a duck.... in my front yard.... swimming.... in my GRASS! Now, let me just say that our "ducks" are nasty. They are not pretty, they are not cute, and they are not native. They are UGLY, and I dont think it should be illegal to kill them. (I'm just sayin'.....)

See? Look! Ew! Ugly! GROSS!!!! When I see people feed these disgusting monstronsities I just cringe!

Anyway, it was swimming in my front yard, and it was gross.

You know what else is gross about this flooding? My dog thinks it's just grand to tromp around in these puddles. Sometimes to chase birds, sometimes just because.... Maybe it's cool and refreshing? Maybe she's just weird? I vote weird. I try and try to keep her out of them, but being that we just let her out in the yard on her own to go potty, its hard to regulate. Now, the worst part of this is not that she smells like stanky water afterward. No... it's that she doesnt realize that she is covered in this stanky water/mud and runs into the house and slides across the tile, sometimes spraying mud off her legs in the process. It's hilarious, really, but it's not so much fun to try and keep the house clean when this is taking place every few hours. I will NOT give up on trying to teach her to wipe her paws on the mat before coming in.. I have, however, given up on trying to keep the floors clean. Don't stop by until this rain is gone, please. My house WILL be a disaster. You have been warned :)

Memorial Day

As we all enjoy a day off... please stop to remember the real reason we celebrate this holiday. Pray for the friends and families of those who did not return, as they remember their loved ones..... and say another prayer for those who await the return of a loved one.

This day has special meaning to me as I remember a dear friend from High School who was killed 8 short days after he was deployed to Iraq. 

RIP 

Pfc. Christopher T. Riviere

Please take a moment also to thank those who are currently serving in the military, and risk their lives every day for our freedom. 

I'd like to send a special thanks out to one of my best friends who has been active in the Marine Corp for a year now.

 

Thanks for all you do Melissa Ann!

And thank you to all of the other men and women out there who serve our country !!!!

As I was writing this post, I remembered something I used to do quite often, and have sadly neglected to do so for quite some time. Take a minute to click on the link below and send a post card to our troops, just to let them know you care. It's a really special program, and it only takes a minute. You don't have to write anything personal if you don't want, it just gives someone out there a reason to smile while they are away from their loved ones.

Let's Say Thanks

Bits and Pieces

We had our very first puppy chewing accident this morning, and it was not a good one! Ed left the house early this morning to go airboating with his dad, and I stayed in bed. We have been trying this thing that when he leaves before I wake up, he just leaves Zoey out of her crate. She has been SOOOOO good, and never gets into anything, or has any accidents, she usually just lays on her bed or by the sliding glass door in the sunshine until I get up. Well... this morning I was woken up by a horrific thunderstorm, and while I was laying in bed listening to the rain and thunder, I heard another noise that was kind of odd..... I decided to get up and check on her since I thought the thunder might have scared her. I immediately looked to her bed, and she wasn' t there, but there were little tiny pieces about 1/2 inch long scattered all over it, and next to it, a long black cord.... following it with my eyes, I realized what it was. Ed's laptop power cord. Uh oh! It was plugged in, so I have no idea how she managed to chew it up so much without being shocked, but she did. (I would have taken pictures to show you all the tiny little bits and pieces, but Ed was so mad when he came home, he threw away the evidence before I had a chance.) Zoey was under the coffee table sulking. When I dropped my voice and scolded her, she pee'd. We have a small problem with her and submissive pee'ing. This was just another one of those incidents. She does it sometimes when she gets in trouble, and when new males come to the house... it's something we've been working on. She knew she had done wrong. She had dropped her head and her tail, and her little ears were shaking. :( I felt bad for her, but I was also really mad too! Luckily, even though it was a horrible thing to have chewed up, Ed has a spare. Unlike me.... I only have one power cord, and a horrible battery life!!!!!!! Ed didn't seem to see the bright side of the ordeal when I told him about it, he is still mighty upset with her, and she knows it! She won't come up to him and snuggle her little head in his lap today looking for love. She is keeping her distance!!!!!! 

I was so surprised she did this. She has always been such a good puppy. She has NEVER destroyed anything that wasnt hers. She has been known to chew on her dog bed... but a couple dashes of hot pepper sauce cured her of that habit. We leave our shoes out, laptop cords on the floor, gym bag, etc, and she never messes with any of it. I think it must have had something to do with the storm. We were watching a show on dog training on tv later and they said that chewing can be caused by anxiety. I have no idea... All I know is that she has lost our trust, and she will stay in her crate in the mornings now until I wake up. Poor Zoey Monster... She knows when she does something wrong, you can just tell, but like any kid, she can't always resist the temptation!!!!!

Fantabulous Friday!

Well, no, not really... The weather is crappy, it's been raining all day, and I have nothing exciting going on. BUT! I do have a link to share that is pretty Fantabulous.... I have been following Fantabulously Frugal for the past few days, and I just love checking out the deals she posts on there! In addition to keeping everyone updated on all the greats deals going on, she also hosts lots of great giveaways (like right now she is doing  "31 days of Giveaways" and Giveaway #15 was for the cutest J Crew flip flops! That I sadly did not win...), and she has a special section just for entirely FREE stuff! I love free stuff.... I already applied for a free sample of some sunscreen that I found on her site, and she has also posted a link to download Coldplays new album for free! (FYI... it's not stealing, Coldplay actually put it out there for their fans!) My favorite post today was on Vista Print where they are offering lots of free paper products! They always have free stuff, and you usually just have to pay for shipping, but there are some extra things for free today. I can get 140 address labels for like 3 bucks! They also have business cards, note cards, letterhead, etc...Check it out!

It's WORDLESS WEDNESDAY!!!!!

Mutt Monday!

My new "All Things Summer Swap" partner, Jordan, has inspired me to do a new post called Mutt Monday!!! Those of you who know me, know how much I absolutely LOVE my fur baby (even if she is a monster), so I could NOT resist!!!! I'm hoping that all you other mutt lovers out there will join on in!!!! I wanna see yours too! 

For my first "Mutt Monday" I thought I would share some of my favorite pictures of Zoey, on her very first trip out on the boat not long after we adopted her. 

Cutest little face EVER!

Hey look! A bird!

Just checkin' things out!

 

I call this one "Hey guys, does my butt look big?"

Gettin' a little cold... snugglin' with Daddy

Ok, gettin' REALLY cold, time to curl up and HIDE!

We had so much fun watching her run around and check things out. Unfortunately we haven't had the chance to take her out since then, but we did invest in a doggy life vest for next time! She made us too nervous!!!!! While she is now a pretty strong swimmer, she wasn't always... and her "panic" swim is not too pretty!

Time Flies...

My little brother is 10 years younger than me, so I have had the opportunity to watch him grow up right from the beginning, and remember it every step of the way. It never ceases to amaze me when I look back at pictures and realize how much he has changed in just a short amount of time. My mom posted pictures of us from Mother's Day on Facebook today, and even though I know he is 13 years old and should look just like he does, I can't believe it. I wish I had some older pictures to show you, but maybe it's more effective anyway to show you one from less than 4 years ago to show you how fast time really does fly!

This is my Bubba at Christmas of 2005 ( I thought he was big and grown up then!)

And this is the 13 year old brat now. (Yes, that's me in the background... a whole 7 1/2 inches shorter than him. He doesn't let me forget it either!)

Savor the moments of the young children in your life... and take lots of pictures!!!! The moments don't last long, but the memories last forever.

l've been Mary Kay'd

I am a pretty plain and simple type of girl.  No frills unless necessary, makeup only on special occassions, you get the picture - mostly a jeans and t-shirt type of girl. Needless to say, when I got invited to go to a Mary Kay party this weekend, I was honestly, kind of dreading it. I went of course. Mostly because it was a personal friend of mine who was throwing it, and she is just getting her start in selling Mary Kay, so it was only right that I help her out by attending. Not that I had a blast or anything, but it really wasn't that bad! Because I'm a no frills type of girl, I have never really known what to do with all that makeup junk, even when I do want to use it! lol. It was pretty informative. They help you pick out the right colors for your skin, and tell you how to apply everything! It was not exactly what I expected, but I didn't really know what to expect either, so it was okay. It was basically a quaint little get-together with some girls. We all sat around a dining room table, and were step by step instructed on how to use some of Mary Kay's products. Then, after all that jazz... you are given the opportunity to purchase the items you sampled, or anything else from their catalog. Oh, and throughout the whole thing, there are a few little contests and opportunities to win free gifts. Who doesn't love free stuff!?!?!?!?! I got a free sample of some eye shadows that I would NEVER purchase, but are pretty nice to have and play around with on special occassions.... (even if that occassion is Halloween, hahaha). I purchased some tinted moisturizer because I am a one-step process type of girl when it comes to a foundation on my face. I don't have a lot that I desire to cover up because I'm pretty content with my skin, I hate that caked on feeling (no matter how "light" everyone says it is), and the idea of putting on concealer, and foundation, and powder makes me tired. My other purchase that I'm actually kind of excited about is a lipstick! (shh, don't tell, I'm excited about a makeup product). In our makeup application process we got to pick a sample packet that included shadow, blush, and a lipstick that all go together, and I really liked the lipstick that came in my packet! It's a miracle in itself, but I'm pretty excited because the only thing I really and truly wanted to get out of this whole experience was to find a lipstick that looked nice on me. I always stick with light glosses or chapstick because I hate the guessing game when picking out shades of lipstick. There is no way to know if it actually looks like the sample, or how it's going to look on you, and frankly, that gets to be a really expensive guessing game! And the best part about it is that if it comes in, and I change my mind and decide that it doesnt look as nice as I thought it did when I tried it on, it's returnable! 

So if anyone out there is looking for their own Mary Kay experience, and would like to meet with a consultant to have them help you match items up with your skin tones, or you just want to order a few things, let me know, or contact my friend Lianne!

Click here to get Mary Kay'd!

All Things Summer Swap!

My friend Jess over at Living on Sweet Tea has directed me to an "All Things Summer" swap that Sweet Tea Diaries is hosting, and it just looked too cool to pass up, so I signed up too!!! What the heck, why not? I absolutely LOVE summertime stuff, and getting things in the mail. This combined BOTH! How cool is that?

Great Deals Ahead!!!

I just wanted to share with you all that Victoria Secret is having their Semi-annual sale again, and there are some GREAT deals out there! Being that I am a "valued customer" I got a sneak peak at it yesterday and ordered 2 bras (much needed). I got one for $14.50 and the other for $19.50! You can't even buy them at Wal-mart or Target for that price!!!!! Check it out! 

Before I order anything online I always google for offer codes, and there are always ones for VS!!! That's how I got the one bra for $14.50. I had found an offer code for 40% off a clearance item. I'm pretty sure that offer expired yesterday, but it's always worth a shot to look! This is my favorite site for codes, I usually find at least ONE that works. I also signed up for a VS credit card yesterday too..... only because there are so many more codes that you can use if you have one, and I'm a sucker for a great bargain! I always pay off my cards at the end of the month anyway, so if I'm saving some money by using it, I might as well! You also get more offers sent to you through email, and special discounts on your birthday, etc etc.

Happy shopping!!!!!

Tootin' My Horn!

I took my entrance exam today for the Technical School I am trying to get in to for LPN school. I have to say, last night, when I was going over some practice questions, I got a little nervous. Math and Science have never been my strong points, and going over stuff that I hadn't seen in years started to freak me out. Turns out, it wasn't so bad after all! During the test I was a little unsure of some of it, but my scores reflect otherwise. I had to score in the 40th percentile of the program testers.... 

This is where I scored:

Reading : 99

Math: 92

Science: 90

English: 73

Now let me just say, English has always been my best subject, so I was a little disappointed in my scores, but the only part of it that I scored low in was punctuation. I never did learn how to use a colon and a semi-colon properly, lol. 

So now my file is complete, and I am just waiting to hear whether or not there is room in their program for me since I get to skip the first semester due to the fact that I already completed a semester in the RN program.

Toot! Toot! 

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope all the Mom's and Mother figures (who are just as important in my book) had an awesome mother's day!!!!! and I hope they all got the appreciation they deserve. 

We started our Mother's Day journey's by going to see my mommy. Then we went and visited my Grammy, on to Ed's Grandma, and then to see Ed's mom where we ended the night by watching her play beer pong with her kids. It was pretty priceless.... pics to come!!!! But until then, here is one of my favorite pictures of me and MY mommy!

Stupid People Sunday

Yesterday I was craving iced coffee. We had a coupon for a free McCafe iced coffee at McDonalds, so we went through the drive thru. Ed placed the order for a "Medium iced coffee, cream, 4 Splenda" and the response he got was "sir, we make our iced coffee with cream and sugar, does that mean you want Spenda instead of sugar?". Oh goodness.... already my mind went to stupid people Sunday, lol... So he said "yes", and she says "um, ok, so you want a medium iced coffee with 4 cream and 4 Splenda?" I told him at this point to just say yes because she would never figure out the cream thing. Normally they just put the normal amount of cream and however many sugar or splenda. So he said yes and we pull up, and watched her use sugar instead of Splenda. Whatever.  We hand her the coupon and she's like "uh, the McCafe is coming soon, we don't actually have that yet, I dont think I can take your coupon". Now, I'm not exactly sure what McCafe is, but I'm pretty sure iced coffee is iced coffee. Luckily, a nice person who wasn't stupid heard this conversation and "worked her magic" so to say on the register for us so that it was free. All this for my free medium iced coffee with 4 flippin cream and 4 squirts of sugar. grrrrrrrr.

You can't fix stupid....

The Pee in the Pog Tube

Yes, it is as gross as it sounds. Let me start by saying that I'm pretty sure I'm going to go to LPN school before I move back into an RN program. I have 2 possible schools in the running right now, and I have started my paperwork for acceptance. Part of this lovely acceptance process is submitting a physical, background check, and drug screening. None of this is hard to accomplish, I'm in good health, never been convicted of a crime, and never taken a drug in my life.... but it is a pain because each of these things have to be done at a different location throughout the county!! Yesterday I decided to tackle the drug screening. I headed out to the lab about a half hour away and made sure I drank a diet coke on the way there so no matter what, I would have to pee! I got there and was immediately hit by some really strange scents. I can't explain it, the only thing I can think that could possibly create that scent would be something really stinky covered up by a lot of scented cleaning product. There were rows of chairs set up, more courthouse or dmv style than a Dr. office. Maximum capacity of seating was 25, and then if you exceeded that you were to line up outside. (That's a high class establishment right there!) It wasn't long before I was called in. Luckily I was able to snag a seat....The lady took my form and instructed me to set down my purse and folder on the chair (like the chair you sit in to have blood drawn), EWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!! So I put my folder down and set my purse on top of it, just in case. (The folder is disposable, the purse, not so much.) And then she had me wash my hands, and handed me a container that looked like a POG TUBE! I'm not even exaggerating. For those of you that do not remember pogs, the opening is like the size of a gatorade bottle. Then I was told to leave my frickin' Coach purse and other belongings where they sat on that nasty chair out in the open of a room with other people in it, and go to the bathroom and pee in the pog tube. Great. So I just thought to myself, "it'll be okay, just get it done as quickly as physically possible and get out!!!!" Now, seriously, I'm gonna be completely honest with ya'll.... as a female, how do you pee in something like that and NOT pee on your hand at some point? If anyone has any special techniques, please share, because I'm really bothered by this. The worst part? There were no paper towels in this bathroom. All you get is a toilet, toilet paper, and a sink. No soap, no paper towels, no towelettes like the nicer facilities have, NOTHING. So I pee'd, wiped it and my hands off as best I could, and handed it back to the lady and asked if I could go to the other sink outside and wash my hands. AND she had the nerve to ask me if I wiped off the pog tube. Seriously!?!??!?! I should have left it and told her to gimme something to wipe it with and I might think about it. Grrrrrrrr. So after applying the sticker to my tube, with her gloved hand still, she picks up a pen and starts filling out my paperwork, and then HANDS ME THE PEN to sign my name. NASTY NASTY NASTY. How many other times has she done this with that pen?So I signed it as fast as I could, picked up all my stuff, and headed for the door as fast as possible and then drenched myself with as much hand sanitzer as I could. I put it all over my hands and up and down my arms. I felt sooooo nasty. I seriously needed to be hosed down with sanitizer after that. I proceeded to re-drench my hands every hour or so for the rest of the day until they were dry and flaky by the evening. So please cross your fingers for me and say a prayer that I get in to this school and hopefully do not have to have another experience like this for quite a while. 

My next adventure? Fingerprinting! 

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

So yeah, I'm an old lady... I didn't do anything exciting for Cinco de Mayo, but I hope everyone else did!!!! My day consisted of sleeping in, dropping of paperwork at my potential new school, going to lunch with my Aunt, her fiance, and his friends, dinner at my moms, and hanging out at a barn with my friend while she cleaned her horses stall. Woo hoo! I'm such a party animal! ::rolls eyes:: I can, however, say that I consumed a margarita today :) while I was at lunch at our local Mexican restaurant/bar and it was very good too!! What did everyone else do for Cinco de Mayo? Anything exciting?